OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Belgrade City Council Workshop on 2026 Transportation Master Plan – September 9, 2026

City Council & Boards — Wednesday, September 9, 2026
BodyBelgrade, Montana
SessionCity Council & Boards
DateWednesday, September 9, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:05:18

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

I'd like to uh call our Belgrade City Council workshop meeting to order.

0:09

And will you please rise and follow me in the pledge?

0:14

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:31

Roll call, please.

0:34

Jason got me.

0:35

Here.

0:35

Not me.

0:36

Here.

0:37

Jim Simon.

0:38

Here.

0:38

Michael Meese.

0:39

Here.

0:39

Christine Minakucci.

0:40

Here.

0:41

Aaron Bell.

0:43

Here.

0:45

Here.

0:45

Thank you.

0:47

And we're all in attendance.

0:49

All right.

0:50

First up and item on our discussion agenda is discuss the 2026 Transportation Master Plan.

0:59

Mr.

0:59

Tran.

1:01

Good evening, Council Members.

1:03

Greg Trent, Assistant City Manager.

1:05

As I was reviewing the work we've been doing on the Transportation Master Plan, we signed the service order, which was the second service order, and about nine of not ten of them related to our master planning process.

1:21

We signed that on September 7th, 2023.

1:25

So it's been three years in this process.

1:29

A lot of work's been done.

1:38

And they didn't necessarily ensure that they spoke to each other, were based on information that another plan did.

1:45

So one of our challenges and one of our goals was to make sure our parks plans, future land use plan, utilities plan, our population estimates, all of that was done working with each other.

2:00

The population one actually kind of slowed the whole process down because all of our plans needed that information.

2:07

How fast are we going to grow?

2:09

Literally, the state told us pick a number.

2:11

We've stopped trying to figure out what it is because we've missed it every single time.

2:16

So we came up with several, and you've seen those through several different plans that we've presented.

2:22

And this transportation plan utilizes that information quite a bit, and you'll see a little more about that.

2:28

This plan has been reviewed by the former public works director, our interim public works director, our new city engineer who has an MDT background.

2:39

It has been reviewed by our other directors, so where they have parts that play into it, like parks or planning and development.

2:47

They've all had a chance to review this.

2:49

So there's been lots of feedback.

2:51

And then you'll also hear about what type of feedback and involvement outside partnerships have had with this when we uh introduce our consultant tonight.

3:01

Um tonight is an opportunity for you to ask questions.

3:06

You've had an opportunity to see the 86-page report.

3:09

You've had the PowerPoint.

3:11

Um this is an opportunity for you to go, hey, what about this?

3:14

Did we think about that?

3:15

And our goal here is that this is a living document.

3:21

It's not going on a shelf, it's going to be part of an electronic AI supported system across all of our plans, so you can go into it and search stuff and not have to go page by page through an 86-page report.

3:37

Umce we do have your feedback, if there is any additional feedback, our goal is to bring it back hopefully in October for a final adoption, so you'll have a chance to see it again.

3:51

And with that, I would like to introduce um Dan Collie of Farron Pierce.

3:55

He's their senior associate, and I'll let him take it away from there and then I'll wrap it up.

4:10

Thanks.

4:11

Good evening, everyone.

4:12

Uh as Greg said, my name is Dan Collie, I'm the transportation planner and project manager with Farron Pears, based in Salt Lake City.

4:19

Uh, and as he said quite eloquently, uh, we've been working on this one for a fair few months now.

4:24

I'm excited to be here and actually uh have a final plan to present to you all.

4:28

Uh I will do my best to keep it short, as much as the document itself might be 86 pages.

4:33

I prepared a total of seven slides of content, uh, which hopefully set us up for some discussion afterwards.

4:39

Uh but let us begin.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Public Engagement████████10%
Active Transportation██████8%
Procedural████5%
Public Works████5%
Public Safety████5%
Engineering And Infrastructure██3%
Community Engagement██2%
Parking Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Belgrade City Council Workshop on 2026 Transportation Master Plan – September 9, 2026

The Belgrade City Council held a workshop on September 9, 2026, to discuss the draft 2026 Transportation Master Plan (TMP). The meeting included a presentation by consultant Dan Collie of Farron Pierce, followed by extensive council questions and discussion. No public comments were offered. The plan is expected to return for final adoption in October 2026.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation of the 2026 Transportation Master Plan:

    • Greg Trent, Assistant City Manager, introduced the plan, noting it has been three years in development, with coordination among city master plans (parks, land use, utilities) and population estimates provided by the state. The plan has been reviewed by city directors and MDT.
    • Dan Collie presented key aspects: the plan builds on the 2018 Long-Range Transportation Plan, covers all modes (auto, pedestrian, bicycle, transit), and aligns with new regional partners (Gallatin Valley MPO, Urban Transportation District). Community engagement included a February 2024 open house, virtual meetings, and a survey with a high response rate.
    • The plan establishes a vision, 10 goals, and a prioritized project list across four categories: roadway projects, intersection projects, bike/pedestrian projects, and priority crossing improvements. Projects are ranked high, medium, or low tiers as a guide, not a fixed schedule. Annual monitoring and updates are recommended.
    • Immediate next steps: adoption, incorporation into other planning processes, advancing high-priority projects (e.g., JackRabbit at BNSF rail crossing), and continued engagement with MDT and MPO.

