Titled a "public scoping meeting," the purpose of Tuesday's meeting, as reiterated by director of Montana Department of Transportation Jim Lynch and Mayor Bret Smelser, was to get public opinion, ideas and options in regards to a truck bypass in Sidney. The meeting was led by project manager Darryl James with HKM Engineering, who was hired by the MDT. James tried to start discussion and guide the discussion to constructive input on the variety of routes and the need of such a bypass in Sidney.
After everyone who attended the meeting introduced themselves, Smelser gave a brief introduction stating how since he has been mayor, the truck bypass has consistently been amongst the three things on his wish list he poses to Gov. Brian Schweitzer. "Out of those three things, this has moved along the quickest," Smelser said. "The decision will be painful for some, but there has always been progress in Sidney. We understand what it takes to progress." One main purpose, Smelser sees, is to help the city and public make an informed decision on the pending Central Avenue change: four versus three lanes and three versus four lanes.
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Maps were handed out to all those who attended, and a map was periodically shown on the screen.
"We encourage you to mark those maps up, write notes, tell us what you think is a good idea, where you think the bypass should be and turn those into us," James said.
This is the first in a series of three meetings. The first meeting is mainly to gain public input on what the public sees as the need, what the obstacles are in certain routes, etc. This information will be entered into the Quantum program and a study conducted.
Duane Mitchell, Sidney, was the first of the public to offer his input, "I think we first need to decide what we want to do with Central Avenue...if we leave the street alone, then we don't need a bypass."
This matter, though, was not discussed until later in the meeting.
By a show of hands, the audience was pretty evenly split on whether there is a need for a truck bypass route.
The mayor then emphasized that by changing the lanes on Central Avenue, width would be added to the street because the room for parking is presently too small to accommodate the large rigs (trucks).
"I think the number one issue here is safety," resident Dale Dombrosky said. "It's a residential area, with churches and school...The truck volume there is misplaced."
Director Lynch also clarified that if a truck route were made, "people can opt to go downtown." However, the goal of these meetings is so that if a truck route is made, the truck drivers would want to use it because it would be beneficial to them.
"If you're going to make it, make sure it's wide and high, because that's what we need," Mitchell added.
Discussion then moved to pending locations, or "logical termini" as termed by James, for the placement of the truck route.
Sidney resident Ellen Wznick explained that it was her understanding, from researching the Sidney Herald archives, that what is currently termed a truck route by many residents was originally made over 50 years ago for the use of small grain trucks. She added, "We want to keep people coming through Central Avenue. If we build a bypass, we could lose the business that comes through town."
Mayor Smelser later replied to that comment saying, "No one wants the bypass to bypass Sidney. Central Avenue will always be open no matter what...Those who are going to stop will stop."
The mayor also offered an idea for placement of the truck route to the west due to the location of the oil field activity there and the traffic flow between the oil field and Williston.
County Commissioner Mark Rehbein offered his input by saying, "We looked at trying on the west side of town. The west looks best, but least usable because of Lone Tree Creek." Rehbein then added that no matter the placement of the bypass, it will require people to be flexible.
Mitchell said, "Why not make the one we have a truck route?" To which, Dombrosky replied, "Why would we want to have more trucks in a residential area?" Dombrosky thought that west was where the road should be placed, as did many other Ninth Avenue, the present truck route, residents.
James then called for a show of hands on whether people thought the east or the west side of town would be the best place. Once again, it was an almost even split.
"Somebody always gets hurt," Sidney businessman Dolph Harris said, referring to when new developments are made. "East looks good, and looks like we wouldn't really be destroying community." He later added, "We need to look at the long term and decide what and where we want Sidney to be down the road."
There was no consensus on what the solution would be or the best placement of a truck route. As Lynch said, though, the purpose of the meeting was to "have more options, not to narrow...all alignments are a starting point."
James announced that there will hopefully be another meeting within the next few months. Until then, the public is encouraged to contact either James or Lynch to discuss the proposals. James may be reached by phone, 406-442-0370, or e-mail, djames@hkminc.com. Lynch may be reached by phone, 406-444-6201, or e-mail, jilynch@mt.gov. There will also be a Web site: http//:www.mdt.mt.gov/publicinvolve/sidneybypass.
reporter@sidneyherald.com
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