DRAFT - Traffic Study

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One of our primary concerns with the proposed travel plaza (or any commercial or industrial use of this land) is traffic congestion, especially during peak school traffic hours. The location of the proposed traffic plaza is just off the north end of the I-90 exit (north side of the Frontage Road). We became aware of a traffic study that was submitted to the Department of Transportation in Helena that said there would not be any traffic concerns or remediation needed due to the travel plaza. As I'm sure you can attest, if you've ever driven that overpass during school drop off or any other high volume hours, this was laughable.

We spent weeks identifying a traffic engineering firm who could work with us. Many refused because they already had existing relationships with Town Pump and were 'conflicted out' of working with us. We identified a firm in Belgrade called E5 engineering who agreed to take on the work.

Tom from E5 deployed cameras, collected data, and produced a report that was over 350 pages long showing what the people who live here already know: adding more traffic would cause a huge problem and be a risk to drivers, busses, and pedestrians if not managed properly.

Unfortunately, this report came at a cost of about $13,000 but it gave us the ammunition we needed to get in front of the folks who matter in Helena. They are taking this new report seriously and asking questions. We will keep you updated on what we find out.