Staff recommends that the City Council accept a $7,990 donation from Billings TrailNet for permanent bikeway counters.

The City has received a $7,990 donation from Billings TrailNet to purchase two permanent bike lane counters that will be installed on the new two-way cycle track facilities on 3rd Avenue North and North 31st Street as part of the 2-way Street Reversion project underway this year. City-County Planning and Public Works have collaborated to install the counters in conjunction with Work Order (WO) 23-11 Downtown Two-Way Conversion project. Permanent bike lane counters will collect more accurate data on the facilities and will provide a detailed year-round picture of facility use. If permanent counters are not installed, the bicycle facilities will be incorporated into annual counts, requiring additional staff time, or could be funded with the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO’s) next funding cycle after the construction of the two-way cycle tracks are completed, requiring a patch in the newly constructed bicycle facility. Installing the counters after the project is completed would result in higher installation costs and may affect the long-term quality of the surface.  

City Council may:

• Approve the donation; or,
• Not approve the donation.

If the donation is not accepted, the new downtown facilities will be counted as part of regular annual counts or could be installed as permanent counters after construction, resulting in increased costs and premature damage to the new surface of the travel way.

This donation will be used to fund permanent bike counters that will collect daily data on the new two-way cycle track that would otherwise have to be funded through the MPO. This donation provides a significant offset to the costs. Installation will be coordinated with the WO 23-11 work, which will reduce cost and eliminate a patch in the new facilities if the counters were installed after construction is completed. The MPO will pay for the annual data subscription for the counters out of its annual budget, which is covered 100% by federal funds with no local match funds.