Division Road to open Tuesday night

Division Road is set to open to traffic Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Initially, public works officials thought it would open earlier this week, but there was more preparation work to complete so crews could pour the sidewalks.

Jim Rearden, public works director, said the traveling public could have gone around, but “we decided it wasn’t the safest way to do it.”

The sidewalks are now poured and crews will be moving the fences and changing traffic control so the road can reopen to vehicles Tuesday night.

“It looks like we’re just about there,” Rearden said.

The road closed in May for utility work related to the Voyageur Apartments and was scheduled for 100 days, a milestone the project hit this week.

Rearden said the city completed water pipe installation, sewer and storm drain extensions between where the city lines ended and where the state ended with the roundabout. That was about 120 feet, he said.

The City Commission approved the Voyageur Apartments last year. The project was approved for Montana Board of Housing annual low-income tax credits in December 2013 and the city has committed $35,000 in HOME funds and the state had committed $750,000 in HOME funds contingent on the project receiving the tax credits from the housing board. The project was also approved for $250,000 in affordable housing program funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

HOME funds are administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to states and local governments for affordable housing programs.

The land was annexed into the city, eliminating a portion of an unincorporated island, according to the city planning office.

The project was initially proposed in 2010 by Accessible Space Inc., or ASI, a firm that specializes in affordable, accessible, community-based independent living for adults with mobility impairments and/or brain injuries.

Voyageur Apartments will consist of 38 units, as well as a common area, library and exercise space. Income requirements are set through the HOME grant program, and the city would monitor the facility for a period of time after opening to ensure the low-income, senior residency requirements are being met, according to Jolene Wetterau, the city’s CDBG/HOME grant administrator.

The land and construction costs are estimated at $5.1 million, said Dan Billmark, director of real estate development for ASI.