For years there have been talks about the expansion of Fowler Avenue on Bozeman’s west side. With the growth the city has seen this is coming closer to fruition. For some having another north to south corridor through town will be a welcome addition. However, with any big change, there will be hurdles to get through.

The pre-design stage involves connecting Fowler Avenue from Huffine to Oak Street. Right now Fowler crosses Huffine and then dead-ends at Babcock Avenue. Here there is a small, tree-lined trail and then starts up again with a small section through Fowler Place Subdivision. Once you hit Durston it again reaches a dead-end. Backing to Harvest Creek are two parcels of open land until you hit the incomplete roundabout at Davis Lane. Davis, which would be the continuation of Fowler, runs all the way to Valley Center Rd. With several subdivisions, access to the Bozeman Gateway Shopping center, and the future home of Billings Clinic all in this area, the extension would provide much needed access to this area of town.

With another north-to-south corridor on the northwest side, a lot of traffic could be alleviated from surrounding neighborhood streets. However, there are concerns for how it could affect subdivisions such as Fowler Place Subdivision, Valley Unit, and Harvest Creek which would then have a busy road passing through. There have also been environmental impact concerns raised over the small trail right off of Babcock and open space in the area.

Currently, the city is working on concept design and resident input during this pre-design phase. They intend to have focus groups, field trips, and discussions to determine lane configuration as well as bike/pedestrian paths. They also have to gain right-of-way through some parcels of land that have not been annexed into the city. Further down the road decisions will need to be considered about potential roundabouts or traffic signals at both Babcock and Durston. The early design phase and community engagement should last through summer 2022 with the earliest construction start being Spring of 2023 and multiple phases of construction.