MISSOULA — People who live in Missoula know all about Reserve Street: the high speeds, slow traffic, and lots of crashes.
The people working on The Reserve Street Safety Action Plan are looking to improve the busy road and make it safer.
"This issue of a lot of crashes on Reserve Street is [it] really affects people's lives a lot and it's scary,” said Jenny Mish, who lives just a few blocks off Reserve Street.
She’s part of a neighborhood group that loves to bike and walk but now, many of them avoid the street.
“One of our members, her daughter was hit by somebody on Reserve Street and thrown 80 feet, and she will spend the rest of her life not walking. And so, it's traumatic for our whole neighborhood group to experience this and, and it was, you know, horrific,” Mish told MTN.
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Data shows incidents like this are pretty common, with over 1,600 crashes over the last five years on Reserve Street.
The road — which runs from 39th Street to Interstate 90 — is one of the busiest in Montana, carrying up to 37,000 vehicles each day.
Safety along Reserve Street has long been a challenge for those who use it and those who manage it.
The Reserve Street Safety Action Plan has been in the works to try and improve things by looking at issues, including crash risk and speeding.
"We also have a number of specific intersections, the Mullan Road intersection being one that have a great dynamic of issues that are occurring on them,” Missoula Metropolitan Planning Organization Associate Transportation Planner Charlie Menefee told MTN.
Watch related coverage: Missoulians advocate for safety study on Reserve Street
After collecting public opinion and crash data in 2024, the Safety Action Plan team hosted two open houses this week to present data and listen to suggestions.
"We've got feedback all across the board. Some people are looking at sort of a larger scale than the direct corridor,” Menefee said. “Some people have really detailed input about a specific intersection that affects their neighborhood and how they access or get out of their neighborhood."
Plenty of people have given feedback about the plan, which is still in the review stage.
"There's like a lot of different people who have a lot of different needs that are just being neglected by all that money that's being spent to prioritize cars. I drive a car. I want it to work for cars too, but I think we can do it for everybody,” Mish told MTN.
Feedback on the Reserve Street Safety Action Plan is being accepted through the end of March online here.
