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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-16-24 Public Comment - S. Sterry - Story_Wookey Fowler FAC CommentsFrom:Sky Sterry To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Trisha Wookey Subject:[EXTERNAL]Story/Wookey Fowler FAC Comments Date:Tuesday, July 16, 2024 11:38:07 AM Attachments:Fowler FAC SterryWookey Comments City 041624.pdf 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. Thank you for the opertunity to engage with this project! Our comments for tonights meeting about the FAC are below. Sky Sterry Wookey Design Studio, 406-551-20004979 Durston Road, Bozeman MT 59718 www.wookey.net July 11, 2024 Re: Fowler Avenue Connection (FAC) project To Whom it may concern My main concern is the proposed roundabout at Durston and Fowler. We would prefer to see a stoplight intersection Durston and Fowler. A traffic light has the following benefits. • Smaller footprint and impact. • Less Expensive. • More pedestrian friendly, the traffic circle as proposed will not be easy to navigate on foot. • It will be easier for vehicles to enter Durston from side streets when the stoplight creates a break in the flow of traffic. • No “lighthouse” effect at night from the circling vehicles shining headlights into houses. It is clear from the traffic study presented by Sanderson Stewart that the traffic circle will result in a drastic increase in traffic going east and west on Durston. Additionally, the traffic circle will make this traffic a steady stream, instead of creating breaks in the traffic with a stop-lighted intersection. We have one of the last driveways on Durston, it is already very difficult to pull out of our driveway and on to Durston. The Traffic circle will make our driveway problem even worse; 1. There wont be breaks in the steady stream of traffic. 2. The volume of traffic will be increased by the FAC. We would prefer a lighted intersection. If the city MUST pursue a traffic circle, we propose the following: • City to move our driveway to Hanson street. • Berm and barrier trees around the traffic circle. We are encouraged by the apparent commitment by the FAC to the following objectives: o Community engagement and support. o Preservation of the greenspace, the trees, root-zones, and an open flowing section line irrigation canal. o Buffer zones between houses and the FAC, including trees and berms to reduce the noise and light pollution from the road. o Use of on-site soils to create buffers. o Creation of a continuous walking/bike path along the corridor. Additionally, we would like to see the following: 1) Reduce width of the width of the road wherever possible. o Remove raised medians to reduce road width. o Reduce lane width to calm traffic and reduce road width. o Reduce BLVD width wherever possible to decrease overall footprint of the project and impact on the existing trees. 2) Change walking path BLVD between Oak to West side only, and make it wider by 3 feet. o Use this path for both pedestrian and bike travel. 3) Re-use ALL on-site dirt to create berm buffers along the roundabout and east and west sides of the streets. o Maximize the distance between the road and existing section line ditch wherever possible to protect root zones. 4) Reduce speed to 25mph throughout the entire FAC section. This will keep a consistent speed that will accommodate schools, parks and playing fields. Fowler Project Notes 7/10/24 Sky Sterry and Trisha Wookey, 4979 Durton Road, Bozeman Montana Roundabouts turn into virtual “Lighthouses” at night, and the headlights tend to shine in the windows of adjacent houses and can shine into windows up to a half mile away. We’d like to see additional mitigation of the Lighthouse eect with berms and trees to protect all neighboring houses from obtru- sive lights. Berm extended across irrigation canal Berm Buer Trees Buer Trees Driveway moved to HANSON St Berm covers old driveway Moving the driveway to Hanson would give us the option of using Hansen to access Durston or dive North to Oak street to a street light in peak trac hours.