HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-13-23 Public Comment - M. Egge - PRAT Plan Comments - Feb 2023From:Mark Egge
To:Agenda; Addi Jadin
Subject:PRAT Plan Comments - Feb 2023
Date:Monday, February 13, 2023 6:16:28 PM
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Hello.
I'm writing to comment on the draft PRAT plan following the January 2023updates. There are three key areas where I would recommend modifying
and enhancing the draft plan:
1) Sidewalks are the backbone of Bozeman's active transportationnetwork. The PRAT plan should acknowledge the central improtance of
sidewalks as the backbone of active transportation in Bozeman, and
address Bozeman's needs for improvement (they're overgrown in the
summer, and 20% unshoveled in the winter, and in many cases 100+years old and buckled and displaced by tree roots, many are not ADA
compliant, etc.). While sidewalks are largely outside the scope of
Bozeman's parks, they may be the most common way people access
parks.
2) The PRAT Plan needs to recommend creating a proper Bicycle and
Pedestrian Master Plan (see MSU's 2017 Bicycle Master Plan for a great
example). As a minimum, such a plan would present:
A full Active Transportation needs assessment. There are hundreds of
investment needs to create the system envisioned by the PRAT plan.
These need to be cataloged, scoped, and estimated for cost.
Revenue forecast based on baseline funding.Full ranking and prioritization of the projects/investments identified in
the needs assessment.
Expanded design standards.
The PRAT plan is good for what it is—but it's no substitute or replacementfor a proper bike/ped master plan. It lacks the specificity of a true
bike/ped master plan (and a true bike/ped master plan is what we need to
move the needle on active transportation in Bozeman).
3) Winter maintenance is super important to enable year-round use of
Bozeman's active transportation facilities. The city has done a great job
this winter of plowing existing shared use paths, but needs to come up
with a strategy for maintaining natural surface anchor routes in the winter(e.g. sweep or compact) and for maintaining connectivity between key
corridors year-around. (I'm thinking of the Gallagator and the Story Mill
Spur Trail in particular.) The plan needs to address winter maintenance
needs and help flesh out a strategy for ensuring that Bozeman's shareduse paths, sidewalks, paths, etc. stay usable throughout the year.
A more minor comment, I'm disappointed to note the absence on the PRAT
AT map of the two-way Babcock cycle-track that is a prominent element ofBozeman's 2017 Transportation Master Plan, recent Downtown
Improvement Plan, and CIP (unscheduled). This corridor (a physically
separated two-way cycle track on the north curb of Babcock between 8th
Avenue and Wallace) would provide a much-needed high-quality east-westroute and critical access to downtown. Downtown should be a preferred
destination for cyclists. At present, it's a barrier.
Overall, it's a solid plan and I think it spells out a great vision for the nextchapter in parks, recreation, and active transportation development.
Thank you for your consideration,
Mark Egge
219 E Story St
Bozeman, MT 59715