Mark Egge, publisher of the Bozeman Brief podcast, is calling for urgent action on street safety following the February 26th death of Leslie Brown, a 39-year-old nurse killed while running in a marked crosswalk on Oak Street. Brown is the latest victim in a pattern of preventable traffic deaths in Bozeman, including cyclist Alexa Jane Zintars in 2019, Richard Evers in 2022, and teacher Kelly Fulton, also killed on Oak Street in 2022. Egge argues that despite community grief and calls for change after each tragedy, the city has failed to implement meaningful safety improvements, perpetuating a cycle of inaction.
The city adopted its Streets Are for Everyone safety plan in 2023, built on four pillars: road design, policy, policing, and promotion. However, Egge contends that implementation remains inadequate. While the city has budgeted 2.7 million dollars for shared-use path construction and is pursuing projects like South 3rd Avenue reconstruction, annual spending on retrofitting existing streets with safety features like flashing beacons remains just 150,000 dollars, roughly half of one percent of the transportation budget. Meanwhile, major projects like the Kegy Boulevard reconstruction receive nearly 32 million dollars, primarily driven by vehicle lane expansion rather than standalone safety needs.
Egge urges residents to attend the City Commission's April 14th work session or submit comments to comments@bozeman.net, asking them to prioritize street safety over vehicle throughput. He points to Sweden's Vision Zero approach, which cut road fatalities by over 70 percent through street design that prevents fatal mistakes. The upcoming Transportation Master Plan, he argues, will determine priorities for years to come, making public input critical.