HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-21 Public Comment - D. Kack - Kagy Blvd ExpansionFrom: dwkack@aol.com
To: Agenda
Subject: [SENDER UNVERIFIED]Kagy Boulevard Discussion
Date: Friday, February 26, 2021 9:41:07 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Commissioners,
I look forward to the Commission meeting on Tuesday night, especially the Kagy Boulevard Expansion
Informational Session. In reviewing the memo for this item, I was most interested that there are no
alternatives being considered. As we have discussed in the past, I think that a thorough analysis of a
three-lane alternative is needed. A few points to consider as you prepare for the meeting:
1) How much public involvement was there in this project? While there were some meetings of the "Kagy
Stakeholders Group," I believe that there was only one true public meeting regarding this project. That
meeting took place in 2016 at the Bobcat Club (MSU/Bobcat Stadium), and the outcome of that meeting
was that 80% of the people noted that a three-lane option was their preferred alternative.
2) Have traffic projections been revised/recalculated at all based on the pandemic or current information?
It appears that many people are interested in continuing to work from home (WFH), as noted below. And,
while there will be continued growth in Bozeman, the connection of Graf to 19th Avenue should reduce
pressure on Kagy, at least from the south part of town.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve thinks that WFH is going to be a long-term
trend: https://www.frbatlanta.org/blogs/macroblog/2021/02/24/wfh-onstage-and-here-to-stay
This past summer the City of Fort Collins administered a survey to City employees to learn more
about their experiences teleworking and gauging their interest in telework post-COVID to help inform
long-term policies. We had over 1000 employees respond (~60% response rate) with overwhelming
interest to telework into the future.
Some highlights include:
>1000 employees responded, ~60% response rate
75% respondents indicated they are teleworking (still are)
90% want to continue teleworking post-COVID 20-100% of the time
Joe Minicozzi at Urban3 provided some information on a potential road expansion project which
included a discussion of traffic estimates. The approximate time that you should begin listening is
about 11:43 minutes in and end at about 18:50 minutes in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xuLwOeJQ7-c
3) If the City were provided $16 million in funds for road work, would this really be the only project that
would be selected for spending those funds? While MDT's urban funds can only be spent on urban
routes, there are other urban routes that are in need of work. While I could spend a while to discuss
funding, why do we have a Collectors and Arterials property tax? Why is the City not working with Gallatin
County to implement a Local Option Gas Tax so we get motorist, like myself, to pay our share for our
impact on streets, rather than pass the cost along to property tax owners?
In the end, I think that a "trade-offs analysis" comparing a three-lane to four-lane configuration is needed
to determine which configuration would be best. Additional public input would help to further this decision
as well. Given that this is a significant project, I beleive it behooves us to take a step back, complete an
updated analysis, and move forward from there. Given that construction won't start until 2025, a short
time to re-think this project shouldn't cause any concern, and may end up helping the City save millions of
dollars.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this information.
--David Kack
1107 Pinnacle Star Street
Bozeman, MT 59715