The City of Bozeman is currently working on a new road transportation project. The Fowler Avenue Connection Project will be connecting Fowler Avenue from Oak Street to Huffine Lane. The project is currently in the “pre-design” phase where the city and Sanderson Stewart are looking at existing conditions, traffic patterns of the area, and general concepts and costs of the project.
Residents of Fowler Lane are concerned and upset with the plan the city has set to connect their road to Oak and Huffine. Residents like Mike Roser have expressed their concerns with the road expansion.
“The road will come straight down here, back into all these people’s homes, and destroying the value of their properties,” Roser said.
Although citizens are voicing their opinions on the Fowler Lane expansion project, they believe the city is not taking their comments and concerns seriously. Some residents fear the city isn’t taking them seriously at all.
“When we give our comments, whether it’s on the 'Engage Bozeman' website they gave us, it hasn’t changed any of the alternatives” says Zehra Osman.
EXTENDED INTERVIEWS: Fowler Lane residents voice concerns over road expansion
The proposed new road could be up to five lanes wide, and this opens up a lot of comments on safety concerns for families within the surrounding area.
Patty Dickerson brings up children walking and biking to and from school using Fowler Lane’s trail, and how the destruction of it would damage the safety of students in the area.
“Right now, the children in this area can walk and bike to school. They’re relatively safe because we don’t have that traffic,” said Dickerson. “This road project would just destroy our community over here.”
Another parent from the Sweetgrass area, Caitlin Quisenberry, is not only upset for safety reasons, but because her daughter won’t have a place to play in the neighborhood.
“As a resident of the Sweetgrass area, and a person who lives in Bozeman, and a parent, I’m really upset at the idea of tearing down these trees and covering this pond for a road,” Quisenberry said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated Fowler Lane would be discussed at the City Commission meeting on Tuesday, July 26. It was not part of the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.
