St. Ignatio's oldest on the Flathead Reserve said that uncertain crosswalks and the fast traffic made it more difficult to run, drive or use wheelchairs in the city. Last Wednesday, their concerns were put into practice when partner, high -speed projects were installed at two intersections in Mission, with additional locations planned.
The project is a collaboration between the confederated Salish and Kotenai tribes (CSKT), the CSKT Tribal Health Department, America Walks and the University of Montana. Quick builders are inexpensive pilot installations that test safer zebra-cross designs by narrowing the lanes and shortening the crossing distances. In Mission, CSKT added the projects to works of art in which flowers, plants and salic words were included in the painted intersections.
The crews installed a project on the street behind Tribal Health and another on the Vierweg near the Longhouse, which includes four painted zebra crossing. Other intersections in the city have been identified for similar improvements and are expected to be completed later.
A neighbor who helped at work and lives along Longhouse Crossing said that cars come by every day. She is worried about children who drive bicycles in the area. The concern triggered discussions about the return of bicycle security for children, as the speed of traffic makes it too dangerous to drive alone through the neighborhood.
The traffic speed remains a problem in the entire reserve, and the organizers say that these projects are a step to slow down vehicles and to create safer rooms for people on foot, on bicycles or with wheelchairs.
“We are carrying out a quick project, so we are doing extensive improvements here in Saint Ignatius,” said Dr. Samantha Morigeau, doctor of physiotherapy with CSKT. “Older adults in the Flathead reserve identified in the community that made it easier or more difficult to mobilize. One of the things was a lack of zebra tropics or poorly maintained zebra dry. We got together with America Walks and they had funds to carry out these fast builds.”
Morigeau said that the project combines the autumn prevention programs of tribal health, in which older adults pointed out obstacles such as poor lighting, unequal sidewalks and uncertain intersections. This feedback led the mission work.
Maja Pedersen, assistant professor at the School of Public and Community Health Sciences at the University of Montana, said her team helped collect and organize the concerns. “We asked the participants to take photos and take on language memos on pedestrian security,” she said. “We had a large group of perspectives from five different communities in the entire reserve and asked to prioritize older adults to prioritize problems that affected their safety.”
These priorities were translated into visible changes on the ground. Ian Thomas, technical support with America walks, said that the fast buildings should slow down cars and shorten crossings. “We limited the alleys, tightened the crossings and shortened the distance, have to cross people,” said Thomas. “This means that drivers have to slow down, and pedestrians have safer rooms when crossing.”
While the fast buildings in the mission are supposed to test the security designs, they also wear a deeper layer of meaning. The CSKT design team added the zebraTrope and weaved in flowers, landscapes and salic words. The painted intersections represent the relationship of the tribes on land and language, while they draw the eyes of the drivers to the intersections themselves.
Morigeau said that the combination of culture and security together reflects the project what the project is: to put community voices into practice. “We start our community feedback,” she said.
The partners say that more work is planned for both the mission and in the entire reservation when it allows time and effort. For the time being, the two completed intersections are already changing the way the streets feel. The strong colors and closer streets signal from the driver's seat. According to a pedestrian, they create space to pause and move more safely.
In the mission, the painted toilet powers are both practical and symbolic: a step towards safe streets and a memory of the fact that the culture of Salish, Kootenai and the Pends d'uele continues to manage how this community is progressing.