The Montana Transportation Commission recently voted 4-1 to allow digital billboards along highways in areas zoned commercial or industrial. However, they are subject to a number of restrictions aimed at reducing their distraction to drivers—prohibiting movement and flashing, requiring a minimum display time of eight seconds, limiting brightness, keeping them away from intersections, and setting spacing requirements between signs. While digital signs are getting the go ahead in Montana, they are facing opposition in other parts of the country.
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Assessing the Extent and Determinates of Induced Growth (Montana DOT, 2013)
Transportation improvements affect the accessibility of places, which in turn can result in changes in land use in combination with factors that support or discourage development (such as land prices, market demand, local land use regulations, and environmental constraints). Transportation projects alone cannot change surrounding land use. The Montana Department of Transportation has released a report that discusses a legally defensible process for assessing the indirect land use and environmental effects of transportation projects.
Montana and North Dakota show need for transit service in rural areas
Transit services provide critical connectivity within and between communities of all sizes—urban and rural. Two transit agencies in rural Montana and North Dakota offer best practice examples of how to provide public transit in rural areas and prove there is demand for service in these locales.
A small city tries to fund sidewalk improvements
Missoula, Montana—a city of roughly 70,000 people— for decades had a policy similar to many cities of allowing property owners to decide if they wanted a sidewalk, and pay for it themselves. This created city streets that resembled “broken teeth,” where properties with sidewalks were next door to properties without sidewalks.
Montana tries a biodegradable corrosion inhibitor to save money, reduce maintenance, and be more environmentally friendly
Many states and municipalities are trying new mixtures to keep their roads safe in nasty winter weather. Montana is developing yet another blend to inhibit the corrosion of bridges and vehicles, this time with corn sugar, …
Montana tries a biodegradable corrosion inhibitor to save money, reduce maintenance, and be more environmentally friendly
Many states and municipalities are trying new mixtures to keep their roads safe in nasty winter weather. Montana is developing yet another blend to inhibit the corrosion of bridges and vehicles, this time with corn sugar, …