Dear Editor,
As chairman of the Big Sky Transportation District, I’ve known that Big Sky’s transportation infrastructure has not kept pace with today’s demands. This goes beyond congestion on U.S. Highway 191 and Montana Highway 64—it includes local roads, transit, pedestrian and bike connections, and basic traffic safety.
We know many of the projects we need: highway and intersection improvements; expanded Skyline service, fleet upgrades, park-and-rides and transit facilities; safer local roads with traffic-calming; and better walking and biking connections. Projects with cost estimates already exceed $150 million, and several major projects remain unpriced.
Responsibility is scattered: Montana Department of Transportation handles highways, the transportation district handles transit, and HOAs and RIDs maintain local roads. Bike, pedestrian and traffic-calming projects have no clear owner. Even when we know what’s needed, the harder questions remain: Who leads? Who pays? How do we get it built?
Public transit is one of the most cost-effective ways to expand capacity on U.S. 191 and MT 64. We can get more personal vehicles off the road if we can make public transportation more convenient and efficient. A simple thing like adding Wi-Fi to the Skyline buses coming from Bozeman, will dramatically increase the ridership as people can be productive while commuting. Our five-year plan targets doubling service, requiring new vehicles, investment in technology, park-and-rides, bus turnouts and a transit hub. Federal funding can help, but requires local matching at levels rural systems like ours have never faced.
We can’t keep solving these needs one project at a time. A Targeted Economic Development District (TEDD) could be an important piece of a longer-term approach, offering a new funding source for infrastructure. It won’t replace MDT, county or federal funding, or solve every issue—but it can help pay for work we know is needed.
We know what Big Sky needs. Now we need a realistic way to pay for it. If you have any questions, reach out to me at Bayard@bigsky.com or 406-250-2920.
Bayard Dominick
Big Sky, MT
