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Home My WebLink About07-27-20 Public Comment - T. Bass - Neighborhood Traffic Safety and Parking ManagementFrom:Terry Cunningham To:Agenda Subject:FW: Neighborhood Traffic Safety and Parking Management Date:Monday, July 27, 2020 3:36:09 PM Forwarding from my personal account. From: Bass, Thomas [mailto:tmbass@montana.edu] Sent: Monday, July 27, 2020 1:18 PM To: Danielle Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Terry Cunningham (tcunningham@mcn.net) <tcunningham@mcn.net> Subject: Neighborhood Traffic Safety and Parking Management Thank you all for your service to Bozeman and your hard work, always, but especially amidst the pandemic. Please consider the following and share or forward as appropriate (Terry, I don’t have your City email, so my apologies; also, is there a commissioner who is actually point on the issues below? I can share with them instead). I would love to hear back from any other staff or elected officials who can offer advice or help. In the last month, the problems on N. 18th Avenue that I previously reported to Dani and the traffic commander have been getting worse (though years long, with an uptick in 2020). Speeding is out of control and objective guesses of speeds are in the 30-40+ range. Many are definitely 40+. You can hear the tire-roar on our recently poorly chip-sealed street, and then a flash of color and a dust plume. It is so fast you can hardly identify the vehicle type. These speeding vehicles often roll through the stop signs at either end of 18th, barreling onto Durston or Beall Roads. It is multiple times a day, every day of the week. Myself and other neighbors are furious and we feel abandoned by the City. We are a neighborhood of families with children and grandchildren, and pets (contained/restrained, but still), elderly residents, and renters young and older. Someone is going to be grievously harmed or killed. The speeds are no joke, they are deadly, especially for children and pets. The perpetrators are usually not residents of the street, though we did reach out to MSU Athletics to address some lead-footed Bobcats. We’ve needed traffic control and calming for years. The speed trailer is a joke and hardly visible with our parking situations; it has been deployed many times over the last few years. I don’t perceive this as a law enforcement situation anyway, we need signage and structural change. It is to the point where parents and grandparents are fearful of letting their kids cross the street or use the street for scooter and bike transportation. Something has to change. [This is a bit of a rant and of less importance. However, another concern is the parking situation on the street, primarily associated with 502 N. 18th Avenue. The home is a rental with six(?) bedrooms, and two mostly unused off-street spaces on a driveway. The problem is chronic, but the current cohort has six vehicles and one enclosed work trailer (small landscaping business – image 6970, facing the wrong way no less) associated with the home, plus guests and girlfriends. They consume all the parking, encroach on driveway cuts, leave cars and trailers for days, and generally park awkwardly (further reducing public capacity). When they do use their drive, they block the sidewalk (image 6964; and they are the only car in the drive!). Four of their vehicles were ticketed during spring street cleaning. Most actual parking offences are nights, weekends, and holidays, so no enforcement… (thankfully, this home is usually quiet; but they hosted a big party the other night and the next day a young girl cut her foot on a shattered bottle when she went to her own mailbox in sandals. This home has been a problem for years and no one knows the landlord. What is a reasonable response and solution within current policy? Is new policy needed for mixed neighborhoods? -end rant] The bigger issue is the safety and enjoyment of our own neighborhood is severely diminished. We know this is a public street open to travel and parking for all, but courtesy is absent. We need real help and advice. In the big picture, I am sure we are not alone with these growth issues and renter conflicts. How do we move forward? How do we prevent further decline of safety and enjoyment of our neighborhood? What can the city initiate before we become a horrific statistic? Several of my neighbors are waiting to hear my report. Thank you for your time and attention, Tommy Thomas Bass 507 N. 18th Avenue 406.600.3544 tmbass@montana.edu From: Danielle Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 5:16 PM To: Bass, Thomas <tmbass@montana.edu> Subject: RE: Email contact from City Of Bozeman Thanks Thomas, I am meeting with our partners at MSU this week to get up to speed on the “Good Neighbor Initiative,” wondering if there might be some momentum there that we can kick back up to do outreach through MSU channels and student groups on some of these issues. Reach out any time, Dani Dani Hess | Neighborhoods Program Coordinator City of Bozeman | 121 N. Rouse Ave. Bozeman, MT 59715 dhess@bozeman.net | 406.595.6585 | she/her/hers From: webadmin@bozeman.net <webadmin@bozeman.net> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:46 PM To: Danielle Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Email contact from City Of Bozeman Message submitted from the <City Of Bozeman> website. Site Visitor Name: Thomas BassSite Visitor Email: tmbass@montana.edu Seeking traffic calming for N. 18 Avenue between Beall and Durston. Increasing acute severespeeding and chronic moderate speeding by non-residents (cut-thru traffic). An accident, likely with a child is going to happen. Also, multiple rental property residents routinely block sidewalks, driveway cuts; leavevehicles for multiple days or weeks without moving; don;t shovel in winter. Requesting outreach help. Thank you,Tommy Bass 406.600.3455 City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2,Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’srecord retention policies. 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