HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-23-22 Public Comment - S. Sterry - Re_ Fowler Ave commentsFrom:Sky Sterry
To:Taylor Lonsdale
Cc:Nicholas Ross; Agenda; Trisha Wookey
Subject:Re: Fowler Ave comments
Date:Tuesday, August 23, 2022 12:09:14 PM
Attachments:Cottonwood Corridor Study.pdfFowlerDurston Intersection Letter.pdf
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Hi Taylor,
Thanks for the opportunity, we hope that you are able to fully consider our idea below. I have
attached a letter outlining our concerns and idea for the Fowler Durston intersection, as well asthe Cottonwood Corridor Study. Please confirm on receipt.
Best Regards,
Sky SterryWookey Design Studio, 406-551-2000
4979 Durston Road, Bozeman MT 59718www.wookey.net
On Aug 17, 2022, at 11:05 AM, Taylor Lonsdale <tlonsdale@BOZEMAN.NET>
wrote:
Hi Sky. I received your voicemail today and will call you later today. I wanted to reach
out via email also. I believe you talked with Joey Staszcuk from Sanderson Stewart. The
best way to submit your comments is through me. I will be sure that the design team
receives your comments and info and we can get back to you on questions as well.
Thanks for your engagement and interest.
Taylor Lonsdale, PE | Transportation Engineer
City of Bozeman | 20 E. Olive St. | Bozeman, MT 59715O: 406.582.2286M: 406.946.2188tlonsdale@bozeman.netwww.bozeman.net
pronouns: he\him\his
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Re: Durston / Fowler Intersection
8/23/22
Sky Sterry and Trisha Wookey
4979 Durston Road
Bozeman, Montana 59718
We would like to provide some input for the pre-design phase of the Fowler Expansion project. We own the property located to the
north and west of the Durston / Fowler intersection. The large row of cottonwood trees and the Farmers Canal run on our property
on the west boundary with the proposed Fowler expansion. We have reviewed the initial drawings for the road, been involved with
the early neighborhood stakeholder groups, and engaged with the project at the open houses and City Commission meetings. While
we support the idea of a path and greenspace instead of a road, we’d like to help form the early road design, as we understand that
this process has begun in earnest.
Our main concern is the intersection design at the Fowler / Durston crossing. We appreciate that Sanderson Stewart has embraced
a 3 lane instead of 5 lane option, however, both of the early intersection designs that we saw at the Fire Station Open House and in
the Pre-design Report have the following problems.
• The footprint of the intersection is large, especially for the roundabout option.
• The intersection transects much of our property.
• The early designs look like they would require the removal of many of the Cottonwood trees that form a wildlife corridor and
windbreak along our property.
We are submitting an idea below that helps mitigate the above issues, while adding some novelty to the design and likely saving the
city money at the same time.
We favor a signal intersection over a roundabout for the following reasons.
1. Traffic Study
We attended the Fire Station Open House earlier this summer and reviewed some early designs for the road. We talked for a
while with Joey Staszcuk about the pros and cons of signaled intersections vs roundabouts. He pointed out that roundabouts
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work better when the traffic load is balanced on all four arms of the roundabout, and he noted that the traffic study showed that
it would likely not be balanced at the Fowler / Durston intersection. The Sanderson Stewart pre-design report affirms this
notion. A signal intersection would keep traffic moving at this location better than a roundabout.
2. Light Pollution
At night, roundabouts become a lighthouse of headlights. This becomes a problem in neighborhoods, where the headlights
become a nuisance as they are continuously circling like a lighthouse and shining in the adjacent houses’ windows. We are big
fans of roundabouts, they work great in some areas, but large roundabouts in neighborhoods are not a good idea.
3. Footprint
The footprint of the early roundabout design is enormous. The roundabout proposal drastically increases the cost of the project.
Concomitantly, a roundabout would require larger easements (again, increased cost) and a larger impact on the trees, irrigation
canal, and wildlife/greenspace corridor. The signal intersection footprint is much smaller and costs significantly less.
4. Trees
As a stakeholder in this project, we will protect our trees. We will not support designs that propose to remove any of the large
cottonwood trees along the irrigation canal. These trees provide an important wildlife corridor (please reference the
Cottonwood Corridor Study, document provided with this communication in a separate file), are a wonderful windbreak, and
give a pleasing aesthetic to the neighborhood in the setting sun. The Cottonwood row along the west border of our property is
an important asset and provides value to our property. We will protect our trees.
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5. Homeowner impact mitigation
Plans that require easements on our property will be costly to the city. Tree removal and replacement will be costly. Landscape
mitigation will be costly. We have built a berm with landscaping along Durston, and this berm also mitigates light and noise
pollution at the Durston/Fowler intersection. If city plans encroach on this berm and landscaping, we will require that it be
replaced, replanted and re-landscaped. This is a costly proposition.
Our proposal:
Given the above conditions, we are proposing a signaled intersection with the north/south lanes offset at an angle. Our proposed
design would allow the street to also “meander” and curve from north to south, rather than going in a straight line. The curved road
would be interesting from a design standpoint and would also provide some traffic calming effects. We think that the motif of a
curved road running along the length of the Fowler expansion project would also help ease some of the fears of some of the
homeowners along this corridor. Its not just another city street, it feels organic and flows like a stream. This notion could help bring
some of the stakeholder homeowners on board with the project.
The offset north/south intersection could almost completely avoid costly easement and mitigation at this intersection, and the
signaled intersection would be much less cost than the roundabout option. It would protect the cottonwood corridor, would not
disrupt the Farmers Canal, and would be the best option for traffic control at this intersection. Reduction or elimination of the
median in the 2 lane option would also reduce project costs, and city maintenance costs.
Thank you for your time and consideration, Sky Sterry and Trisha Wookey
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