The Bozeman Transportation Board held its April 22nd meeting with newly appointed members Grace Gilbert, an economic development specialist, and Simon Rusinski, an architectural project manager. The board excused member Hayden Glint and approved moving the Administrative Review Board update to earlier in the agenda. Director of Transportation and Engineering Nick Ross presented written staff updates and highlighted several active projects, including the Oak and Ferguson signal improvement project, which came in under budget and will proceed to City Commission for final approval on May 5th with construction expected this year.
Ross detailed the federally funded Safe Streets for All program, which includes the city's first Comprehensive Safety Action Plan led by consultant Kittelson Associates. The plan incorporates a crash data platform from Citian to identify problem areas and a demonstration project installing signal safety detection software at eight intersections to track red light running, speeding, and near-miss conflicts. When Board Member Bryce Gordon asked about intersection cameras, Ross explained that the Montana Legislature prohibits red light and speed cameras statewide and stressed the new software will not be used for citations. Ross also reported the neighborhood traffic calming program will install 18 total projects by May, including asphalt art and planters, followed by post-installation data collection in June.
The board addressed the uncontrolled intersections program, where Ross outlined a systematic approach to install approximately 450 stop signs citywide at a minimum rate of 50 annually. The board unanimously adopted its 2026-2027 work plan and held an extended discussion on scoping the Transportation Master Plan update, reaching consensus that the plan should emphasize origin-destination data and project prioritization rather than extensive intersection level-of-service calculations, and incorporate road ecology considerations. Staff will release the request for qualifications next month, with the full plan targeted for completion by end of 2027.