Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-25-24 Public Comment - A. Kociolek - My Fowler 30% commentFrom:Alex Newby To:Dangie Krza-Kociolek Cc:Mike Maas Subject:RE: [EXTERNAL]My comment Date:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 10:40:00 AM Hi Angie, Sure, I will do that, and we will run it again. Happy birding! Take care, Alex -----Original Message-----From: Dangie Krza-Kociolek <dangie@me.com>Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 10:22 AMTo: Alex Newby <anewby@BOZEMAN.NET>Subject: [EXTERNAL]My comment CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unlessyou recognize the sender and know the content is safe. hi Alex, I’ve been told by others that my attachment in PDF to my public comment Email is not readily obvious tothe reader. It took me a while to figure out that it is linked in the subject line area, but for people who don’t take thetime to hunt for my actual comment they may not see it and I really hope that all the commissioners and otherpeople CCed in my original comment (and others) actually have a chance to read it. So is there a way for you to pullmy PDF comments into the main viewer? Thanks, Angie. PS I’ll resend it to you for your convenience Sent from my iPhone June 18, 2024 Dear Mayor Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Morrison, Commissioners Bode, Fischer and Madgic, Transportation Director Ross, Transportation Advisory Board (TAB), Parks & Recreation Director Overton, and Urban Parks & Forestry Advisory Board (UPF), From where I sit as an engaged citizen, it appears the Fowler Avenue Connection project is moving forward despite continued doubts about its necessity and discomfort with its price tag. My preference would be for the City to not move forward on this project. However, if it is moving forward, then I intend to remain in the conversation. In the spirit of working with the City to find a reasonable balance, I have familiarized myself with the documents on engage.bozeman.net, attended the May 8th meeting at the Safety Center, and joined the June 12th walking tour of the project corridor. I have also spent considerable time thinking about this project and its benefits and impacts. I offer this comment in the hopes you will consider what I have to say as a community-oriented and ecologically educated Bozeman citizen of almost 30 years. I hold a Master’s Degree in Biological Sciences (Conservation Emphasis) from MSU-Bozeman and formerly worked as a Road Ecology Researcher at the Western Transportation Institute for almost a decade. Also, I once served as the Conservation Chair of Sacajawea Audubon Society and a Board Member of the Big Sky Wind Drinkers running club. More recently, I served on the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board before it became the Urban Parks & Forestry Advisory Board for which I served as Chair for two years. During my tenure I helped improve the Parks, Recreation and Active Transportation (PRAT) Plan ultimately adopted by the Commission. I am a founding member of the Bozeman Tree Coalition but am submitting this letter as an individual. I am also an avid user of trails, shared use paths, and sidewalks to walk, run, bike and bird. And, yes, I also drive a street vehicle. My comment is divided into two sections: 1. Direct feedback to the agenda notes provided to you tonight. 2. Additional thoughts and photos for your consideration. 1. Direct feedback to the agenda notes - copied and pasted here followed by my comments in green Commission has previously advanced the Fowler Avenue Connection project out of the pre-design phase with the following criteria: One travel lane in each direction - Agree Left turn lanes as needed - Agree Traffic signal intersection control at Babcock - Agree Roundabout intersection control at Durston - Agree Wide shared use path on at least one side - Agree – noting that for cost, space, practicality, need, and environmental considerations, a shared use path is only necessary on one side of the road. This assumes a sidewalk will be available on the other side of the road. Utilization of flexible design criteria to preserve existing tree canopy - Agree – noting that best practice would be to avoid tree removal and to add an adequate un-mowed natively vegetated buffer/setback. The purpose of the buffer/setback is to protect the rootzone of existing trees and to maintain ecological function of the trees as well as to add biodiversity and pollinator habitat in the form of flowering plants, among other benefits. I am heartened Director Ross adopted the buffer/setback suggestion made at the May 8th Safety Center meeting. I believe I have heard him refer to this concept as the zone of influence, using “buffer” instead to mean newly planted trees for air and light pollution abatement. Some time spent agreeing on terminology would be useful. The Oak to Durston segment will traverse east of the Section Line Ditch in order to minimize tree removal and allow the ditch to remain open. Agree The proposed typical section of this segment includes one travel lane in each direction, shared