Mountain Line Breaks Ground On $76 Million Operations Center Near Missoula Airport

The shovels were out in Missoula Wednesday.

Community leaders gathered near the Missoula Montana Airport to break ground on the new 60,0000 thousand square foot operations center for Mountain Line, a project that's been years in planning.

Jordan Hess, General Manager and CEO, said it's a major upgrade to replace the tiny site the transit agency has called home for decades on Missoula's Northside.

"You're standing on the site of that new facility, and you're on 18 and a half acres, so we've got plenty of room for growth," Hess told the group. "And we're building about 60,000 square feet of space. Most of that space will be dedicated to cleaning, washing, fueling, charging, maintaining, and storing buses."

A huge upgrade for public transit in the Garden City

The center caps a decade of major change for Mountain Line, including the conversion of 90-percent of its fleet to electric buses, and adopting a successful "zero fare" policy, which Mayor Andrea Davis says has changed lives.

      Davis was a member of the Mountain Line Board of Directors when she worked with Homeword before becoming mayor.

"We had residents that were in wheelchairs that were basically homebound, that weren't able to get to the grocery store or their healthcare appointments easily until Mountain Lion expanded," Davis noted. "When we built out a sidewalk or a trail, that easily accesses a kneeling bus, like the one that you see here. Somebody's life opens up in ways that are hard to explain."

The new center could be called a "$76-million birthday present" for Mountain Line, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.

The agency hopes to be moving in 30-months from now.