HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-23 Public Comment - M. Brown - work session J - UDC transportation updateFrom:Marilee Brown
To:Agenda
Subject:work session J - UDC transportation update
Date:Tuesday, March 21, 2023 11:40:09 AM
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Dear Commissioners,
I applaud your effort to make our community functional, affordable and safe. As you continue
to relax developer restrictions and densify the City I believe there are missing items thatdeserve inclusion in the UDC.
Currently Transportation Staff and Citizens have been frustrated with the capacity of local
streets to handle parking, bike lanes, snow removal/storage, and vehicles passing each other allat the same time. Local street design and parking capacity are not even addressed in the
existing UDC.
Local streets were originally designed to be narrower with many driveway accesses allowingfor vehicles to dip into them to allow others to pass. Currently, local street widths are 30 feet
to the top of the curb. Large vehicles are 7.5 feet wide. At least 35 feet is needed to allowparking on both sides, snow at the curb, and passing.
But as the City densifies with large complexes sometimes taking up a whole block with only
one or two drive accesses, it puts extreme pressure on vehicles needing to pass each otherwithin the existing narrow local streets. It gets worse when snow berms infringe into the street
and wider vehicles such as pickup trucks or school busses try to move pass each other.
I personally have been in log jams for up to 20 minutes while school busses tried to make theirway through parked cars and people traveling the opposite direction.
And there is no room for cyclists who are required to use the street if over the age of 14.
Additionally, allowing only one vehicle per bedroom (and less for affordable housing) in
neighborhoods that are dense, is unrealistic. People crowding together in living spaces tomake them affordable, often have two cars per bedroom (one couple per room). Often they
park their car on the street and leave it there while walking or bussing to work and school. Take a drive on South Rouse or near other housing complexes to see just how it’s not working
now.
Please have the UDC address the following in densified areas:
1. Increase off-street parking in densified housing areas and/or eliminate parking on one side
of the street.
2. Require slightly wider local street widths (per best practices) to accommodate cyclists andtwo passing vehicles next to two parked vehicles.
Thank you,
Marilee Brown, Executive Director
Safer Bozeman