use path on the west both sides of the corridor Only one continuous shared use path is needed in this project. a landscaped media with A minor arterial does not require a median (eg. Willson Ave). Having no median saves space. The only place where a median could potentially prove useful (if safety engineers deem it so) would be to save the stand of trees just north of Annie. Photo below. left turn pockets, full connection of Annie St, Given the short distance between side streets, an Annie connection is not necessary and its elimination from the 60% design can save money. and roundabout intersection control at Durston. Note Due to the offset alignment required to minimize tree and ditch disturbance, this segment requires approximately 5 acres of right of way acquisition This may also be offset by eliminating a median from the design. and has a projected total cost of approximately $11.5m. This alignment also leaves approximately 5 acres of a city-owned parcel located in the southwest quadrant of the Oak-Fowler intersection. The Durston to Babcock segment covers two distinct existing conditions. The north half of this segments consists of an existing portion of Fowler Ave. This was very useful to see on the walking tour and can serve as a template for future sections: One travel lane in each direction, a shared use path on one side, and a sidewalk on the other. The tour clarified for me that which was very confusing in the design documents and in the rather repetitive TAB discussions. Note: the condition of the asphalt on the existing shared use path shows that pavement is not necessarily the best solution and is not without its maintenance issues. Photo below. This portion was originally constructed as a half-street to serve the adjacent subdivision to the east. The south half of this segment traverses a greenfield alignment as no existing portion of Fowler has been constructed through this County inholding. This trail section is not currently paved but, practically speaking, it would seem to make sense to choose one substrate for the entire continuous AT route from Babcock to Oak. Care should be taken during trail re-construction to minimize impacts to the ditch and existing vegetation. Based on public engagement received at the pre-design phase, staff proposes a two-lane alignment through this segment in order to maintain the existing curb-to-curb width along the existing portion of Fowler and avoid environmental impacts in the south half of the segment. Agree The existing portion of Fowler will not be widened, nor will the existing path along the west side of the corridor be impacted. Agree Impacts to the ditch and tree corridor will be limited to only what is necessary to tie the southern potion of the alignment into the existing intersection at Babcock. Agree Multimodal connectivity is currently proposed in this segment by preserving and improving the shared use path along the west side of the corridor and constructing an on-street bike lane A bike lane seems unnecessary when a shared use path is mere feet away. Eliminating this feature will improve bicyclist safety and save money. and sidewalk along the east side of the corridor. Agree Shared use path cannot be constructed along the east side of the corridor without impacting the property frontages within right of way along the existing portion of Fowler. Agree and it is not needed anyway. The intersection of Fowler and Babcock is proposed to be served by traffic signal control per the terms of the pre- design phase. Good idea! This intersection would benefit from a pedestrian/cyclist crosswalk across Fowler with a manually trigged flashing light such as is found on the Path to the M and the corner of Rouse Avenue and Lamme Street. This would allow cyclists to safely cross from the trail in Bozeman Ponds to the west side of Fowler where the continuous shared use path would be. Strategically placed way finding from the Bozeman Ponds park to the intersection at Fowler/across Babcock to the trail northward would make a rather seamless experience for a cyclist from Huffine all the way to Oak. Due to the offset alignment required to minimize tree and ditch disturbance, this segment requires approximately 3 acres of right of way acquisition and has a projected total cost of approximately $6.6m. Money well spent in the context of this project. The Babcock to Huffine segment will again generally consist of a two-lane alignment in order to utilize the existing street infrastructure and reduce environmental impacts to the ditch corridor. Agree Minor widening will be necessary to construct curb and gutter for stormwater control along the east side of the street. The existing ditch and tree corridor will remain in current condition. Agree Multimodal connectivity will be achieved through this segment by improving and extending the existing shared use path on the east side of the ditch corridor Agree and constructing a new on-street bike lane in the southbound direction coupled with the existing sidewalk along the west side of the corridor. This segment does not require