BILLINGS — After months of neighborhood concern and a string of serious crashes, new safety improvements are headed to a problem intersection in the Billings Heights, and they’re coming faster than neighbors expected.
Changes at Mary Street and Bitterroot Drive are scheduled to begin this week, just two weeks after MTN News first reported neighbors’ warnings that “it was only a matter of time” before someone was seriously hurt.
See video from the problem intersection:
Neighbors pushed for solutions
For residents such as Amanda Rule, who lives feet from the intersection, the crashes have been deeply personal.
Watch previous Q2 coverage:
“It could have been my child in that wreck,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking… you never know what could happen.”
In the past few months alone, at least three major crashes have occurred at the intersection. Though no new reports have surfaced since mid-November, neighbors say the danger hasn’t disappeared.
“More subdivisions going up, more houses being built, more high school students driving that intersection,” Rule said. “I agree with what they are doing, but there’s still going to be accidents.”
City, county and state fast-track improvements
In what city officials call an remarkably fast turnaround, the Montana Department of Transportation completed an initial traffic study on Nov. 18. By Nov. 26, the city and county had agreed on an action plan for immediate upgrades.
“This intersection is unique in the fact that it’s a shared jurisdiction,” said Debi Meling, Billings Public Works director. “One of the issues is limited visibility at night. It’s a dark intersection.”
Beginning this week, crews will install:
- Larger, edge-lit stop signs on Bitterroot Drive
- Stop bars painted at the northbound and southbound approaches
- Reflective strips on signposts
- Additional “Stop Ahead” signage
The goal, officials say, is simple: get drivers — especially those traveling northbound on Bitterroot — to actually stop.
“So the stop control will not change, but the visibility of the stop will change,” Meling said.
Why a four-way stop wasn’t approved
Many neighbors hoped for more drastic changes, including a four-way stop or a roundabout. But MDT’s analysis found the intersection does not meet federal guidelines for an all-way stop.
Among MDT’s findings:
- Recorded crash data — though incomplete — did not meet threshold requirements for an all-way stop.
- Sight distance at the intersection appears adequate.
- Traffic volumes were below federal minimums for adding stop control on Mary Street.
- Installing a four-way stop where not warranted could actually increase crashes, MDT warned, because drivers may ignore unexpected stop signs on what feels like a through street.
Still, MDT noted that nearly all recent angle crashes involved northbound drivers failing to yield, and video footage captured at least one near-crash caused by a driver running the stop sign.
Additional upgrades under consideration
- Flashing LED lights on stop signs
- “Stop Ahead” pavement markings
- A speed-limit review on Mary Street east of Bitterroot
- Noise-reducing alternatives to rumble strips (if warranted)
Long-term, higher-cost solutions — such as an overhead beacon, new roadway lighting or a traffic signal — would require further study and funding.
MDT also noted that the intersection’s configuration may change once construction begins on the final segment of the Billings Bypass, expected in roughly five years, though that timeline is fluid.
Neighbors want to see more and soon
For Rule, the new upgrades are a start, but not the end.
“I call it a win, but there will be more,” she said. “Be aware of what’s going on. Be aware of change.”
Work on the improvements is scheduled for the week of Dec. 1–5.
