Commentary
If the Road is On a Diet …
By Mark Hebert, Unfiltered 7-15-06
Having lived in California for a good portion of my existence, bumper-to-bumper traffic is something one learns to live with and remains just another part of life that makes you say “*#t$#r&u%$#r!!!.”
The joy of finishing an eight-hour workday is quickly washed away when one is greeted by a freeway jammed tighter with automobiles then Dolly Parton’s brazier jammed with … well you get my point. The freeways there are a lot bigger – at times as many as five lanes across in one direction – but with so many people bopping around, the smog becomes thick, patience runs thin and fatal accidents, police chases and carpool-lane shootings are as common in the Golden State as a pair of fake … never mind.
So it was with great pleasure in the winter of 1996 that I moved to Missoula, Montana (my birth place some 24-years prior) and found the traffic was sparse and that tooling around the Garden City via car/truck/scooter/motorcycle was a snap.
Flash forward to the summer of 2006 where the only snap still associated with travel in Missoula was the sound of my neck popping when I looked back at a grey-haired Betty in gold, Buick Lasabre to make sure she really had flashed me the finger after I inadvertently cut her off on North Reserve Street last Thursday.
I didn’t hold it against her because I felt her pain. It was 5 p.m. and I was headed back into town after a trip to Superior. Rush-hour traffic in Missoula has been a pain in the neck for as far back as I can remember (well, within the last 10-years) but on this day it was like nothing I’d ever seen in Montana.
I reached the peak of the North Reserve Street Bridge – a few blocks from Costco – and was met with bumper to bumper traffic all the way down to the four-way light at Reserve and Mullan Road – Wal Mart’s nasty little nest --a span of about a mile.
As I inched down the bridge, I saw an opening in traffic that would allow me to get off of Reserve and onto West Broadway. This route would somewhat detour me on the trek to my Upper Miller Creek residence, but it is a path that I’d taken many times before, especially when Reserve gets congested. I figured soon I’d be zooming down Broadway before cutting across Orange Street, bypassing Malfunction Junction, all in time to arrive at my apartment and catch the beginning of Jeopardy.
“This – an idea set in place by the City Council – is a surefire way to guarantee that traffic will be gridlocked in Missoula forever,” quizzes Trebeck.
“What is a road diet?” answers the witty journalist.
“Correct.”
My delusions of game show grandeur were dashed away as I was met by more bumper-to-bumper traffic on West Broadway. Construction was well underway to complete the “road diet” – a nifty little notion that converts four lanes of flowing happiness into 2.5 lanes of dense evil. Traffic at the intersection of North Russell and West Broadway bottlenecked into the middle of three lanes as drivers nudged their way into the only path of travel which mattered -- a metal logjam trying to flow east.
Going nowhere fast, I was able to inhale a beautiful bouquet of exhaust (my air conditioner is out of Freon) balance my checkbook (I need a raise) and read a vast array of bumper stickers (my favorite stating: There are three kinds of people, those who count and those whose can’t.)
My time in traffic also allowed a moment to reflect.
“If the road is on a diet,” I shouted at my vehicles roof,” then why is its stomach busting at the seams?”
(As a side note, on Monday, July 10 at 2:30 p.m., in between writing paragraphs for this column, I again ventured out in my vehicle and was met by traffic even worse then the Thursday rush hour traffic.)
The road diet was dropped on this fair city after protests and pressure by the handicapped community for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) -- in order to get accommodations that would help pedestrians cross the busy street – were answered with a thinning of the road. In 2005 there were two fatalities on that stretch of road and that – I agree – is two too many.
I’m a big fan of people not getting run over, always have been. Many Missoula drivers are morons, tooling around, talking on their phones while driving their vehicles as if Luke Duke was in the passenger seat and Roscoe P. Coltrane was in “hot pursuit.” My heart goes out to anyone who has last a loved one in such a sudden fashion and I agree that something must be done, but what is in place isn’t working.
If something doesn’t change soon, more pedestrians will be struck by cars when drivers take to guiding their vehicles onto sidewalks in order to move out of the Missoula Snail-pace Marathon.
So I have an idea – probably a stupid one, but one that could perhaps get people thinking of another way to push West Broadway off of its diet-wagon and assure smooth flowing, safe traffic.
The Bridges of Missoula County.
Put in a few footbridges, then a few more and then maybe some more. Picture pretty red bricked footbridges shooting over West Broadway like passenger-carrying rainbows. Push the road back to four lanes and watch the traffic flow like the river that runs next to it. Ahhhhhh, can you feel the love?
Some people would argue that bridges would obstruct the panoramic view of Missoula and to them I’d say climb the stinking bridge and take a gander, views pretty good up there too, eh?
Of course you would have to put some kind of barrier up to keep pedestrians from dropping cinder blocks onto the roofs of passing cars – just because traffic would be better wouldn’t mean that the nut-balls in Missoula would simply drive away -- but barrier or no barrier, bridges would keep law abiding – non jay walkers – out of harm's way.
There are too many people in Missoula these days to have traffic the way it was 10-years ago, I get that. What I don’t get is how people (City Council and friends) think that shrinking roads is a good way to deal with growing needs.
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A couple points. First, you should know better than to think it's in any way possible at 5 pm for it to be quicker for you to drive Reserve St. to Broadway to Orange St. to Stevens all the way to your Miller Creek turn off. Furthermore, you know fully well that West Broadway is under construction, making your decision all the more bizarre. What you did was the basically the equivalent of driving from Missoula to Seattle by going through Salt Lake City and then complaining that it took you so long.
