Traveling along Higgins Avenue to and from downtown and the Hip Strip, taking in views of the river and mountains, is a classic part of the Missoula experience.
But since the new Beartracks Bridge (formerly Higgins Bridge) opened in late 2022 with shared-use paths for foot and bike traffic, the layout has caused confusion. At peak times on summer afternoons, the bridge teems with walkers and cyclists headed in both directions, dodging one another as some try to adhere to the small signs indicating the designated lanes of travel, and others do not.
“With the uptick of market season it becomes something we hear about, largely on the west side of Beartracks Bridge,” says Ben Weiss, a senior planner in the transportation division of Missoula Public Works and Mobility.
He says planners put significant thought into improving bike-ped infrastructure and design on the bridge, which previously had a narrow sidewalk, but the resulting shared path, with half designated for bikes, is imperfect.
“What we maybe didn’t anticipate is that people consider that the common etiquette is that the slower traffic is on the right,” Weiss says.
The paths are designed to be multi-directional for pedestrians and one-directional for cyclists, with designated bike entrance ramps and exits, but there aren’t bike-lane symbols painted on the concrete to help relay that arrangement.
City transportation planners were—and are—reluctant to mark the lanes because the layout could change in a couple of years under a larger downtown planning process, and Weiss says they’re very much aware the unpainted lanes only add to the confusion.
“It’s an issue that we grappled with all through the design process of the bridge, and we hope gets remedied through the downtown SAM project,” he says.
“SAM” as in the Downtown Safety and Mobility Project, an ambitious Higgins corridor transportation redesign that centers on “right-sizing” Higgins from four lanes to three, with a center turn-lane. Jeremy Keene, director of Public Works and Mobility, says bicycle-pedestrian amenities throughout downtown will also be improved, including protected bike lanes on the roadway, off the sidewalk.
“We’re looking at a striped bike lane on the bridge, so people will have the option to use the pedestrian area as a slower path, or if someone’s a commuter cyclist, they’d go faster across the bridge in a bike lane,” Keene says.
The Downtown SAM planning is still underway, with drawings yet to be finalized. Construction could start as soon as 2026.
“So what we’ve been operating under is that if we were to mark symbols today and change it in the future, we would have to grind any symbols off the brand new bridge,” Weiss says. “And we really don’t want to compromise the concrete and make a mess of something that is brand new and in good shape.”
So, for the time being, the Beartracks Bridge’s paths will remain somewhat confusing for cyclists and pedestrians to navigate together. The good news is that Weiss has yet to hear of an actual reported collision between a cyclist and walker on the bridge, and all in all it’s much safer and more pleasant for all modes of travel than the previous iteration of the bridge. It’s a good problem to have for a city with a stated goal of increasing sustainable transportation.
Prior to the reconstruction, Higgins Bridge featured narrow, five-foot-wide sidewalks that couldn’t accommodate more than two walkers side-by-side. Cyclists were generally forced to ride on the shoulder, protected from 30 mph traffic only by a strip of paint.
“Before the bridge was redone, I used to put my head down and ride my bike as fast I could and hope I didn’t get hit by a mirror from an F-350 extended cab with duallies,” Weiss remembers.
“Now, I might have to dodge some pedestrians, some of whom might be miffed, but overall I feel way safer as a biker,” he says. “And as a walker, I feel better letting my kids run around on the path. It’s a great place to watch Caras Park, to watch Brennan’s Wave, catch the sunset, so let’s make this a place that is a little bit calmer, somewhere we want to be.”
As the process of reimagining downtown transportation along Higgins continues, Weiss says he’s always interested in feedback. He’s heard from many cyclists who want to travel both ways on the west side of the bridge, so something like a two-directional bike lane isn’t out of the question.
Weiss and the city transportation staff are reachable via email, phone and at public meetings, including those held by the Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board, which meets Mondays at 5 p.m. in person and online.
Editor’s note: Kate Whittle is a former member of the Missoula Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board.
