Bozeman Transportation Board Meeting - July 22, 2026
Bozeman Transportation Board Meeting - July 22, 2026
The Transportation Board (acting as Parking Commission) met on July 22, 2026, to discuss several transportation and parking matters. Major topics included an update on the League of American Bicyclists Silver designation, a downtown parking data and perceptions study, a proposed residential parking permit district near Gallatin High School, and public comments on parking issues near Montana State University.
Consent Calendar
- Excused Members: The board approved a motion to excuse Bryce Gordon and Shannon Mouni from the meeting.
- Minutes: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the June 24, 2026 Transportation Board meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jarrett (resident, 611 South 13th Avenue): Expressed concern that his block is the only non-permitted parking area near MSU Highlight Hall. He described unsafe conditions for children walking to Irving Elementary, abandoned cars, and frequent student parking. He asked the board to consider giving residents the same parking protections as neighboring blocks. Parking Manager Nick Foken indicated staff would follow up.
- Public Comment on Gallatin High School District (via email from Brianna Walsh, 820 Augur Lane): Walsh expressed strong support for the proposed parking district, noting the issue has persisted for years.
- Unplanned Public Comment (resident attending meeting): Supported Courtney Johnson's efforts and highlighted near-miss incidents involving children. Suggested educating high school students about safe driving and parking near residential areas.
Discussion Items
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Director Ross Public Service Announcements:
- City Commission approved a transportation master plan update; professional services agreement expected for approval next week.
- Macquatton Road bike/ped access improvements bid came in $500,000 under engineer's estimate, savings to be returned to the arterial collector program.
- Fowler Avenue connection (Oak to Durston) right-of-way approved; bidding schedule upcoming.
- Board Dialogue: Member Grace asked about rain gardens in curb extensions; Director Ross noted funding constraints ($50,000 extra for rain gardens not available). Member Rio inquired about the 2023 shared use path project and tree preservation conflicts; Ross explained a portion of Valley Center path will not be paved due to mature tree removal conflicts, and federal funding restrictions prevent using TA funds for non-ADA compliant trails.
- Member Rio asked if the $500,000 savings could be earmarked for near-term safety projects; Ross explained zero-based budgeting and encouraged recommendations for quick-build projects.
- Board Member Jen noted recent advisory board work session on loosening meeting formality to encourage dialogue.
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League of American Bicyclists Evaluation Summary (Candace Mastel, TDM Coordinator):
- Bozeman maintained Silver designation since 2012. Nationally, 444 of 870 applicants received designations. Max score was 78.63% (likely Gold/Platinum).
- Scores by category: Engineering 47.27 points (out of 128), Education lower but improving through Safe Routes to School, Encouragement high, Evaluation/Planning improving with better data, Equity/Accessibility a newer category needing work (replaced Enforcement).
- Key recommendations to reach Gold: expand bicycle network for all ages and abilities, adopt a bicycle master plan (or robust chapter in TMP), improve winter maintenance, enhance adult and motorist education, and improve data collection.
- Board Comments: Member Grace asked about adult education; Mastel discussed outreach to neighborhood organizations. Member Hayden asked if all recommendations must be met; Mastel said focusing on network and education would be key. Member Chris emphasized motorist education and fatality reduction. Member Michael expressed support for accelerated progress. Member Rio asked about neighborhood byways; Ross noted TMP update will focus on implementation.
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Downtown Parking Insights (McLaren Latta, Indigo West, for Downtown Urban Renewal District and City):
- Data: In August 2023, on-street and off-street supply data available. June 2026 occupancy highest in on-street, Black lot, and South Wilson lot.
- Visitation: 1.3 million US visitors to downtown in 2025. 74% out-of-state; 11% from Bozeman area. Overall visitation up 8% vs. 2019; out-of-state up 22%, Montana visitors down 20%. Bozeman area visitation steady but not keeping pace with population growth (Bozeman +14%, surrounding +17% since 2019).
- Citations: 58% of overtime citations (15,000+ violators) went to Bozeman area residents; 55% of safety citations also to locals.
- Survey (March 2026, 1,300+ respondents): 74% daily/weekly downtown visitors; 64% live within 5 miles. 26% downtown employees. 77% said adding more spots is important. 41% avoid downtown partly due to parking challenges. 15% choose the parking garage as first choice. Key concerns: employee parking, need for education, infrastructure improvements. Long-term priority: public-private partnership for new parking infrastructure; short-term: FAQ, wayfinding, garage improvements.
- Board Comments: Member Mike advocated for paid parking as a solution, noting avoidance of this option delays progress. Chair Rio and Members Simon and Hayden agreed that paid parking should be on the table. Chair Rio noted that downtown feels messy beyond parking (traffic, left turns, pedestrian conflicts). Member Simon highlighted the need to make alternative modes more convenient. Member Grace asked about occupancy rates; Parking Manager Foken explained goal is to leave on-street for transient users and move longer-term parkers to garages.
