River Road

(west central Missoula)

Location: From the Clark Fork River to South Third Street West (north-south) and from Russell Street to Reserve Street (east-west)

Character: Suburban, some rural

Features: Dickinson Learning Center

Parks: Bentley, LaFray, Tower Street, LA Hamilton

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Neighborhood Energy
The River Road neighborhood has an eclectic mix of properties and an energized neighborhood council
 

By Greg Martin for Real Estate Marketplace

Krista Miller Larson / For the Missoulian. The River Road neighborhood has a combination of open space, commercial property and residential housing. The Milwaukee Trail extension from Russell Street to this end of the bicycle/pedestrian trail from the Reserve Street underpass by Davis Street will be built sometime this year or early next year.

It’s not the cottonwood trees in abundance down River Road. It’s not Third Street from Russell to Reserve and all the businesses along the way. It’s not the rapidly growing new residential development lining the slew of cul de sac streets. And it’s not the stretches of open space and even farm land that can be found directly next to local housing.

What makes the River Road neighborhood unique, actually, is the nearly seamless mix of all those features in a relatively small area of space.

Partially hidden from view to many, the neighborhood which resides just south of the Clark Fork River between Russell and Reserve Street, has an uncommonly organic blend of diverse commercial, residential, and open space.

And even within those sectors, there’s quite a bit of variety.

On the one hand, you have relatively new to neighborhood local stores like the Good Food Store and Home Resource but you also have long-standing businesses like Westside Lanes and Mountain Imports. There are established houses, apartment buildings and mobile home communities but there are also new developments like the Grizzly Place on Skyla Court and the in-development River View housing project. Open space includes the riverfront, the lot previously occupied by Intermountain Lumber, small pieces of farmland and a pasture on Davis Street with cows.

“Our neighborhood is very mixed,” said Jeremy Flesch, leader of the River Road Neighborhood Council. “There are new neighborhoods combined with dozens of businesses that call the River Road neighborhood home,” he said.

Another noticeable aspect of the neighborhood is the new infusion of energy it has from people like Flesch, who was the City’s 2009 Outstanding Neighborhood Volunteer, and the River Road Neighborhood Council in general. Most recently, a small army of neighborhood volunteers put together the new Hope Park playground at Lafray Park. With organizational leadership from Flesch and resident Dax Kuehn, the new facility was built in just a few days.

With direction and energy from committed residents, the council has its own website and Facebook account as well as organized mailings of newsletters and emails to keep community members informed and involved.

“We’re insanely active,” said resident Dax Kuehn. “It’s a great little neighborhood.”

With the park upgrade complete, the next major project for the neighborhood will be the further development of the Milwaukee Trail which will connect the current end of the trail on Russell Street across from Home Resource to the bicycle/pedestrian underpass at Reserve Street.

The action follows the neighborhood infrastructure plan which the city council approved in 2003. Since that time, city and neighborhood activists like Flesch have worked with residential and commercial property owners to get easements to enable the one-mile trail extension. Construction for the 10-foot wide trail is expected to get underway either later this year or early 2011.

Flesch said he’s hoping the project will secure additional funding for elevated tabletop crossings at major intersections – similar to the newly installed ones at Tremper’s Shopping Center to remind motorists to slow down and look for pedestrians and cyclists.

The $850,000 project is mostly funded by federal and state transportation money as well as funds from the 1995 and 2006 open space bonds.

“We were motivated by a desire to provide opportunities for adults and children to stay active and to get around without having to use a car,” he said.

Greg Martin is a freelance writer for the Missoulian Advertising Department.