BILLINGS - Big changes are coming to downtown Billings in the form of two-way streets. The one ways like Second and Third Avenues North will soon go both ways. It’s all part of the city’s effort to make downtown Billings more accessible.
Marguerite Jodry owns Zest Kitchen on 29th Street, a street that used to be one-way as well.
“I do feel like traffic has really slowed down going both directions, and it does feel like it’s easier for people to access our store,” said Jodry on Tuesday.
Two streets, 29th and 30th, were converted to two-way streets in June 2021. Now, the Downtown Billings Alliance has asked the city to help again, and city engineer Mac Fogelsong is happy to oblige.
“Making it more pedestrian-friendly, bicyclist-friendly, business (friendly). Less of a highway mentality and more of a business-focused mentality,” Fogelsong said.
The two-way restoration project will encompass the area between Montana Avenue and Sixth Avenue North.
“Western boundary’s North 35th Street and eastern boundary will be North 25th Street,” said Fogelsong.
He said the two-way restoration projects are happening in places like Boise and Missoula, where Billings resident David Day came from.
“I moved from Missoula, and they struggled with traffic issues, big time, trying to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists,” Day said.
Day just hopes that these changes won’t leave drivers like him in the lurch.
“If you’re overly accommodating to pedestrians, so the drivers suffer, so you have to find a middle ground,” said Day.
One issue already plaguing downtown Billings drivers is back-in angled parking on the new two-way streets. Jodry said she’s heard numerous complaints but Fogelsong said it may still be the best option moving forward.
“It’s a tool that we have that we’re looking at, it hasn’t been determined for the remainder,” Fogelsong said.
The city hopes to start the project in late 2023 or early 2024.
