Crossroads: How to Grow? The Choice is Ours
At 2,814 square miles with over 1,000 miles of county and private roads, Park County still has a lot of room to grow. The question is where and how. Do we continue patterns of the past and keep building more roads to more places?
Transportation planning may sound like a simple concept, but like any well-intentioned planning effort, it can be messy and anything but straightforward.
We actually think the messy part is a good thing because we believe our transportation system needs to change, and to be honest, radically change.
Change is needed to get us out of our cars. As spoken over 60 years ago by American historian Lewis Mumford, the automobile has fundamentally altered our landscape and the way we use land. Cars not only consume a ton of energy — they are dangerous; they have allowed us humans to spread out in profound ways; and they have lasting negative impacts on our mental health and well-being.
Change is also needed to rethink how we grow. Compact development close to the stuff in life we do and need, can save taxpayers’ dollars, protect the environment and can be better for our overall health by getting us to walk to places, instead of relying on our cars.
And change is needed to rethink how we design our streets. For years, the trend has been wider lanes, more lanes and generally increased infrastructure, the thinking being cars need a lot of room to get around for safety and efficiency. The problem, however, is the wider the road, the higher the speeds and greater potential for crashes — car crashes and pedestrian collisions.
We embrace the concept of Complete Streets:
A Complete Streets approach integrates people and place in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of our transportation networks. This helps ensure streets put safety over speed, balance the needs of different modes, and support local land uses, economics, cultures, and natural environments.
Crossing the Tracks
If there is one issue that keeps nipping at the heels of the Livingston community, it’s rail crossings. Next month, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the issue of growth north of the tracks and how growth and change is impacting how we get around. Please feel free to share your thoughts about traffic circulation and rail crossings to info@pcecmt.org.
Strong Towns, Chuck Marohn Coming to Bozeman
Chuck Marohn, founder and president of Strong Towns and author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer (Wiley), would be one of the first to agree that our transportation systems need to change. We’re excited to announce that Chuck will be coming to the area this week:
Tuesday, April 5, 6 p.m. - Montana State, Inspiration Hall (College of Engineering)
Wednesday, April 6, 3:30 - 5 p.m. - Bozeman City Hall, 121 N. Rouse
Active Transportation Plan Update
Livingston has always been a walkable town. We love art walks, the Christmas Stroll, the Hoot, and parade. Until recently, our traditional grid streets were littered with pharmacies, grocery stores, schools and small businesses. No one needed to budget for the expense of a car.
While our infrastructure is centered around vehicles and personal automobiles, our city is changing this value. In recent years, the city has invested $9 million dollars in ADA infrastructure, upgrading sidewalks, ramps, and allies. Our city knows that by creating safe streets for all ages and abilities, we promote healthy lifestyles, youth and disabled person independence, and opportunities for small business investment in our downtown.
We are most excited about the recent investment into the City’s first Trails and Active Transportation Plan. The draft is complete and ready for your input!
Here’s how you can participate, to get this plan over the finish line:
Review the story map plan priorities and respond to a short three-question survey.
Attend the PCEC Community Conversation - Livingston’s Trails and AT Plan (What’sNext!?) - April 12th, 2022 at 12-1pm. Register here!
Attend the City Commission meeting on April 19th, 2022, 5:30 pm, to voice your support.
Lastly, Bike to Work (and School) week is May 16th - 20th. We’ll be celebrating with some fun incentives. Reach out to sarah@pcecmt.org or karrie@pcecmt.org if you want to partner or participate.