Dear Mayor Bauman, Dear Alder Ken Golden, An important reason Madison is so wonderful is our bicycling accommodations. I think bicycling and bicycle paths make Madison friendly. From the seat of a bicycle, one interacts with Madison in a personal, friendly way. I appreciate the new South West Bike Path near my home.
I often bike along the SW Bike Path, use it to connect to the Capitol City Trail, and (by way of the incomplete Nobbie Trail under the beltline) the Monona Bike Path, the Isthmus Bike Path, Wingra Creek Bike Path, through Vilas Park back to my home to complete a 30 mile loop. I can tell you that for over 29 miles, we have a wonderful asset. But something is terribly wrong near Allied Drive. For just a few blocks near Allied Drive the SW Bike Path takes on an unfriendly, unwelcoming personality. Broken glass is shattered across the path. Trash and stolen Cub Foods grocery carts are strewn along its length. Appliances, furniture and other trash is pushed down the embankment. Graffiti is on the path, Sub Zero, Brunsell, and other buildings. Last spring, along with perhaps 100 other volunteers, I participated in a SW Bike Path clean up effort. At the invitation of the neighborhood (Project Hope), we cleaned up trash that had accumulated in the railroad corridor over many years (before the path was opened). It was a festive occasion to celebrate Earth Day. It seemed like a new beginning for a wonderful linear park through the neighborhood. The pile of rubbish we collected was surprisingly big. I've been away from Madison this summer (on a bicycle ride across the United States). I returned home two weeks ago. In that short time I have visited the Allied Drive area of the SW Bike Path many times. The trash is back, the broken glass is back, dumped appliances are back, and there is new graffiti (I see that Sub Zero painted over old graffiti while I was away, but their walls have been extensively hit again). I've witnessed children breaking glass (and stopped them, reasoning with them and appealing to them that I did not want a flat tire). I've witnessed public drunkenness and urination. I've witnessed theft (grocery carts being pushed down the path). All these things on perhaps a half mile of the path, confined to a troubled neighborhood. I have several suggestions. 1. Regular city sweeping of this section of path to remove the broken glass. 2. Intense and frequent city graffiti clean up - more frequent than now is occurring. 3. More police patrols - perhaps a foot or bicycle patrol with officers who get to know the people in the neighborhood and detect the difference between a drunk who urinates on the path and concerned parents with homes in the neighborhood - and acts accordingly. 4. Neighborhood Association resources - door to door involvement and education - this is their linear park, they should be protecting and beautifying it! 5. Intense pressure on the landlords to provide adequate dumpsters with fences and lids to control blowing trash - and if their dumpsters are open and the trash is blowing out, fines for littering. 6. Institutionalize the Annual Earth Day clean up effort. Maybe the mayor and alder can join us next spring? I look forward to these and other changes instituted from your office that will keep the path friendly for the enjoyment of all of Madison. Please let me know how I can help. Sincerely, George J Perkins 2219 Chadbourne Ave Madison, WI 53705 608-442-7883 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://us.geocities.com/geoperkins "Too much sanity may be madness and the greatest madness of all may be to see life as it is, and not as it could be." - Don Quixote _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
