4-H club looking to improve Coram crosswalk

The Glacier View 4-H Club is looking for a safer way to cross the highway.

Since December of 2018, the seven-person club has been working Montana State University’s “Montana Math Models” Program in an effort to find a way to either make motorists more aware of the crosswalk across Highway 2 in Coram or to move it to a more visible location.

“We want to use the crosswalk, but we can’t because it is just too dangerous. People don’t notice that it is there and they do not slow down or stop,” 15-year-old club president Mirrer Bain said.

According to Bain, her 4-H group did a study counting passing cars between 10 a.m. and noon on June 14 and the results were staggering. With Glacier National Park’s Going to the Sun Road not yet open to vehicle traffic, the crosswalk in Coram still saw roughly 600 cars per hour moving east toward the park during that two-hour span. During that time, the group observed no one using the crosswalk, but said they did see several people cross the highway in other locations.

The crossing is the only crosswalk in the Coram area and also serves as a crossing for the bike path that goes through the area.

The club has also been working with the Montana Department of Transportation, hoping to find ways to deal with the problem and has started a Go Fund Me page to help raise money to put a new flashing caution light either where the crossing is now, or in a new location if it is moved. To date, the group has raised $550 of the $6,000 needed to purchase the light. The Go Fund Me page can be found online at https://www.gofundme.com/coram-montana-crosswalk.

In the meantime, the group applied for an received a $300 grant from the Montana 4-H Foundation, which was used to purchase and implement a safety flag crossing system at the crosswalk until a more permanent solution can be found.

In addition, the Glacier View 4-H Club is also conducting a survey to gather more information to help with the project. The survey can be filled out online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdaObGYSvCvmtFaQB4bgSScYz2RAH7T4UnNDnx9yAX9QoVa6w/viewform.

The group will be traveling to MSU in August to work with the Montana Math Models Program to help narrow down the best solutions to the problem.

“We want people to feel safe when they are trying to cross the highway here,” Bain said. “With the bike path being there, it can be a busy crosswalk and it needs to be safer.”