HomeMy WebLinkAboutComprehensive Sidewalk ProgramBozeman Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
Created by, Responsible to, and Serving
The City of Bozeman, County of Gallatin, and School District 7
Mailing Address: c/o County Commissioners’ Office, 311 West Main, Bozeman MT 59715 Ralph W. Zimmer, Chairperson, (406) 586-9152 Gary Vodehnal, Vice Chairperson
January 14, 2009
Mayor Jacobson and Members
Bozeman City Commission
City Hall
Bozeman, Montana 59771-1230
Dear Mayor Jacobson and Commissioners,
We thank you for your commitment to pedestrian and traffic safety
and your support of complete streets that include sidewalks, bike lanes and
trail networks in all future developments.
Pedestrian safety needs to be a top priority in our community and we
strongly urge you to resurrect the former sidewalk improvement program,
appropriately modify it, and broaden its scope. As you can see in the
attachment, the Bozeman Transportation Coordinating Committee recently
unanimously adopted a motion calling on the City to “.. to adopt a
comprehensive policy on sidewalk installation, maintenance, and replacement.”
Unfortunately there are many missing sidewalk sections throughout the
City that force people to walk in the streets. We believe a sidewalk program
should include the following key elements discussed in greater detail below:
Missing Links
- Identify & prioritize the missing links with the most
dangerous and heaviest used sections receiving highest priority.
Deteriorated and Substandard Sidewalks – Identify, prioritize, and
implement a maintenance program that replaces or repairs
deteriorated and substandard sidewalks that do not meet ADA or
other safety criteria.
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Implementation
- Identify funding sources and a realistic timeline for
sidewalk construction, repair and upgrades.
Avoid Unnecessary Controversy
- Avoid trying to force sidewalks on
older neighborhoods (like New Hyalite View) where there will be
significant opposition from homeowners. We need to concentrate our
efforts on filling the gaps along arterial and connector streets where
need is greatest and safety is an issue.
Winter Maintenance
Our community has made significant investments in pedestrian and
traffic infrastructure over the past decade. Recent residential and
commercial developments have created miles of new roads, sidewalks and
bike lanes in the city. We continue to work towards building more complete
streets with each new development and city improvement project. Our
community needs to commit the resources necessary to maintain and improve
this vital transportation network. If we want Bozeman to remain on the list
of most walkable cities and if we want to be a leader in sustainability, we
must think about how the maintenance and the completeness of our sidewalk
system affect these goals.
We understand the City had a sidewalk program in the past and that this
program was intended for and used to fill in missing sections of sidewalk and
to replace sections of deteriorated sidewalk. It is also our understanding
that the program was suspended several years ago due in part to lack of
support in particular from one neighborhood. We feel that a sidewalk
program is a critical piece of transportation infrastructure development and
needs to be reinstated.
– Continue to require homeowners who live along
local streets to promptly remove snow and ice from sidewalks, but
consider having the City assist in plowing sidewalks along arterials and
collectors along with official Safe Routes to School streets to
facilitate safe winter pedestrian travel.
Our committee has been discussing the idea for several months and we
have developed a vision for a new sidewalk program for the city. We have
been working closely with the Bozeman Area Transportation Plan consultants
to identify our community’s sidewalk needs and these have been incorporated
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into the public draft of the Transportation Plan and the Safe Routes to
School Plan. We feel this plan needs to encompass four key pieces:
Missing Links: First, we need to make an effort to fill in the
missing pieces of sidewalk around the city. Filling in the missing gaps in
the sidewalk system can help us reduce the pedestrian deaths and
injuries that are becoming much more prevalent. These are usually
small sidewalk sections that have for any number of reasons never
been constructed. Our committee developed a prioritized list of
locations that we feel are critical to the sidewalk network. They
include areas of importance to Safe Routes to Schools and general
pedestrian safety and connectivity. The highest priorities would
include for example heavily travelled arterial streets like North 7th
Avenue, College Street, and South 3rd Avenue. The very lowest
priorities would include older neighborhoods where sidewalks were not
included in the development plans and the majority of neighbors do
not want sidewalks.
Deteriorated Sidewalks: The second piece of the program
would be to repair existing, but deteriorated sidewalks within the
City. We understand that city ordinance requires that property
owners remove snow and ice in the winter
and maintain a safe sidewalk in front of their properties. In many
instances this is not happening and the sidewalks around the city are
suffering from neglect. By the same token, sidewalks that are not
regularly maintained are not only less usable but deteriorate more
rapidly and therefore need replacement more quickly. Extending the
life of our sidewalks through a complete and well funded maintenance
and improvement program makes sense from a budget and
sustainability standpoint as well as from a safety perspective. We
feel that the establishment of a city wide program for repair and
replacement of sidewalks is an appropriate and proactive step in
providing for the upkeep of this important transportation component.
Substandard Sidewalks: The third part of this improvement
program would be to set a goal of making all sidewalk street crossings
in our City accessible to all users, especially those with disabilities,
children travelling to school, and areas frequented by the elderly. All
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crossings should be inventoried and a priority list created that would
guide future work on creating a completely accessible sidewalk
system.
Implementation & Funding: The fourth and very key component
of this program is funding. It is our vision that this program be
funded annually through the budget process and that the priorities be
set through mechanisms in place such as the transportation plan and
the capital improvement plan. We also suggest that innovative
financing programs be created to help adjacent land owners cost
share portions of this improvement program with low interest loans,
block grants, and special improvement district revolving funds. Our
research confirms that other large communities in Montana like
Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, and Helena have active sidewalk
programs and make substantial investments in pedestrian
infrastructure on a yearly basis through general fund allocations, cost
sharing programs, and grants. We feel it is time for Bozeman to step
up to the challenge.
Please consider the long term implications of neglecting our sidewalk
infrastructure. We need to put the same care and thought into maintaining,
improving, and expanding our sidewalk system so that it is safe and usable
for everyone.
Thank you again for your dedication in making Bozeman a walkable
community. We stand ready to assist you and/or City staff in implementing
TCC’s recommendation.
Sincerely,
Ralph W. Zimmer, Chairperson
Bozeman Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
attachment
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planning • • • • zoning • • • • subdivision review • • • • annexation • • • • historic preservation •••• housing • • • • grant administration • • • • neighborhood coordination
BOZEMAN AREA TRANSPORTATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE
January 7, 2009
Mayor Jacobson and Members of the Bozeman City Commission
Bozeman City Hall
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
RE: TCC RECOMMENDATION REGARDING ADOPTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE
SIDEWALK POLICY
Dear Ms. Jacobson and Members of the Commission:
The Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC) understands that representatives of
your Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee, led by Mr. Ralph Zimmer, will be addressing the
Commission on January 20, 2009, to discuss the need for a comprehensive City sidewalk program.
In action taken at its special meeting on December 17, 2008, TCC members voted unanimously to
encourage the City Commission “…to adopt a comprehensive policy on sidewalk installation,
maintenance, and replacement.” In discussing this motion, TCC members commented on the
appropriateness of such a policy in light of the Updated Greater Bozeman Area Transportation Plan, with
its significant commitment to, and emphasis on, non-motorized travel.
Thank you for your consideration of this request, and please let me know if TCC can be of any assistance
in developing a comprehensive sidewalk policy for the City.
Sincerely,
Andrew Epple, AICP
Chair, Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee
CITY OF BOZEMAN
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Street address: Alfred M. Stiff Professional Building
20 East Olive Street
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, Montana 59771-1230
Phone: (406) 582-2260
Fax: (406) 582-2263
E-mail: aepple@bozeman.net
World wide web: www.bozeman.net
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