HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-05-20 Public Comment - D. Kack - Information Regarding Kagy AvenueFrom:Kack, David
To:Cyndy Andrus
Cc:Agenda
Subject:Information Regarding Kagy Avenue
Date:Thursday, November 5, 2020 10:54:10 AM
Attachments:Kagy Info.pdf
Mayor Andrus,
The purpose of this email is to send you some information regarding the Kagy Avenue
situation, and in general, parking and transportation issues in the Bozeman area. This is
information I have shared with Deputy Mayor Cunningham, and Commissioners Madgic and
Wallner.
Attached is some information from meetings in 2016 regarding the Kagy Avenue project. You’ll
see from the meeting minutes, it was noted that about 80% of the public favored a three-lane
option (one travel lane in each direction, with a center turn lane). Yet, the vote from the “Kagy
Stakeholders” was for a four-lane option. A little over two years passed from this vote (May
26, 2016), until the June 11, 2018 Commission meeting when the following item was placed
on the Consent Agenda, “Authorize the City Manager to execute the Memorandum of
Understanding Between City of Bozeman and the Montana Department of Transportation
(MDT) for the Planning and Construction of Kagy Boulevard - South 19th Avenue to Willson
Avenue, UPN 8931000.”
http://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink8/0/doc/157831/Electronic.aspx So, a $15 million dollar
project (potentially more like $18-$20 million) is decided through a Consent Agenda item,
nearly two years after any public input? And, it should be noted, that the public wanted a
smaller project (three-lane option).
While I think that the process is/was flawed, I also think we need to re-think our priorities
when it comes to transportation in Bozeman. At best, this Kagy project will save motorists 1 to
2 minutes on their commute during peak time. Is that worth $18 million? If we assume three
to four hours of “rush hour” traffic during the work week (Monday-Friday), that equals about
20 hours per week (4 hours * 5 days), which means that Kagy works well about 88% of the
time (148 hours out of 168 hours in a week). Do we need to spend $15 to $18 million on a
road that works fine for the vast majority of the time? If nothing else, we need to revisit this
topic before we spend too much money on a project that won’t make too much of an impact
for most people in Bozeman.
While we do need to work on Kagy, we should only focus on the intersection at Kagy & 11th,
and then “fix” the section from 11th to 19th (sidewalks, bike lanes, etc.). This would likely be
able to be accomplished for $4 to $5 million, money the City already has at its disposal.
Thank you for your time in looking at this issue. As the City has limited resources, we need to
focus on projects that will improve safety, and not on projects that will reduce commutes by
only a few minutes per day. Finally, while I’m sending this to you through my work email, my
views do not express a position by Montana State University, nor do I claim to be representing
the University. We, WTI, are working with the City on a Transportation Demand Management
(TDM) effort, and feel that building bigger roads won’t address many of the community and
transportation issues that we are facing.
I would be happy to set up a meeting with you, other Commissioners, or City Staff to discuss
this further. Thank you for your time.
David
David Kack
Executive Director - Western Transportation Institute
Director - Small Urban, Rural and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM)
Montana State University | PO Box 174250 | Bozeman, MT 59717
406-994-7526 (Office)
dkack@montana.edu
www.westerntransportationinstitute.org
www.surtcom.org