The old configuration of Broadway Ave (which you describe as "four lanes of flowing happiness") was not working. It was extremely dangerous to cross Broadway Ave. as a driver, biker or pedestrian. It was also very difficult to drive east or west on this section of Broadway Ave in terms of with dealing with other drivers, bikers and pedestrians. The sheer number of pedestrians killed on this section of road during the past few years clearly illustrates the problem and really calls into question your use of the term "four lanes of flowing happiness" to describe this section of road.
From my perspective, it seems that when Broadway Ave was reconfigured from 4 lanes to the 2.5 lanes last fall it wasn't completely finished and that's what lead to some confusion and anger. For example, the painted lines disappeared in a few weeks and seemed to be non-existent in places. Some of the signal heads appeared to be misaligned, the lighting didn't appear to be finished, nor did all the pedestrian crossings. These problems, I assume, will all be addressed during the official reconfiguration of West Broadway Ave that is currently on-going.
Since the first phase of the redesign happened last fall, I will say that my experience crossing Broadway Ave on bike and in my automobile had become (on average) much quicker and - most importantly - much safer. Of course, this might not currently be the situation because the road is under construction. What I typiclly do when roads are under construction is avoid them. It's usually quicker and, not to mention, safer for everyone, including the men and women doing the construction.
As a motorist, biker and pedestrian, I would much prefer to cross a street with just one lane of traffic in each direction compared with two lanes of traffic in each direction due to "blind spots" created when cars literally disappear behind each other on a 4-lane road.
Personally I'm willing to sacrifice a few seconds of my time when I choose to use West Broadway rather than continue to see people of Missoula killed on that dangerous section of street.
Marty
North/South routes have always been congested in Missoula. East/West traffic has always flowed pretty well, until recently. Bigger is not better, as evidenced by N./S. Reserve, but smaller makes no more sense if the road is already functioning well. There must be a pedestrian solution that doesn't wreck what works.
I wonder if the mayor or someone he delegates could negotiate with the Montana Highway Dept. Representative and see if the "state"would rethink their position on "Road Diet"? All of our major cities like Denver, New York, and etc., have known for years that to smoothly move traffic will reduce accidents whether it be car or pedestrian. The city of Missoula is still operating under the misguided assumption that slowing traffic down reduces accidents, it doesn't! The Transportation people and the legislature should know this by now. Since the "state" has primary control over West Broadway,the "Road Diet is being shoved down our throats because it is considered a highway. Maybe a blog campaign of emails and or letters might possibly help the "state" wake up and "smell the coffe". With so many subdivisions being developed , each house will have one more car to add to hundred of newer ones already helping to clog West Broadway. What part of "increasing traffic congestion" does the "state" not understand "
The voice of reason has just roared loudly!
How about four lanes, a couple stoplights, maybe a pedestrian overpass, and better lighting?
Your suggestions are perfect. The Missoula Downtown Association proposed those exact suggestions four years ago when the road diet was first unveiled. The city originally wanted to do the diet all the way from Toole to Madison but the MDA fought it. The city then came up with the current compromise and were going to start construction this summer. The city wanted this to happen so bad and were afraid that the election in November might change the makeup of the council, they rushed to do the temporary mess that has been the diet since last fall without telling the MDA or any of the downtown businesses.
The most telling from the temporary construction last fall is that the bike lanes were painted in but the cross walks were not. So was the road diet really for the safety of pedestrians or for bike lanes???
Final striping is still one month away, the signal at Toole is yet to go in, the signal heads are still misaligned at Scott, the ped crossings at Burton and St. Pats are not done, and none of the beautification has happened. None-the-less, speeds are lowered and this is wonderful. The street is calm from my point of view as a driver, walker, and cyclist. It sounds as though a lot of people are raging from the driver's seat though. It's too bad that we as a culture have gotten to the point that quality of life means unrestricted driving freedom. Slow down and consider others' well-being is what I'm asking. Bicyclists are part of the transport system, so cyclists deserve space on that street.
To improve the Broadway 4 to 3 lane configuration: extend it the length of Broadway and do the same on Rusell and Higgins. Add modern single lane roundabouts at key junctions, double bus service, add passenger rail service (bio diesel powered, perhaps not electrified lite rail), connect the bike lanes, connect the trails, add more pedestrian only zones, implement more traffic calming and street reclaiming in neighborhoods, implement a city-wide 25mph speed limit on arterials and 10 or 15mph in neighborhoods, create a West Missoula town near the airport instead of subdivision after subdivision, build bike stations and car share programs throughout the Valley...
This is a package that the Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation is offering. Can you support this? Imagine no merging of 4-lanes to 3 to 5 back to 3 to 2, etc. A very smooth system would emerge if all arterials (except perhaps Reserve) were 3-lanes, with modern single lane roundabouts replacing many stop lights.
If we keep going as is: all arterials will keep getting wider, more stop lights will go in, motor traffic will double or triple, the air will get worse, costs will sky rocket ($43 million is the price tag to widen Russell to 5-lanes and the City has no idea how to pay for it), and livability will decline (in MIST's opinion).
So you are saying 'NO WAY,' I'll never do anything but drive no matter how enticing the alternatives are? Fine, keep driving, but realize that thousands upon thousands in this Valley are wanting to bike, walk, and bus more- but it is not as convenient or as safe as it should be.
Building great bike, walk, transit facilities is the sustainable (safe, equitable and environmentally sound) thing to do. Let's give Broadway and new ways of thinking a chance to work. Thanks, -Bob Giordano