December 5, 2005

 

 

To:       Residents along Big Flat Road in the ‘S’ curve area

From:   Citizens concerned with bike safety

Re:       Recent crash and proposed solutions

 

 

 

Dear Residents,

 

We are writing to you to ask for your input and your help.  On April 22nd of 2005, Brittany Brindley was biking through the ‘S’ curve of Big Flat Road (the river bottom portion) and was hit head-on by a car that ‘cut’ the corner at too high of a speed.  While Brittany survived the crash and is on the road to recovery, we, concerned citizens, would like to prevent this type of crash from ever happening again.

 

Several of us met at the crash site in early November and came up with some suggested improvements for the area.  These include:

 

 

  • Lowering the speed limit
  • Trimming the lower branches of a ponderosa pine to increase visibility
  • Adding a couple feet to the shoulder where possible
  • Repositioning the ‘fog line’ (the white line near the shoulder) to better accommodate cars and bikes
  • Installing ‘Bikes on Roadway’ or similar signs
  • Looking at the potential for a separate off-road walk/bike trail

 

 

We feel a first step is to get feedback from you, with a possible meeting if interest exists.  Our next step might be to give these and other suggestions to the County for consideration.  Ultimately we want to increase safety in this area.  Please let us know if you have thoughts on this or would like to meet to talk further- perhaps in mid-January.  Thank you for your time.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Bob Giordano- Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation

Deb Adams, Wayne Kraus- Missoulians on Bicycles

Brittany Brindley- local cyclist

 

Ps. For communication purposes please use Bob as a contact.  Ph: 880-6834, email: mist@strans.org, mail: 91 Campus Dr.  #1412, Missoula, MT, 59801