  • Council Questions and Comments:

    • Council members raised several topics:
      • Surprise at strong community interest in cycling infrastructure, especially across I-90 and to Bozeman.
      • Concern about parking regulations for multifamily developments increasing on-street congestion; Collie suggested parking maximums and alternative modes as incremental solutions.
      • Discussion of motorized bicycles and e-bikes: legal status on sidewalks vs. roads; a council member noted the need for regulation and enforcement capability, with staff to bring policy ideas. The city manager observed that many neighborhoods lack sidewalks, making bike/pedestrian infrastructure a funding challenge.
      • Connectivity to the new pump bike track was highlighted, along with a suggestion to acquire road-painting equipment for bike lane striping (discussions with Bozeman and county stalled due to budget caution).
      • Safety concerns about children on e-scooters and e-bikes; a council member suggested education campaigns and potential youth certification, similar to hunter safety.
      • Need for better sidewalk connectivity for pedestrians; a council member emphasized walking to schools and stores, noting that cycling is seasonal.
      • Traffic calming: Collie noted that vertical measures (speed humps) conflict with snow removal; council members advocated for designating parking/snow storage in street standards (60-foot width) without widening, and for avoiding problematic designs like narrow medians or mini-roundabouts seen in some developments.
      • Lighting standards: Collie acknowledged the trade-offs between safety and resident preferences; not included in the plan but important for safety.
      • Intersection blocking by parked vehicles in denser housing areas, and the need for creative solutions.
      • The Weaver Road corridor was specifically noted as a proactive planning need for future four-laning, despite likely being years away.
      • Council member expressed support for calling out a potential northwest interchange near Weaver, noting positive public feedback, but also recognizing that growth would follow such infrastructure.
      • Update on the Cruiser project (JackRabbit to Dry Creek): still in right-of-way acquisition; MDT has re-approved plans after several reviews; the traffic signal portion may go to bid this year, with the roundabout later.
      • I-90 corridor study: expected early 2028, per MPO board update from Mayor.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal actions were taken; this was a workshop for discussion and feedback.
  • Staff will incorporate council feedback (e.g., snow storage designation in street diagrams, traffic calming guidance, avoidance of problematic designs) into the final plan.
  • The plan is scheduled to return to the council in October 2026 for a final adoption vote.
  • Staff will prepare policy ideas regarding e-bike regulations and enforcement for future discussion.
  • Continued coordination with MDT, MPO, and Gallatin County on corridor studies and equipment sharing.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to uh call our Belgrade City Council workshop meeting to order. And will you please rise and follow me in the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. Jason got me. Here. Not me. Here. Jim Simon. Here. Michael Meese. Here. Christine Minakucci. Here. Aaron Bell. Here. Here. Thank you. And we're all in attendance. All right. First up and item on our discussion agenda is discuss the 2026 Transportation Master Plan. Mr. Tran. Good evening, Council Members. Greg Trent, Assistant City Manager. As I was reviewing the work we've been doing on the Transportation Master Plan, we signed the service order, which was the second service order, and about nine of not ten of them related to our master planning process. We signed that on September 7th, 2023. So it's been three years in this process. A lot of work's been done. And they didn't necessarily ensure that they spoke to each other, were based on information that another plan did. So one of our challenges and one of our goals was to make sure our parks plans, future land use plan, utilities plan, our population estimates, all of that was done working with each other. The population one actually kind of slowed the whole process down because all of our plans needed that information. How fast are we going to grow? Literally, the state told us pick a number. We've stopped trying to figure out what it is because we've missed it every single time. So we came up with several, and you've seen those through several different plans that we've presented. And this transportation plan utilizes that information quite a bit, and you'll see a little more about that. This plan has been reviewed by the former public works director, our interim public works director, our new city engineer who has an MDT background. It has been reviewed by our other directors, so where they have parts that play into it, like parks or planning and development. They've all had a chance to review this. So there's been lots of feedback. And then you'll also hear about what type of feedback and involvement outside partnerships have had with this when we uh introduce our consultant tonight. Um tonight is an opportunity for you to ask questions. You've had an opportunity to see the 86-page report. You've had the PowerPoint. Um this is an opportunity for you to go, hey, what about this? Did we think about that? And our goal here is that this is a living document. It's not going on a shelf, it's going to be part of an electronic AI supported system across all of our plans, so you can go into it and search stuff and not have to go page by page through an 86-page report. Umce we do have your feedback, if there is any additional feedback, our goal is to bring it back hopefully in October for a final adoption, so you'll have a chance to see it again.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com