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© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
Down the street from where I live, at the corner of Willson and Garfield, are two trees. These two trees have four large scars, much like the scars from sawed off limbs, except bigger. These scars are from cars and trucks hitting the trees. I have seen the aftermaths of two of those collisions.
Many times each year, this busy intersection is very icy, as the city of Bozeman is often very slow in plowing the streets, and sanding the most dangerous intersections. It seems that they do not work on weekends and at night. And it often takes them many days, even weeks to plow the busiest streets. So, a heavy snow will often be packed ice by the time they get around to it. To be fair to Bozeman, I must admit that there have been no car/tree collisions at this intersection for several years. But, some cars slide right through the intersection without even beginning the intended turn, each year.
Addendum:
As long as I'm complaining about Bozeman traffic control, there are a few intersections with traffic jams that are often three blocks long. We don't have the big city problem (and death trap) of being motionless on the Interstate. But for the size of Bozeman, we have ridiculous traffic jams, every day. Something should be done. I avoid driving during rush hours, but sometimes I forget, or have to go somewhere.
And there are intersections where you just sit and sit and sit and the lights never change. Tonight, I sat for 11 minutes at the corner of 15th and Main (there are automatic car detectors in the street), and the light never changed. I finally made a right from the left turn lane, and made my left in a roundabout way. The lights at the corner of Willson and Mendenhall (automatic car detectors) also take a long time to change. I have sat there for over a minute when there were no cars within miles at 2 A.M.