BOZEMAN — If you drive past Gallatin High, you’ve likely noticed a lot of cars parked on Flanders Mill Street and Tanzanite Drive. For both students and residents, it’s become a concern over the past few years.
“Usually, I’ll find myself having to park, like, way down the street,” said Heidi Steinpfad, a sophomore at Gallatin High School.
Gallatin High opened in fall 2020. According to Principal Erica Schnee, the parking problems didn’t start until three years later, when Gallatin High reached capacity enrollment of 1,500 students.
Gallatin High students are parking in neighborhoods, creating new challenges for everyone involved.
“That’s when we really started to realize that we had a parking capacity issue,” said Principal Schnee.
The capacity issue has caused underclassmen to park on side streets like Flanders Mill, Tanzanite Drive, and Annie Street (pictured here):
This is because there is only enough room for juniors and seniors to park on campus, leading to frustration for sophomores like Heidi.
“I personally don’t agree with being an underclassman and having to park along the street because sometimes it’s hard to find a parking spot,” said Heidi.
And for residents like Brian Globerman.
“Especially at night, there’s food waste like sandwiches and, you know, hamburgers and fries that just get left,” said Globerman.
Globerman says he is especially concerned about speed.
“It makes me concerned about crossing the street, somebody going 50 miles per hour,” he said.
Other residents feel the same way.
“I’ve actually been hit twice this year; this is the first year we’ve had any car accidents with our house,” said Courtney Johnson, who has lived along Flanders Mill for four years.
Johnson has been working to address the parking situation for over a year; she submitted a resolution of intent for a residential parking program last summer.
“As more kids get their driver’s license, this becomes a really kind of terrifying situation,” said Johnson.
MTN also received a statement from the management company of the Flanders Mill neighborhood expressing support for “establishing clear and concise distinctions between residential and school uses in our neighborhood.”
MTN asked Principal Schnee and School Resource Sergeant Scott McCormick how the school is addressing the parking problem.
“We’ve invested a lot of time in parking over the past years. Last school year, the city restriped Flanders Mill to open that up for parking to students,” said Schnee.
“There’s also a new parking lot that is planned across Oak Street,” she added.
“We’ve upped our patrols in that area over the last few months,” said Sergeant McCormick.
Despite their safety concerns, Globerman and Johnson say they enjoy living near the school and hope to work together to come up with a parking solution.
“I’m very glad the school is here. I think it’s a real asset to the community,” said Globerman.
