The first orange cones of the 2026 season appeared on North 7th Avenue early Monday morning, confirming what Bozeman residents have long suspected: construction season is not a period of time but a permanent state of being interrupted briefly by winter.

Montana Department of Transportation spokesperson Kevin Flack said the project involves “utility relocation and road surface improvements” and is expected to last through October, a timeline he delivered with the practiced confidence of a man who knows it will actually last through next March.

“We understand the inconvenience,” Flack said. “But this work is essential to maintaining the safety and functionality of one of Bozeman’s most critical corridors.”

North 7th residents, who have endured some form of construction on the road every year since 2019, received the news with a stoicism that psychologists might classify as the final stage of grief.

“I don’t even see the cones anymore,” said Cathy Diebold, 47, who lives two blocks off North 7th. “They’re just part of the landscape. Like the mountains, except the mountains don’t move to a different lane every two weeks.”

Local business owners along the corridor expressed the standard mix of support for improved infrastructure and despair at reduced foot traffic. “Last year we lost about 20 percent of our summer revenue during the construction,” said Jared Potts, owner of a sandwich shop near the Mendenhall intersection. “But the road was smoother for about three months before they tore it up again. So that was nice.”

The 2026 project will require at least two full lane closures, one temporary traffic signal, and what MDT’s project plan describes as “periodic full-road closures during non-peak hours,” a concept that assumes North 7th has non-peak hours, which is generous.

Commuters have been advised to seek alternate routes. In Bozeman, the alternate route for North 7th is North 19th, which is also under construction. The alternate route for North 19th is South 19th, which features its own seasonal delays. The alternate route for South 19th is leaving earlier, which is not a road but is functionally the only option.

Diebold said she’s considering biking to work. “At least on a bike I can weave around the cones,” she said. “Assuming I don’t get hit by someone weaving around the cones in a truck.”