[MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-17-10

[Steven Allison-Bunnell]

When the current plan does not deal with the River->Brooks corridor on Higgins, or below Mount on Brooks, then I don't see the value of damaging a historic boulevard to create bike lanes for an orphaned stretch of the street. If the plan included the whole thing, then maybe I could get excited about it.

Here are the incomplete routes I experience regularly:

1. Trying to get down to Tremper's from the Slant Streets west of Stephens. There is no through side street between Stephens and Russell south of Mount. This means you have to detour out to the sidewalk on either of those streets, even if you've gone down a nice quiet side street to Mount. I make a LOT of trips to Ace and Book Exchange, etc., and would love for a better route. Ironically, a simple path through the current Ace Nursery area would do the job.

2. Trying to get down Higgins at Hellgate High. There is no safe way to continue South on Higgins at the Higgins/Brooks intersection. But yet there's a bike lane on Higgins starting at The Corner. Talk about incomplete routes! A striped bike lane for through traffic on Higgins would be awfully nice.

If the primary goal of bike routes is to enable bikers to seamlessly get where they want to go, it seems like removing these kinds of obstacles and using the streets we have is a far more helpful approach. I have never found myself wishing for a bike lane on Brooks proper between Higgins and Mount. Ever. And I've been riding in this neighborhood for 13 years now.

Thanks everyone for your support of biking and street trees!


On Mar 19, 2010, at 10:32 PM, Ethel MacDonald wrote:


> As one of the vocal bike advocates, I of course appreciate bike lanes, and agree with -- just about everything everybody (Steve, Jim, Tim) writes -- I take the side streets but push for bike lanes too!  While I think bike lanes on Brooks are needed, I really can't support taking out trees to add bike lanes.  Brooks is a really nice street with the trees.   Sounds like a big, expensive project that the residents are going to hate.  I'd be willing to bet if given the choice they'd opt for losing parking on one side of the street instead.  There are very few cars parked on most of Brooks.  

> 

> On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 8:54 PM, Jim McGrath <jmcgrath at missoulahousing.org> wrote:

> Okay I'll bite. This is an old argument.

> Side streets are 'great' -- and if they are truly connecting, I encourage riders to use them. However, mature riders expect and deserve infrastructure routes that allow them to directly travel through the community. (I have been --years ago-- directed a route that added several miles to my bike route, to be safe. My sense is that it is better for cars to take an extra mile or two and let bikes have the direct route.) Bike lanes provide several things. They signal to cars that bikes are going to be there. They provide excellent space for bikers who use them. I have found in Missoula that cars respect bike lanes. So a biker who is somewhat shy of traffic can begin to take advantage of the direct routes available to cars.

> We need as a community to have bike lanes on all major streets and we need to expect many of of folks to travel by bike. I just saw gas prices go up again. As a community we need to make sure our citizens have the infrastructure in place to make choices. Bikes lanes are easy-- way less challenging than separate off-street paths.

> ...I advocated for years for bike paths, and I use them frequently... so there's a whatever. I love em.

> 

> 

> 

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com on behalf of Steven Allison-Bunnell

> Sent: Fri 3/19/2010 6:57 PM

> To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-17-10

> 

> When there is such heavy traffic down Brooks, and very pleasant side streets on both sides (Blaine & Woodford), what do we want or need bike lanes on Brooks for, especially when the bile lane on Higgins from the bridge to Brooks is also very dangerous and undesirable and the side street bike route goes down Myrtle/Woodford?

> 

> It seems far more useful to make sure there is side street route connectivity down to Tremper's than a main arterial bike path on Brooks that peters out below Mount and is horrible on Higgins.

> 

> Steve Allison-Bunnell

> 

> 

> 

> On Mar 18, 2010, at 9:23 AM, 4065449619 wrote:

> 

> > I would completely agree with Steve's comments on Brooks' tree-lined boulevard, eventhough it's not easy to forfeit bike lanes. But if it's designed well, I believe we can have both future trees AND bike lanes; and then continue the boulevard design further down Brooks.

> >

> > Tim Skufca

> >

> > Sent from my phone.

> >

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: Steve Adler <adler at bigsky.net>

> > Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:37 AM

> > To: Bob Jaffe <BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us>; missoulagov at cmslists.com <missoulagov at cmslists.com>

> > Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-17-10

> >

> > Bob,

> >

> > I'm a bit vague on this one, but isn't Brooks a "Boulevard Zone"? - with some special considerations?  (I believe that designation was actually a legal tool to prevent a formerly proposed street-widening project from taking out the trees.)  It is a special little stretch famous for it's tree-lined character which frames the view of Lolo Peak.  I know that trees do reach the end of their lives much as we all do.  But is there any way to make sure that trees get replaced as they are taken out?  If possible, it would be preferable to plant trees earlier - in anticipation of the ones that will have to come out. 

> >

> > Thanks,

> > Steve Adler

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > From: Bob Jaffe

> > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 9:43 PM

> > To: missoulagov at cmslists.com

> > Subject: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-17-10

> >

> >

> > Some details on the Brooks street project are that the road will be widened about three feet on either side. There will be parking on both sides, bike lanes, and one driving lane each way. This section does not currently have curbs so most of the intrusion into the boulevard is already worn and parked on.  Most of the trees on this stretch are very old and nearing the end of their lives. There are a few that may need to be taken out as part of the project.

> >

> >

> >


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