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Gallatin High School Residential Parking Permit District (Staff and Petitioner):
- Staff (Ben Bailey, Nick Foken): Presented history of request since 2024. Infrastructure improvements: restriping added 100 on-street spaces, intersection changes, sports park parking lot (119 spaces) with pedestrian hybrid beacon crossing Oak. Proposed district: Augur Lane from Sunstone to Tanzanite, and portions of Sunstone, Tanzanite, and Annie. Data: 370+ citations (Aug 2025-Jul 2026), 23% safety-related. Two management tools: Residential Parking Permit District (RPPD) – prioritizes residents, cost recovery through permits; Parking Benefit Zone (PBZ) – larger district, allows commuter permits, revenue can reduce fees. Staff recommended RPPD due to low demand and residential character; estimated permit cost ~$132 (based on 57 permits). Additional enforcement staff/vehicle needed.
- Petitioner Courtney Johnson (resident, former city planner): Detailed history: high school originally proposed 613 on-site spaces with joint use (sports park, Meadowlark) to meet 1,020 spaces (comparable to Bozeman High’s 1,040). But sports park not built when school opened; human behavior leads students to park closest to southeast entrance, resulting in only 35% utilization of available spaces and neighborhood overflow. She presented photos of safety hazards (cars blocking sidewalks, emergency access, near-misses). Over 30 young children live on affected streets. Neighborhood support: door-to-door petition with majority support, letters of support, media coverage. Request: move forward to City Commission for consideration. She drafted staff memo and ordinance to reduce city workload.
- Board Dialogue: Members Hayden, Grace, Chris, and Simon voiced support for the recommendation. Key points: safety paramount, especially for children; sports park may help but student behavior likely unchanged; RPPD is appropriate. Board voted informally (all in favor) to recommend that City Commission consider establishing the parking permit district.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Minutes approved; members excused.
- League of American Bicyclists: No formal action; board expressed support for continuing to work toward Gold designation, with focus on infrastructure and education.
- Downtown Parking: No action; discussion informed upcoming vision plan and public education campaign. Board members urged including paid parking in future conversations.
- Gallatin High School Parking District: The board unanimously recommended (via voice vote) that City Commission consider the creation of a residential parking permit district as proposed. The recommendation includes continued coordination with the school district and monitoring of the sports park lot's impact.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Before I firstly call the meeting in order, I want to remind the public listening at home how they can participate. If you would like to uh follow along, you can go to the city's web page at Bozeman.net and uh click on the meetings link. From that page, you can look under upcoming meetings to find our agenda. And there you'll find instructions to stream the meeting live list on your phone or cable TV channel one ninety. There will be several opportunities for provide public comment during the evening. And during these periods, we'll first hear from the people in the room and then we'll take comments online. Please use the raise your hand feature online, and uh staff will call on your name at the appropriate time. And you can always submit written comments in advance of a meeting by going to the commission's page on Bozeman. Or by emailing comments at Bozeman. Emails noted as being for the Transparent Board are forwarded to us. Any comments received before noon today were distributed and read by the board. Are there any disclosures from any members of the board? See none. Um, any uh changes to the agenda. Um I would like to move to excuse uh Bryce Gordon uh from the meeting and Shannon. Uh Mouni. Is there uh can I get a motion? Uh moved to excuse Briggs and Shannon. In a second. A second. So moved. And um then we'll go to public service announcements, uh, Director Ross. Thank you, Rio. I'll be brief tonight since we've got a full agenda. Um, did want to highlight uh last night at City Commission, our commission approved the public agent plan for our transportation master plan update. Um thank you for your recommendation last month uh in support. So we'll have the professional services agreement on their agenda next Tuesday for approval, and that will give us notice to proceed to start the master plan update. Um also then just wanted to highlight um down in uh construction projects. We uh ended up getting an extremely competitive bid for our Macquatton Road bike fill access improvements project. Um so that came in um almost half a million dollars below engineers' estimate. And so uh that will be revenue that we can bring back into the arterial collector program and fund future projects. Uh and then one more uh put a good news from uh commission last night, they approved uh a right-of-way agreement for um the right-of-way necessary to complete the first section of the Fowler Avenue connection from Oak down to Durston. And so I'm going to have uh we will have uh an update to the community coming shortly on the intended bidding schedule for that first phase of the project. So happy to see that moving forward this summer. Thank you. Any questions for the board? Any questions from anyone? That was exceptionally brief. I think I got two. Um I wanted to ask about the Babcock Babcock curb extensions. Um I typically ride by EHO park every day now, and I love the little rain gardens that got put in there as a way to treat stormwater. I think that's fantastic. I'm curious if there's any move going forward. I was a little sad to see that that was not incorporated into the Babcock curb curb bulb outs. Um is there any move going forward to incorporate that into a standard curb bulb-out design? Yeah, very good question. I I I unfortunately that usually comes down to funding constraints. And so the the e-hope project overall, um, and frankly, uh, well, through the strong, it's all through our city commission, but um Commissioner Magic in particular was uh a massive um driver for that project, as well as Ellie Staley that's in the room tonight as well. And it was very, very expensive.
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