BOZEMAN — There's going to be some new controlled intersections put in along Black Avenue. But one roundabout is special because a Bozeman High School student painted it. I spoke to some locals about what they think of the art.
One local named Tara told me, “I like it a lot. I think it's very bright and beautiful.”
Another local named Paul said, “Oh I think it's great. Some color is always nice.”
Tara and Paul are locals who walk past this roundabout almost every day. They both tell me they love the art that was installed last week, but more importantly what the colorful roundabout will do for traffic around Black Avenue.
“I think that is pretty good to have it right next to this park, where families have their younger children and dogs,” says Tara.
“For people that come through the park, it's good to see something they have to slow down for,” adds Paul.
But does anyone know who’s behind this roundabout art? I asked Paul, “Did you know the art was installed by a high school senior?” He told me, “No. That makes it even better”.
Griffin Brokaw is a senior at Bozeman High School. He was looking to create street art for a senior project, so he reached out to Transportation and Engineering for the City of Bozeman.
“We thought that’s an awesome idea. We connected him with the project, we thought this would be a cool place for him to do his work, and he was able to add a really cool design to the street,” said Nick Ross, the director of transportation and engineering for the City of Bozeman.
Nick told me this roundabout is the first of many controlled intersections down Black Avenue as a part of the Black Avenue Bicycle Boulevard Project. He says the project is “simply a priority bike route on a residential street. Where we like to add some engineering controls to make it a bit safer, a bit slower traffic, and a bit less volume.”
Nick says although Black and Villard is the only controlled intersection with street art so far, he hopes they can add more as time goes on.
“It's a cool place marking, artistic element, that we can use to make our street feel more comfortable. And that also adds a little element of safety to it,” says Nick.
And locals that use Black Avenue on the daily? They’re already seeing a difference —as Paul tells me, “This is the first year this has been here and I'm really supportive of it. It's already made a huge difference”.
