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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-03-26 Public Comment - H. Stanley - MDT Project Planning and VisibilityFrom:Douglas Fischer To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:Fwd: [EXTERNAL]Fwd: MDT Project Planning and Visibility Date:Thursday, September 3, 2026 6:08:58 AM Good morning colleagues, Forwarding this to public comment as requested. Douglas Fischer | Deputy Mayor Bozeman City Commission121 N. Rouse St. Bozeman, MT 59715 Begin forwarded message: From: halstanley@me.comDate: September 2, 2026 at 2:22:21 PM MDTTo: Douglas Fischer <Douglas.Fischer@bozemanmt.gov>Subject: [EXTERNAL]Fwd: MDT Project Planning and Visibility  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. Hi Douglas, Sent you an email Sunday with my frustration at trying to contact the City Commissioners thru the “ASK” Bozeman method which apparently didn’t worksince I did not receive a response. Would love it you forwarded this to the Commission and ask them to set a time to publicly review this project. Thanks, Hal Begin forwarded message: From: halstanley@me.comSubject: MDT Project Planning and Visibility Date: September 2, 2026 at 2:12:40 PM MDT To: vipreagle@gmail.com Dear Mr. Sanders: I am writing to you in your capacity as District 2 Commissioner for MDT. I am also an Air Force Veteran so I am thinking we havesimilar discipline and orientation on doing things ethically and responsibly. My specific concern is the MDT project at Kagy &Sourdough in Bozeman. But generally I am displeased with how MDT interacts with the public on these projects. I write to youbecause there is no option to send an email to an MDT person like Thaddeus Lisnik, the Project Manager ,or even a Director or higherup Manager at MDT! I can understand and support using contractors, like Sanbell on MDT projects, but MDT seems to try to totally insulate themselves fromthe public with these Contractors, who are not actual State employees who are working for Montana taxpayers. The first I and many othersheard about this project was a postcard about the meeting on August 24th at Valley View Golf clubhouse. Several hundred people waitedin line and tried to squeeze around tables to talk to consultants and see their drawings which were not large enough to view well. NoMDT representatives or local government people were there!! When I and others tried to ask questions on how this project fit in with therest of Kagy or why there hasn’t been more input and interface with the public, the consulates said they weren’t responsible or only hadthis small intersection on their radar. Some admitted they wondered if the design parameters were well thought out and done in the scopeof the total street from the West Kagy project thru the City limits. Also I talked to a City Commissioner who said they knew no moreabout it than what we were getting at that “open house”. MDT may have oversight of this Montana highway thru Bozeman, but surely theCity Commission and the public should have some approval? The West Kagy project has taken at least 15 years to get to “maybe” groundbreaking this fall. I know because I went to a meeting at theMSU Stadium where several designs were presented and the public was asked for comment in 2011 timeframe. That has been anexcruciatingly slow response to fixing a major transportation problem in Bozeman. Now MDT seems to be taking a different path - designand present to the public fait accompli! Was there any study on the traffic that preceded this supposed solution to a very dangerous intersection? Traffic coming from theEast often is going 45 mph as it comes over the hill at Highland intersection and visibility is less than 100 yards while massivenumbers of vehicles are turning from Highland where the oncoming traffic has the right of way. Traffic backs up on Highland withnormal backups of 10-15 vehicles at rush hour times. These people are anxious to enter Kagy and take risks! Also there is a bike pathending there and many cyclists use this area of Kagy and also turn on Sourdough where similar backups and attempts to enter are going onwhich this new stoplight is supposed to help. My personal opinion is that putting a stoplight here will cause more accidents as downhillspeeders go thru a curve approaching the “new Stoplight” and can’t slow soon enough. West of the proposed intersection 25 yards is a Bridge over BozemanCreek. The City has committed to a resolution to improve how that waterway flows thru Bozeman. If a project is going to be done 25yards from it, reviewing the design and possibilities to widen the underpass and perhaps make the road ten feet higher so a pedestrianunderpass could happen along the Creek should be at least examined. Also since we have two lanes each direction coming in the newproject West of Willson, are we sure going down to one lane each way with a very curved road between Tracy and Sourdough is goingto handle traffic and be safe for cyclists?? Please help me and a lot of others who are very upset with this project get some input and influence on making the entire street workas it flows through Bozeman. These project tend to only happen every 50 years which is a long time to wait for something that willreally help transportation in our City work effectively!