08/13/2026
How is Great Falls planning for increased traffic as the city grows?
One concern that kept coming up after my first post was traffic.
I've noticed that it seems to take longer and longer to get across town. For as long as I can remember, traffic wasn't something I thought much about in Great Falls.
So when a trip across 10th Ave that used to feel quick suddenly doesn't feel quite so quick anymore, it made me wonder: How does a city actually prepare for increasing traffic?
I started digging.
In September 2024, Great Falls adopted its updated Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The plan looks at the existing transportation system, where problems are already occurring, how traffic could change in the future, and which improvements should be considered over the coming decades.
The newly adopted Future Great Falls Growth Policy takes that planning a step further by connecting transportation with how and where the community develops.
And after going through both of those documents, along with the current Transportation Improvement Program, a few things stood out to me.
First, the congestion we're noticing isn't going unnoticed.
Traffic in Great Falls is generally described as moderate, but 10th Avenue South, River Drive, and Central Avenue are specifically identified as experiencing significant congestion during peak hours. The plans also note growing traffic volumes in developing areas, particularly in southern and northern Great Falls, alongside anticipated residential and commercial growth.
Second, transportation and future development are being planned together.
One of the goals in the Growth Policy is to better coordinate land-use decisions with transportation investments. In simpler terms, where and how we build affects where traffic goes - and planning for growth also means thinking about whether the roads and infrastructure around that growth can support it.
So what does that actually mean for somewhere like 10th Avenue South?
There are already improvements identified for the corridor.
One project focuses on upgrading traffic signals along 10th Avenue South to improve traffic flow through better signal connectivity and synchronization.
Looking further ahead, the Long Range Transportation Plan recommends additional improvements for 2029–2033, including changes to the intersections at 20th and 23rd Street South that would add dedicated left-turn bays and updated signal phasing.
But the plans also show that addressing future traffic isn't only about changing 10th Avenue itself.
The transportation plan also looks at ways to take pressure off major corridors by improving connections elsewhere. One modeled scenario includes building out the southern street network, including a future east-west connection along 24th Avenue South, which could shift some traffic away from portions of 10th Avenue South.
There is also a larger push toward making Great Falls easier to navigate without relying solely on a vehicle. The plans discuss closing sidewalk gaps, improving pedestrian connections, expanding bicycle infrastructure, improving transit connectivity, and creating better connections between neighborhoods.
So, is Great Falls planning for more traffic?
Yes, but many of the solutions are long-term, and they're about more than simply adding lanes.
What I found is a combination of projects already being programmed, improvements recommended for future years, and a broader effort to make sure transportation planning and future development happen together.
There's obviously no way to make traffic disappear entirely as a community changes, but I was glad to find that many of the concerns people brought up, especially about 10th Avenue South are already showing up in the planning documents.
Where in Great Falls have you noticed traffic changing the most?
🔗Resources linked below⏬
