HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-08-16 Lonsdale, Sports Park - Public CommentGood morning Mayor Taylor and Commissioners. I am writing to provide comment on the
Sports Park Master Plan. (http://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink8/0/doc/101856/Electronic.aspx)
The Sports Complex is bordered by two arterial streets, Oak St to the south and Cottonwood on
the west. These will be large, fast roadways. To provide appropriate access to this complex for families biking or walking, these arterial roads need to have shared use pathways along them and not just sidewalks. The pathways should be a minimum of 10 feet wide with a preference for
wider to accommodate children on bicycles and scooters mixing with strollers and toddlers.
During your approval of the Oak St project I advocated for inclusion of shared use path along
Oak St and believe that it is a critical aspect of providing a complete street for family use. The sports complex is exactly the kind of destination that needs to be served by separated facilities for biking and walking. Families will not and should not be expected to use a bike lane adjacent
to two lanes of 35-40 mph motor vehicles in order to access a large attraction such as the sports
complex.
Additionally, there is a crosswalk proposed for Baxter Lane connecting a trail from the adjacent neighborhood to the complex. This crosswalk appears to lead families right into a drive aisle of
the parking lot. The parking lot should be reconfigured to provide direct access for the trail into
the complex with the best accommodation through the parking lot. Design features such as using
the landscaping island for the walkway and providing raised crosswalks where it is necessary to
cross the drive aisles will improve the safety. The crosswalk on Ferguson leads directly to the heart of the complex via sidewalk. The access at Baxter Lane should include similar
considerations.
A final comment is that the sports complex master plan shows driveways from Baxter Lane in a
different location than the preferred alternative for the Baxter Lane reconstruction. It will be
important in the final configuration of the master plan that it accommodate the selected intersection design for Baxter Lane and Cottonwood Road.
Mayor and Commissioners, please replace the sidewalks along Oak and Cottonwood with shared
use pathways and require a redesign of the parking to best accommodate families crossing Baxter
Lane from adjacent neighborhoods prior to approving the sports complex master plan. These are
critical details to ensuring that families can safely access the sports complex on foot and on bicycle from the surrounding neighborhoods and all of Bozeman.
Thank you.
Taylor Lonsdale
426 N 9th Ave