HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-22-26 Public Comment - C. Loggers - Application 25084_ comments about traffic with staff responseFrom:C&K Ahlen-Logg
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:C&K Ahlen-Logg
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Application 25084: comments about traffic
Date:Sunday, February 22, 2026 1:48:20 PM
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Let me lead by informing you that I support the development of affordable housing and the
project in general. My concern lies with transportation management for the project.
Full disclosure, I own a townhouse at 1488 Juniper St, west of the development; my daughter
and her husband live in the house.
I was heartened to see that the traffic impact study had been updated in December, 2025. I
agree that when considering the major arterials, overall traffic will increase minimally.
However, I think that the updated report misses the friction that exists for drivers exiting the
development will experience when using streets other than Juniper to access arterials. I think
that westbound traffic on Juniper Street, as the project is currently configured, will increase far
more than the modelled patterns suggest. I have provided my concerns and comments to
several city and county officials, as well as to the project planner. I would like to see a
contingency plan developed to change ingress and egress from the development, as well as
traffic flow if my concern materializes, and the conditions under which the plan would be
implemented.
Based on the current plan, only 1 egress from the new Oak Park Drive extension will exist,
and all traffic will be funneled onto Juniper St. I think that most drivers from the proposed
development will want to drive south and to town via Durston, or north to Oak in order to
access the shopping to the east and west. Currently, the most efficient route would be to drive
on Juniper to 15th and then access Durston or Oak from 15th. Juniper street is about 32' wide
(and narrows at the intersection due to pedestrian-friendly bulb-outs). A truck plus mirrors is
about 8' wide. People park in front of their residences on both sides of Juniper St., so about
half the road width could be occupied by parked vehicles. Most people that I have witnessed
driving on Juniper, when both sides of the street have vehicles parked along them, lean
towards driving more or less down the center of the street because of its narrowness. That
situation is not conducive to higher traffic volume, considering that vehicles in the 207
proposed parking spots would probably run the route a few times each day (anticipated 1,281
new daily vehicle trips, with my model showing about 110 trips/hour during peak traffic from
7 to 10 a.m. and again 2 to 4 p.m. (I broadened the peaks in my model; if using the time-slots
in the traffic study the trips/hour would be higher). Additionally, the report seems to
insinuate something similar. Figure 3 on page 11 indicates that 70% of the increase in traffic
will travel west on Juniper to 15th, or about 900 additional trips per day.
Additionally, Juniper forms the southern border of a well-used park that lies just north of the
proposed development. I assume that many young residents from the proposed development
will use the park and have to cross a rather busy street to do so. Finally, though an emergency
exit is proposed to run through the Gallatin Co. Rest Home property, in an extreme emergency
people default to their learned behavior, and that would result in the majority of traffic bottle-
necking at the Juniper-15th junction. It appears from the city plat that the major north-south
arterials west of the area are odd-numbered streets every about 3/4 of a mile, with somewhat
narrower through streets onto which traffic from east-west-running residential streets is
funnelled. This cartesian pattern seems to have been abandoned between 7th and 15th: 11th St
(Oak Park Drive) is not a through street in the developed segment north of the proposed
project, much less to the south, and no others have been platted.
So how to reduce friction and direct traffic away from the rather narrow Juniper St and park
and distribute future congestion? Disincentivizing traffic from driving west on Juniper St.
could be done using selective street narrowing, round-abouts, and/or speed bumps, and I'm
sure other options exist. Snowplows and their drivers do not operate well with speed bumps,
but they do with other options. Minimizing traffic to the west would require better access to
the north and south. Widening Oak Park Drive to the north is not feasible because it is not
even a through street, but an access to Oak could be created by moving traffic along Juniper 1
block to the east and then north via 12th. A better option would be to continue Juniper St. east
to 7th, and then add 11th as a N-S street in keeping with what appears to be city street
patterns. A route south to Durston remains absolutely necessary, for both traffic distribution
and public safety, and the only feasible route is between the Rest Home and the Legion Villa
apartments. None of the options would be popular, and probably would require taking via
eminent domain (I do understand how fraught that issue is for an elected official). However,
that is what elected officials should do: make difficult decisions that might make them
unpopular but which are in the long-term interests of the city and its residents. Other options
to pursue do exist, and include multi-party explorations into land swaps with the LLC adjacent
the property or elsewhere, which could allow better ingress and egress on existing roads.
I wish you luck in developing the project further,
Chris Loggers
509-684-1216
From:Nicholas Ross
To:ckeloggers@gmail.com
Cc:Bozeman Public Comment; Danielle Garber; Taylor Lonsdale
Subject:Response to Public Comment on Application 25084: comments about traffic
Date:Tuesday, February 24, 2026 5:51:36 PM
Attachments:02-22-26 Public Comment - C. Loggers - Application 25084_ comments about traffic.pdf
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Chris, good afternoon.
Thank you for such a thorough and well-informed comment on the Hidden Creek site plan. I hope to provide you with a response to the
concerns and suggestions you’ve raised.
Starting at the system level, you’ve correctly deduced the city’s intent in our Transportation Master Plan to construct a grid of arterial and
collector streets including the missing link of N 11th. We recognize its importance in distributing local street traffic volumes from the
surrounding neighborhoods, and our development code would further require the connection of Juniper St if the intervening land ever
develops.
One of the challenges with use of eminent domain beyond the political stressors you note is that a city may only exercise this power over
property in their jurisdiction. The parcel of land through which this missing segment of N 11th would travel is a County inholding, unannexed
into the city, and therefor eminent domain is not legally possible. The city respects this landowner’s rights and understands after many
conversations over the years that they are not willing to negotiate access at this time.
The city is able and willing to act on your more proximate concerns with traffic management along Juniper Street if issues arise after
occupancy.
I fully agree with your point regarding relatively high traffic volumes along narrow streets. The city has significant experience with this issue in
our oldest parts of town where streets were originally built to 30’ curb-to-curb width. However, Juniper between 14th and 15th is built to the
city-standard Local street section of 35’ curb-to-curb:
We’ve found this to be a “sweet spot” for local streets that allows reasonable passing width for oncoming vehicles while coercing effective
management of vehicle speeds due to the horizontal friction between parked and passing cars. Drivers may not find it particularly
comfortable, but this very effect is what induces the calming of speeds.
Pedestrian safety, particularly near parks and schools, is a high priority for the city and we’ve recently launched a citywide Traffic Calming
program to address exactly these types of concerns. We encourage neighbors to provide us with feedback once Hidden Creek is occupied and
will stand ready to work on solutions for crossing safety if they arise.
While we recognize the constraints of this site are not ideal, we are grateful for our Gallatin County partners offering the land for a truly
affordable level of housing in the heart of the community and will do our part in street management to integrate the new residents into the
surrounding neighborhood.
Thanks again for taking the time to make an excellent public comment.
-Nick
Nicholas Ross, P.E.
Director | Transportation and Engineering
City of Bozeman
C: 406-595-3437
O: 406-582-2315
nicholas.ross@bozemanmt.gov