HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20-25 Public Comment - M. Egge - College St Renovation 8th to 11th Comment for 10_21_2025 SessionFrom:Mark Egge
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]College St Renovation 8th to 11th Comment for 10/21/2025 Session
Date:Monday, October 20, 2025 5:11:14 PM
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Mr. Mayor, Mr. Deputy Mayor and City Commissioners,
I'm writing to suggest that College Street between 11th and 8th should bethat of a woonerf—that is, a street that blends pedestrian and vehicle
space, similar to how Aspen Street has been developed (between 5th and
7th Ave), the various residential streets in The Lakes at Valley West (e.g.
Delft Way), or Bell Street in Seattle.
If you spend any time in the corridor during the school year, you'll observe
a constant scrum of students crossing the street entirely at their
convenience. It defies human nature to think that students will choose towalk out of their way to use the proposed mid-block crossing rather than
continuing to cross at their convenience and peril as they currently do.
Narrowing the street, eliminating the curb between the sidewalk level andthe street level, removing the center striping, and paving with pavers or
other materials in a way that communicates the shared nature of the
street will improve the safety and appeal of this corridor.
This corridor is one of the city's few successful commercial nodes that
exists at a neighborhood scale. The success of the businesses in this area
is only possible due to the significant foot traffic in the area.
Woonerfs also create pleasant spaces where people want to be by
integrating landscaping and street trees to a more meaningful and greater
extent than typical boulevard plantings.
When giving direction for the development of this College Street corridor, I
urge you to give strong consideration to a woonerf road design that would
be safer, greener and accessible and equitable to all road users – including
pedestrians.
Thank you,
Mark Egge, AICP1548 S Grand Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715