GALLATIN COUNTY — On Wednesday, a sheriff’s deputy was nearly hit head-on along Frontage Road. That got me thinking…just how safe is Frontage Road and what precautions can people take?
“Drivers are flying around here,” said Becky Clements, who lives and works in Manhattan, just a few blocks off Frontage Road.
“I feel like it’s dangerous, I feel like it’s scary,” she said.
Clements says she uses Frontage Road nearly every other day to get to Belgrade and notices people speeding.
“It’s 45 going out of town here but people are already speeding up to 65 or 70 at that point as they’re headed out of town,” said Clements.
Clement’s scary experiences with this road don’t stop at speed. She says her son’s car broke down along Frontage Road last summer.
“There’s no shoulder, and with everybody flying by like they do. Yeah, that was scary,” said Clements.
Clements is one of several concerned residents and business owners MTN spoke to. All of them share the same sentiment: frontage doesn’t feel safe.
“Someone almost rear ended me,” said Ryleigh Goodman, who works at Palomino Ranch, a clothing shop in Manhattan.
Manhattan residents aren’t the only ones with scary Frontage Road experiences. A deputy patrolling Frontage Road on Wednesday was almost hit by a driver who’s accused of driving under the influence. MTN reached out to the sheriff’s office to ask why Frontage Road can be so dangerous.
“You have a very high-speed area with unpredictable traffic,” said Ryan Douma, a detective with Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office. Detective Douma says the sheriff’s office has seen a lot of accidents on Frontage Road because…
“It’s just so narrow with no shoulder and it doesn’t take much to slip off the road there,” he said.
WATCH: A vehicle barreled the wrong way and nearly struck a deputy
Frontage Road might be narrow but it spans far. Detective Douma says the road reaches all the way from Bozeman to Three Forks.
“It’s pretty long,” said Detective Douma.
When it comes to safety, Detective Douma says the road is constantly being patrolled. He advises people to not use their phones while driving and be especially careful when passing.
“Be conscious of what is way out in front of you,” said Detective Douma.
For frequent Frontage Road users like Clements, the focus is on:
“Defense driving, 100%” she said.
