Envision Lincoln unveils in-town trails plans, discusses community revitalization *

*The headline of this story has been updated March 10, 2022 to better reflect the fact no revitalization plan exists. The original headline may have created or exacerbate that misperception.

A Feb. 18 event aimed at re-introducing Envision Lincoln to the community and restarting conversations around downtown revitalization efforts drew a surprising turnout for a Tuesday gathering at mid-day, suggesting there is still significant interest in the economic and quality-of-life improvement efforts developed in late 2017 and early 2018.

"I don't think everybody was expecting so much going on," said Karyn Good, Envision Lincoln's lead community coordinator.

Good worked with Erin Farris-Olsen, the rural development director for the Heart of the Rockies Initiative, to plan the Envision Lincoln Open House to gather feedback on a pair of projects in the works.

"One of the main things I was hoping to get out of it was to give the community a chance to look at the renderings of the downtown revitalization, and get some feedback on what people thought would work and what wouldn't work, as well as some feedback on the in-town trails plan," she said.

The in-town trails plan, which seemed like a straightforward project that could show early successes, has been a priority for Envision Lincoln, but obstacles such as unforeseen requirements and high cost estimates have stalled the effort. Meanwhile, downtown revitalization was a popular concept, but no one knew what that might look like.

Farris-Olsen, who has been helping Envision Lincoln rebuild momentum, explained that showing people what a revitalized Lincoln could look like is key to moving the discussion along.

"The feedback I've gotten here in Lincoln is consistent with other communities: 'we're OK with some things changing, but we don't want our community to change overnight and look like something else.' It's tough to figure out what that means," Farris-Olsen said.

She helped hire Richard, an MSU landscape architectural student who works with Integrated Trails in Bozeman, who developed the renderings unveiled last week.

After visiting Lincoln, Hayes created a concept for downtown Lincoln featuring walkways and bike lanes, lighting, diagonal parking and traffic calming features to slow traffic. A second rendering reflects a part of the in-town trails plan, showing the possibilities for a trail from downtown Lincoln to Parker Medical Center.

Technical difficulties with a projector limited display of the renderings to a laptop screen for the first half of the event, but once that was resolved, Good provided a short presentation on the them for the attendees.

"Really our plan is just to create a safer, more inviting downtown area," she said. "As the people who live here know, Highway 200 is a busy, fast paced highway and we have a lot of semi-trucks fly through our town. We would like to slow traffic down, we would like to see more people walking and bicycling in downtown Lincoln and feeling really safe about doing that."

Likewise, the in-town trails plan aims a creating a more inviting community where visitors may want to extra spend time and, by extension, money.

"The plan behind this is to safely connect our community to our existing assets: parks, schools, businesses, the medical center, things of that nature," Good said, and asked people to keep in mind they are just ideas to get the conversation started.

Although in-town trails could see progress within the next couple of years, Good pointed out that any Main Street improvements will be further out, since they would have to be a Montana Department of Transportation project.

Lincoln resident Dennis Hefti, who attended the open house to represent the Sportsman's Club, appreciated the idea of improving downtown Lincoln, and believes it may be a way to improve the economy by attracting a new retailer to town to fill the void left by the closure of Garland's Town and Country in 2006.

"I think it has an impact on more foot traffic, cycling, a safe way to get through town. I think that's the main thing," he said.

"Everybody likes the feel of Lincoln the way it's been, but it does kind of need to move forward at some kind of pace, so people still want to come here and do things," said Greg Grena, who stopped in with his wife Jennifer to check things out.

Good said they received 39 survey responses to the revitalization renderings and the trails, which were overwhelmingly positive. Although there were questions raised about details such as snow removal and snowmobile access, people seemed keen on the improved walkability and safety aspects.

Although feedback on the pair of plans was the primary impetus for the open house, Good also saw it as an opportunity for local organizations, agencies and businesses to come together. The four-hour gathering saw participation from 25 organizations including the U.S. Forest Service , DNRC, PureView and Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society, as well as businesses like the Three Bears Motel and Wheel Inn.

"To me it's just a really great way to let people share what projects they're working on, what success they've had, what their needs are, and to socialize,"Good said.

Through the day, community members filtered in and out.

"I never thought there was going to be a turnout like this. I'm kind of thrilled we had such a response," said Hefti.

The Greg and Jennifer Grenas, who recently bought property in the area, left the open house with their hands full of literature and information from many of the organizations and agencies that took part.

"This was a great resource for us. We bought a piece of land with a house on it, but I want to bring horses in. My issue is about wildlife, I got to talk to someone of the Forest Service and DNRC about that," Jennifer said.

"Some of the people we'd have had to try to search out and find out who these people were, they're all here, so we didn't have to go down to their office or try to call," Greg added.

Melody McDonough with the Lincoln PTSO said it gave her a chance to learn more about some of the organizations she was unfamiliar with, such as the Optimists Club, which shares some of the same goals as the PTSO. McDonough said it also got the PTSO, the Lincoln Library and PureView together, which led to a discussion about a joint effort to bring health-related speakers to town.

"It's helping bring the groups together and allowing them to partner with one another, which I think will be beneficial to the community," she said.

Laurie Richards, who recently ended her tenure as the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce President, works with Envision Lincoln on Main Street revitalization, and she hopes interest in plans for the future of Lincoln continues to grow and that community members, and main street business owners in particular, get involved.

"If we get the grants and this could be worked on, we don't want (community members) to say 'why are they doing this?' This is their time to give their opinion," she said.

For more information on Envision Lincoln, to get a better look at the downtown renderings or to keep an eye on their future meetings and events, visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/EnvisionLincolnMontana/ or watch for information in the BVD.