MISSOULA — As development patterns change and the City of Missoula evolves, the future of Reserve Street could undergo changes in the coming years — the result of a safety action plan that's set for adoption next month.
While funding the plan's preferred elements will take time, the end goal would address speed limits, signal timing, restricted turns and lighting, among other options to address safety.
Nick Foster with Kittelson & Associates said the final draft has undergone a number of changes since October. They include signal timing at several key intersections, including Mount and South avenues, and Brooks Street, along with dynamic speed feedback to inform drivers how fast they're going.
“We picked five locations to dive into further,” said Foster. “They were selected as high-priority locations from a safety perspective, or a mix of locations where maybe things can be done in the near-term to have an immediate impact.”
Other changes to the plan recommended using “quick build” strategies to restrict turns at certain locations. That could include bollards or low-profile treatments that are easy to install.
The team identified 19 locations where turning restrictions could be considered.
“You put something up that forces some sort of turning restriction at an intersection,” said Foster. “They can be put in place sooner at a relatively low cost.”
The Missoula Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Montana Department of Transportation and the city have been working on safety solutions for the busy corridor for years.
The study area stretches from the I-90 interchange south to Brooks Street and transects a number of land-use types, from big box stores to areas that remain open.
Proposed improvements address several concerning intersections, a lack of lighting on the bridge over the Clark Fork River, and free-for-all efforts to turn left onto or across Reserve.
Feedback from the public over the past year placed the highest priority on the intersection at River Road to reduce crashes. Restricted turns or a future signal stand among the options.
“People are willing to go out of their way a little bit to make a controlled crossing, or left turn, onto Reserve,” said Foster. “Left turns are a common safety concern.”
Charlie Menefee, a transportation planner with the city, said access in and out of the River Road neighborhood was a top concern and something the final plan will take into consideration.
“The residents there see it as an ability to get in and out of their neighborhoods for daily commutes,” he said. “Along with planned improvements to River Road, I think it would be a holistic improvement to that neighborhood, and access for those residents.”
Improvements at other dangerous intersections also considered restricted turns, a signal or a round-a-bout. The latter emerged as the public's favorite option, team members said.
Improvements to the intersection at Mullan Road were also explored.
Menefee said that could include a potential redesign that restricts left turns for certain approaches. While such a fix would be a long-term cure, near-term improvements could include ADA accessibility and access management.
Speed limits across the Reserve Street corridor are also under consideration. But that will require a speed study by the Montana Department of Transportation, given that the corridor serves as a state highway, Menefee said.
“Many of the designs we have in the priority package do consider speed enforcement through design, and would result in limiting or enforcing speed,” said Menefee. “Getting to speed enforcement through design would be a highly expensive, long-term outcome of the plan.”
Other changes across the corridor could include raised or separated bike lanes, larger street signs, narrower travel lanes and enhanced markings on the pavement.
But of all the potential options, converting Reserve to six lanes was not among them. Instead, a raised median would serve to prohibit cross-street traffic and restrict turns in an effort to address safety.
“Increasing lanes was not part of our purview,” said Foster. “Focusing on the leading causes of fatal and serious injury crashes was the highest priority. The median is highly suggested because (crossings) are the major cause of fatal- and serious-injury crashes.”
The City of Missoula recently adopted a new Land Use Plan and, this month, updated its building and zoning code to guide development and increase infill. The Reserve Street plan took much of that work into consideration and attempted to consider the corridor's future.
Aron Wilson, the city's transportation manager, said portions of the corridor could evolve into a more pedestrian-friendly roadway over time. As a result, future improvements could consider a pedestrian-friendly landscape as development patterns change.
“This is a fundamental question about Reserve Street,” said Wilson. “We've been thinking about that throughout this project. We didn't land on what Reserve is in the future, or what it wants to be when it 'grows up.' It's something we need to think about as a community. It's a question that remains to be answered, both on the land use and infrastructure side.”
