The City of Hamilton, with technical and financial support from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), has initiated the development of the Hamilton Community Transportation Safety Plan (i.e. Transportation Safety Plan). The City of Hamilton desires to complete the Transportation Safety Plan to fully evaluate transportation safety concerns within the community and develop a plan to address them – in an open format with the full participation of the public.

The transportation safety plan is intended to help guide decisions regarding transportation safety in the community. Local Community Transportation Safety Plans are supported by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to complement Montana’s Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP) goals and objectives. Public participation is a key component in any successful planning process. For this planning study, numerous public participation strategies are being proposed to reach as many people as possible and gather essential information to guide transportation safety improvements. The level of public involvement in transportation safety issues generally increases with the community’s growth. The transportation safety plan will provide public outreach opportunities that will:

• Educate the public on the important elements of transportation safety from all 4 E’s of safety (Education, Emergency Services, Enforcement and Engineering),
• Respond to the increasing interest of the general public to participate in planning in the community, and
• Increase the public’s investment in the Community Transportation Safety Plan.

CDM will collect and review relevant crash and safety data for Montana, the City of Hamilton, and Ravalli County. The study area for the Transportation Safety Plan primarily includes the city limits of Hamilton, with the possibility of including areas outside the city limits if data, the public, the City, and County show a need.