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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-19-19 Public Comment - K. McDowell - Parking Safety Concern Safety concern: I live on the corner of Birdie Drive and Boylan Road. This past winter was a nightmare with the amount of snowfall that the Bozeman area received. My neighbors and I are very much concerned with the overwhelming street parking and "share riding parking" that occurs on Birdie Drive. With snow being piled on the grass boulevards, it forced vehicles to be parked further into the middle of the street. Being a secondary street, snow removal happened whenever possible. This caused snow/ice ruts to form on the street. Checking available parking spaces provided by the businesses that are located on Bridger Canyon Road but park on Birdie Drive is a large part of the problem. As an example: Bridger Ski Foundation has 8 to 9 vehicles,which includes vans and trailers. Stanley Engineers has at least 5 vehicles and I did not see any vehicles belonging to Naya Nuki that was labeled as such. Fronting Bridger Canyon Road there are 24 parking spaces plus 2 handicapped spaces for these businesses. Naya Nuki has signage for 7 parking spaces. In the rear of this building,there are 11 parking spaces plus 1 handicap space. The Christie Electrical building which houses the electric company and the Bozeman Field School there are 15 spaces facing Bridger Canyon Road and 2 spaces to the side of the building where the loading dock is located. To the rear of this building there are 10 spaces. During pre-season ski training and the actual winter ski season driving down Birdie Drive is nothing short of dangerous. Skiers leave their car doors open into the roadway while disembarking and getting out equipment. They stand and converse with other skiers who are parked on the opposite side of the road and during this time children are walking aimlessly in the roadway. This occurs because skiers are going to the hill in the BSF vans or car pooling with other skiers. At any time of the day there may be 24 to over 30 vehicles parked from the corner of Bridger Canyon Road and beyond the trail system. My understanding is that the Vet Clinic also uses Birdie Drive to park during the day rather than their parking lot. I also investigated the other tenant of this building, GeoForce and learned they are expanding their work force. Presently there are 18 parking space and 2 handicap spaces in their lot. Further concern is Story Mill Community Park because of a main entrance directly across from Birdie Drive.Talking with Maddie Pope I was told that there are 80 parking spaces, 1 bus parking space,and 9 handicap spaces located where the Boys and Girls Club was located. An additional 10 parking space and 1 handicap space are located at the new Story Mill dog park. The new trail being developed from the park to the "M" has also been mentioned as a concern for bikers,walkers,hikers parking on Birdie Drive. Talking with an administrator from the Bozeman Field School their hopes of relocating fell through and if nothing else is found,they will be back in the Christie building. Their hopes are to increase their enrollment from the present 25 students to 40 by fall. Some of these students drive and park on Birdie Drive. The students also present an additional problem in that during breaks they skateboard on a local property driveway and are often seen running into the roadway chasing their skateboard. Birdie Drive is used very heavily during early mornings and from 4:30 until 6:30 PM in the evening. I have not recently walked the Boylan Loop to count residences but know there over 90 some from a couple of year back. New homes have been added. We as a community are asking for your help in how to solve the over parking on Birdie Drive. A simple suggestion is having employees park within their employer lot. "Permit parking' such as exits near MSU and Bozeman High School was talked over. Restrict parking to one side of the street and within designated boundaries. Advertising the "share ride parking" available at the Fair Grounds on all media sources: TV, radio, newspaper, social media, etc. Strongly suggesting that BSF vans pick up their skiers at the Fair Grounds: #1 for safety reasons and #2 to eliminate the road congestion on Birdie Drive. Reconfigure local businesses parking lots as to what might be done to expand their parking availability. I myself had to STOP and suggest to 6 bikers,who were sitting in the roadway on Birdie Drive,to please use the sidewalk area while waiting for other friends to mount their bikes. We as a community want to be PRO-ACTIVE in finding a solution to this problem and are asking for your help. ****Sent letter to Street Supervisor,John Vandelinder on June 8thm 2019. No reply back ***Sent letter to Parking Program Manager Edwin Meece under"contact us" June 13,2 019. No reply back.. I can be reach by e-mail butchandkate@aol.com, home phone 406-219-3981, or cell phone 406-451-5230 Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. Ms­�3 6 A21(l.