right of way acquisition and has a total projected cost of approximately $1.5m. Public comment has suggested incorporating the expertise of an Ecologist to assist the design team as we move into the 60% phase and staff intends to explore that possibility. Yes, a project of this scope requires an interdisciplinary team with a Road or Urban Ecologist being an obvious choice. WTI is a frequent partner with the City and the City would do well to engage them in this discussion as well. An Ecology Team would be important in determining the natural resources on site pre-construction, road and trail placement, erosion control, habitat management options, etc. The proposed 30% design meets all but one of the six criteria established for project advancement in the pre-design phase. The proposed 30% design is unable to achieve a continuous shared use path in at least one direction. I do not understand or agree with the preceding statement. Discussion above illustrates how a shared use path IS CONTINUOUS from Babcock to Oak. This is remarkable and the fact that it would tie in with the existing trail sections helps the project be more straightforward, less environmentally impactful, and less costly. In order to accomplish this goal, additional minor impacts would occur to the tree and ditch corridor, the existing street frontage on the west side of Fowler from Huffine to Babcock, Ok with the bike lane so long as parking is not allowed on that stretch or the existing street frontage on east side of Fowler from Durston to its current end point along the southern boundary of the Fowler Place subdivision. The Transportation Advisory Board, in their role recommending policy-level suggestions to the City Commission, strongly encouraged Commission to consider achieving this goal as a priority during their a Work Session held at their May meeting. This would be achieved as stated above – amazingly – from Huffine to Babcock via the trail at Bozeman Ponds then from Babcock to Oak via the future connected shared use path on the west side of Fowler. Policy-level items: 1. continuous shared use path in at least one direction - Resolved as stated above 2. connection of local streets - Unnecessary at Annie 3. additional allocation of right of way – If this means retaining trees then that is the most noble use of our taxpayer dollars. Trees are appreciating assets that provide habitat to wildlife and ecosystem services to humans. We should be very judicious in tree removal for this road building project especially when our City plans say we want people to bike and walk more and use cars less. 2. Additional thoughts for your consideration. During the walking tour, someone asked about future protections for the forested ditch corridor. Prior to the tour, I had suggested replicating the bird sanctuary model from Story Mill Community Park and received positive feedback from at least one commissioner. I believe the local neighborhood would welcome a Natural Area Park as well. No matter the specific designation, it would be fitting to zone the forested ditch corridor as PLI (Public Lands and Institutions). Additionally, it was shocking to learn that the Parks and Rec Department and its affiliated UPF Advisory Board has not yet been brought into the Fowler Discussion. I say this for two reasons, 1. What other department/advisory board deals with natural areas? 2. It was stated more than once during my term that the UPF Board would be part of the Fowler bike/ped discussion. It seems to me that the Transportation Advisory Board is being given a disproportionate amount of influence while other important citizen advisory boards like the UPF are being excluded. It seems that ever since the Super Board model went into effect, that the Advisory Board in the parks/forestry purview is no longer being asked for its input on important topics like subdivision review and this roadbuilding project proposed through a natural area. I believe this should change. In conclusion, I would like to thank Nick Ross and his team for listening to the public’s concerns about this controversial project. He has shown that he is willing to listen to our collective ideas to reduce negative impacts, make reasonable tradeoffs, and advance our City towards an environmental stewardship ethic. In conclusion, please support the following: 1. A separated shared use path ON ONE SIDE of the road CONTINUOUS from Oak to Babcock with a single substrate type. This would tie into the upgraded intersection at Babcock and Fowler and then the existing trail at Bozeman Ponds. 2. No connection at Annie. 3. Financial resources for allocation of right of way if it means more trees will be allowed to remain standing and buffered. 4. Zone the forested ditch corridor as PLI. Thanks for your consideration of my suggestions and be sure to take a look at the photos that follow. Sincerely, Angie Kociolek 620 N Tracy Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 PHOTOS Can these trees be saved by orienting one travel lane to either side for a short section of road? Paving a trail is not always the answer.