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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-26-26 Public Comment - R. Watson - Response to Public Comment on Crosswalk Maintenance with staff responseFrom:R W To:Nicholas Ross Cc:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Re: Response to Public Comment on Crosswalk Maintenance Date:Friday, June 26, 2026 1:09:04 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. Dear Nick, Thank you for your quick and thoughtful response. I appreciate you taking the time to writeback, as I know how busy you are. I understand there are ongoing discussions regarding whether the city or the state is responsible for certain stretches of road, but I have a few follow-up questions: - Who is responsible for the decision to use chip seal within city limits? While I assume it ischosen for the climate, it seems to cause significant paint durability issues on these slower roads. Is this considered the best long-term option, given that we don't often see this approachin other states? - Who was responsible for the repainting after the chip seal was last applied on this specificstretch? I believe it has been about three years since that work was completed. Moving toward epoxy applications and securing contractor assistance sounds like a great step forward, so thank you for outlining that plan. I appreciate everything you do to keep our infrastructure maintained; I know it’s a challengingjob. All the best, Ryan Watson On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 6:56 PM Nicholas Ross <Nicholas.Ross@bozemanmt.gov> wrote: Hi Ryan, Thanks for such a thoughtful comment and request for improved crosswalk painting around town,particularly on the routes you’ve mentioned. First off, I completely agree that this feels like the lowest hanging fruit. I’ve unfortunately beenhumbled in the four years I’ve served as Director of Transportation & Engineering for the city bythe huge level of effort it takes to refresh crosswalks each year. We have a dedicated crew in our Streets Department responsible for maintenance of all city-owned street lights, traffic signals,traffic calming, signs, and crosswalks. The crux of the problem we face is the relatively extremeenvironmental conditions that quickly wear the durability of the paint application we have the equipment to apply. A far heavier lift than when I served the city of Pittsburgh and others in the east. In spite of their best efforts, crosswalks are often worn off from one season to the next and we often run out of time to hit them all by the end of the summer. To help support our staff and ourcommunity, I plan to begin bringing on contractor assistance next year for more durable epoxypaint applications. This comes at significant cost, but we’ll do our best to balance this need withthe budget available and bring these needed improvements to the public. -Nick Nicholas Ross, P.E. Director | Transportation and Engineering City of Bozeman C: 406-595-3437 O: 406-582-2315 nicholas.ross@bozemanmt.gov City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.