Long a subject of controversy, the raised brick planters and vegetation on the Main Street medians are now being targeted for removal.
The Boulder City Council plans to ask the Montana Department of Transportation to remove those items as a way to reduce the height of the medians, but leave the curb and gutters for stormwater management.
The Council would like the areas where the brick and vegetation are now located to be filled in with concrete, according to the discussion at the May 18 meeting.
The Council’s recommendation is based on public comments received in February, with the overall consensus in favor of reducing the height of the medians due to safety, but leaving the islands intact.
The medians pose a threat to visibility, and maintaining the vegetation in the planters is also a problem, according to public comments provided in February to the City Council.
Each year, the city looks for volunteers to care for the plantings, according to Boulder City Clerk Ellen Harne. Watering is provided by an underground line maintained by the City, said Harne.
That has been a struggle, said a former volunteer, Sallie Keener.
“Volunteers are so volunteered-out, they can’t keep up with it,” she said.
City Council President Drew Dawson said the volunteers have done a commendable job with limited resources, but that’s it’s just been hard to maintain.
Michael “Bear’ Taylor, who sits on the City Council, and used to operate a snow plow for the state, said the medians are where snow is often piled to keep Main Street, and the parking lanes, clear.
Sometimes those piles would get up to 12 feet high, posing a visibility hazard for motorists, said Taylor.
The planters and vegetation were also a concern near the schools and the library, as it was hard to see the smaller children crossing the street, he said.
“It’s time to get rid of them,” said Taylor.
Mayor Rusty Guilio said it all boils down to safety.
“It’s not a very usable space. It’s fortunate that no one has been run over,” he said.
Guilio said the removal of the planters would likely coincide with the state’s plan to resurface portions of Route 69.
The resurfacing of Route 69 through Boulder is currently beyond the five-year primary program, according to the Montana Department of Transportation.
The medians, installed about 18 years ago, were part of a widening and reconstruction project for Route 69 by the Montana Department of Transportation, which also happens to be Main Street, and it ran from Hauser Street to the Boulder River bridge to the south. At the time, the biggest concern with the project was maintaining adequate parking along Main Street, and whether it should be angled or parallel. In the end, the City chose parallel parking. The cost of the entire widening and reconstruction project was estimated at $2.4 million.
