By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
What did you think of traffic calming installations on Ousel Falls Road?
The pop-ups were installed for summer 2023 to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, in a collaboration between the Big Sky Community Organization and Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute. Now, project officials need community input through a short survey to aid in a summary report to be released this fall.
The survey is available here, and takes about three minutes.
“This is an important step in the process,” said WTI researcher Matt Madsen. “We want that community engagement.”
Madsen is hesitant to draw conclusions before all the data is collected and analyzed. Data was collected before the installation and throughout the summer, and community feedback will contribute to the final report.
“Initial impression is: it has increased driver yielding rates. Which means that cars are stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalks. And it’s [reducing] speeds a little bit,” Madsen summarized.
Initial plans for this summer had included an installation at Ousel Falls Road and Aspen Leaf Drive. However, trucks carrying modular housing units for RiverView apartments needed to turn that corner. That would be a priority in the future.
Another initial plan was to include street art as a place-making effort—an example can be seen in polka-dotted pavement in Bozeman near Peet’s Hill. Madsen said that’s the goal for next year, to increase connection with the community.
