Bozeman Transportation Board Meeting – October 28, 2026

The Bozeman Transportation Board met on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, beginning at 6:00 PM per the agenda, in a hybrid in-person and videoconference meeting. The board approved the September 23, 2026 minutes, heard public comment, received the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program update, and set a December meeting date. No consent items were listed, and there were no disclosures.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Haley Wood, a Bozeman resident and Montana State University student, urged the board to prioritize pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements. She identified West College Street from 8th to 11th and the Durston/North 11th intersection as high-risk locations and asked for physically separated bike lanes, HAWK signals at College/7th and Durston/11th, lower speed limits on high-traffic corridors, and transportation demand management programs. She framed safe infrastructure as an equity and public safety issue.
• Jolene Hall, transportation planner at the Gallatin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), announced that the MPO's long-range transportation plan public comment period opens November 9 and pointed the public to gvmpo.org for e-notifications and more information.
• Linda Simonis, a Church Street resident, thanked Dene Giannetti and staff for the traffic calming program. She said the Church Street installation has become a neighborhood volunteer project, with neighbors buying flowers, donating water, and maintaining a watering schedule, and that it has reduced recognizable cut-through traffic.

Staff Updates

• Taylor Lonsdale reported that the City Commission passed updated board resolutions, including adding a non-voting Montana State University student member to the Transportation Board.
• The Safety Action Plan and SS4A grant work is progressing: new safety data equipment is operational and receiving data, algorithms are being fine-tuned, crash-data-platform training is complete, and the Engage page for the safety action plan is expected within the next couple of weeks.
• The Transportation Master Plan is close to launching its Engage page, and the first technical working group meeting is scheduled for next week.
• Construction updates included completed paving on M.L. Hatton Road with opening expected the second week of November; the reopened Oak/Ferguson intersection with new left-turn lanes, updated signals, and new signing; the paved Flanders Mill pathway connection down to Durston; and ongoing work on North 19th between Baxter and Rawhide Ridge.
• The Katie Boulevard project is moving toward 100% plans, with an open house scheduled for November 18 from 3:30 to 6:00 PM at Pilgrim United Church, 2118 South Third Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in early spring, with the large effort between 7th and 11th slated for May through August.
• Maintenance activities have included snowstorm cleanup, fall leaf pickup, winter preparation, and stop-sign installation at uncontrolled intersections. Staff member Nick Ross is expected back in the office on November 12.

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Update

• Dene Giannetti presented the first full-cycle update on the revamped Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program. She explained that board feedback from October and November 2025 led to a hybrid proactive/reactive approach, formal eligibility criteria, a petition process requiring either 50% of addresses within one block or an HOA/neighborhood council letter, and a temporary/seasonal phase before any permanent installation.
• The program's toolbox includes horizontal deflection devices such as splitter islands, curb extensions, traffic circles, and pedestrian refuge islands. Vertical treatments like speed tables are not used as temporary installations because one temporary speed table requires about 50 holes in the asphalt and several hours to install; projects start with horizontal devices and may move to vertical devices if speed/volume objectives are not met.
• Of 20 applications received, one was a duplicate, three were ineligible based on street classification, eight were addressed through other programs or solutions, and eight requests became six projects. New permanent installations included traffic circles on Black Avenue at Olive and 6th and speed tables on 18th and 25th. Carryover projects at Grand/Cottonwood and West College were also evaluated.
• Giannetti reported that permanent projects cost roughly 10 times temporary projects. The 2026 speed tables were bid at about $10,000 each and need to be spaced no more than 500 feet apart; the break-even point with temporary installations is about a decade. For that reason, staff are exploring year-round interim designs that fall between the roughly $1,000 temporary circles and the $12,000 permanent circles.
• Evaluation results were mixed. On Yellowstone Avenue, near where Leslie Brown was fatally struck last winter, a project champion collected over 52 signatures in a few days. Data at the 15 mph Oak Springs Park zone showed a nearly 50% reduction in vehicles going 25 mph or faster, with the 50th and 85th percentile speeds down only about 1 mph and the most egregious speeders dropping from seven or eight to one. At Grand and Cottonwood, northbound speed improved, but vehicles going 10 mph or more over the posted limit increased, mostly southbound; Giannetti theorized this was related to one traffic circle lacking art and plants. At West Olive and 4th, a roughly 600 vehicles-per-day increase and higher speeds for vehicles going 35 mph or faster were red flags, while eastbound traffic through the new permanent traffic circle showed better results. At West College, a 2.6% decrease translated to roughly 100 vehicles per day out of about 4,600 now traveling below 35 mph in a 25 mph zone; the temporary project had been damaged and was not fully in place when data was collected, and Giannetti credited enforcement by the revitalized traffic enforcement unit as part of a larger culture shift.
• Survey responses were limited, with the highest response about six and some projects receiving zero or one. Among pedestrian and bicyclist respondents, 62% said the project made them feel safer and were supportive, while 38% said no. Among motorists, 75% said the project did not make them feel safer, though support for permanent installation was slightly higher. Open-ended feedback included a cyclist on College saying splitter islands pushed them into traffic, a comment that a Mar and Broadwater circle was hard to navigate with a trailer, and strong neighborhood support at West Olive.
• Lessons learned included improved project longevity compared with 2025, evidence that art and planters may encourage lower speeds, and recognition that high-volume streets may exceed the upper limits of temporary designs. Staff are working with the streets department on year-round interim feasibility, a clearer temporary-to-permanent transition policy, and coordination with project champions on evaluation data. Giannetti said staff plan to return in late winter or early spring with a 2027 plan.

Key Outcomes

• The board approved the September 23, 2026 Transportation Board meeting minutes by voice vote.
• The board approved a motion to excuse board member Mike Veslitch from the meeting.
• The board selected December 3, 2026 as the combined November/December meeting date by voice vote; the regular fourth-Wednesday meetings in those months fell on holidays.
• The board received the traffic calming program update and staff indicated they would return in late winter/early spring with the 2027 program plan.