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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-31-24 Public Comment - Z. Osman - Fowler Ave Connection_ Considerations for 30% Design Walk-Through on 06_12_24From:Zehra Osman To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Terry Cunningham; Douglas Fischer; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic; Nicholas Ross; Takami Clark; Alex Nordquest; Mitchell Overton Subject:[EXTERNAL]Fowler Ave Connection: Considerations for 30% Design Walk-Through on 06/12/24 Date:Thursday, May 30, 2024 5:21:52 PM 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. Honorable Mayor Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Morrison, Commissioners Madgic and Fischer, Director of Transportation and Engineering Nick Ross, Communications and Engagement Manager Clark, and Transportation Advisory Board Members, Thank you for providing the public the opportunity to walk through the Fowler Avenue Connection (FAC) project corridor with the Director Ross on June 12, 2024. This is an important step in facilitating public engagement because many members of the public are not familiar with reading plan drawings. The section- elevation drawings provided at the May 8 Open House were helpful, however, they show a generic/idealized illustration that doesn’t necessarily reflect actual conditions or answer everyone’s questions. During the walk-through, members of the public will be able to ask questions and become more familiar with those aspects of the project they are either most excited about or most concerned about. Friends of Fowler Connector (FFC) requests the following objectives and information requests be considered during this walk-through. These objectives are based upon most frequently asked questions by FFC members and other concerned Bozemanites. During the FAC walk-through: Please include all 3 sections of the FAC project: Members of the public deserve to to know what is planned for the specific section they are most concerned about. Some are concerned about trees/riparian area/wildlife. Others are concerned about mitigation of traffic directly in front of their homes. Some are concerned about safety for active transportation proposals. We are enthusiastically optimistic that this request is doable! Each section (Oak to Durston, Durston to Babcock, and Babcock to Huffine) is only 0.5 miles in length and the total length is 1.5 miles. With an agenda and itinerary, members of the public can join the walk-through for a specific section of the FAC or participate in walking through the entire length of the project. FFC will cooperate with you in staying true to staying on the agenda. If you cannot schedule time for all 3 sections in one walk-through field trip, please consider splitting the walkthrough up on different days. If this cannot happen prior to Director Ross’s presentation to the City Commission on June 18, 2024, please consider postponing the June 18, 2024 City Commission meeting until the public can participate on a walk-through so they can truly understandthe project and subsequently participate in the public engagement process. Please show where tree/vegetation loss will occur. Please show where the irrigation ditch will need to be put into a pipe, which will cause loss of vegetation that is sustained by the irrigation ditch. Please show the extent of disturbance/impact so the public can see how close the road is to the riparian area and to the houses (using flagging or rod, etc.). Please show how close the proposed pathways will be to the edge of the road. During the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) meeting, Director Ross mentioned that the pathways adjacent (within 17-feet) to both road edges of the FAC are important because they provide the footprint for future expansion options. This statement has caused concern. The pathway should be a pleasant walk nearer to the riparian area. Preserving future expansion options was not part of the Commission’s 2022 agreed-upon conditions. The FFC, concerned Bozemanites, and even some members of the TAB (05/22/24 meeting) prefer the shared pathway to be on one side of the road, with maximum separation from the road edge, while preserving the riparian corridor. Please show how bike lanes in the road will work where there is road-side parking. Please discuss shared-use path location options through all three sections. At the May 22 TAB meeting, some TAB members advocated for the share-use path to be all on one side or the other of the FAC. However, at the TAB meeting there was no substantive discussion of possible resulting trade-offs with natural resources. Shared-use path continuity is affected by how the roadway switches from being on the east side to the west side of the riparian corridor. Forcing the pathway to be all on one side may cause significant loss of the riparian corridor. Additionally, if the shared-use path will be the west side’s connection to the GVLT’s Raptor Route, it’s important to discuss how to make this N-S connection a beautiful trail that winds along the existing riparian corridor with mature trees, which is preferable than a sidewalk up against the FAC roadway. See KBZK’s video on this trail https://www.kbzk.com/news/local-news/gallatin-valley-land-trusts-raptor-route-to-make-bozeman-trails-safer-from-west-side-to-the-m . Consider beginning the project at the southern segment between Huffine and Babcock. The existing section of the FAC in this location is riddled with safety concerns, including pedestrian/bike crossings to the Bozeman Ponds park, the sports park at Hyalite Elementary School, and resident parking. Also, since this section already exists, it is a great test case for how to handle the riparian corridor of mature trees and wildlife/birds at Bozeman Ponds. This will go a long way in building community trust. Please invite City Forester Alex Nordquest and Parks and Rec Director Mitch Overton to this walk- though. We look forward to hearing back from you and Director Ross on whether we can include all sections of the FAC from Oak to Huffine and whether the walking tour can address the above list of objectives. We then look forward to meeting you outside to walk together. Respectfully, Zehra Osman, Representing Friends of Fowler Connector 312 Sanders Ave, 59718 Cc: Transportation Advisory Board Members, Urban Parks and Forestry Board members, public recordfor comments@bozeman.net