On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:04:00 -0500 "Michael Rewey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Mike, quit passing this off as capacity expansion. It isn't! It is > really a pavement replacement with narrower lanes. There are no > new lanes. I know that no new lanes of traffic will be added to East Washington Ave. I knew that, and I did not say that. However, the reports I read on this project suggest that the capacity the existing facility to handle more automobile travel will be increased with the project, because the project will limit the number of highway crossings and certain access points (eliminating slow ups for lights), will improve intersection capacity (allowing more cars through intersections), and will allow faster speeds of travel in certain areas of East Washington Avenue, so that the new highway will accommodate increased volumes of motor vehicle travel within the area during the same amount of time. I obtained this information in this weeks' edition of the Madison Times newspaper, July 11-17. Incidentally, in case you didn't know, Madison Times' publisher David Hammonds' former wife, Ms. Betty Franklin-Hammonds suffered a fatal asthma attack on East Washington Avenue, in the area of the proposed project, in the spring of 1999. It occurred shortly after rush hour traffic had subsided, so it is conceivable that the heavy traffic on East Washington Avenue during that evening helped to bring on the attack. I informed the WisDOT planning staff and the State Highway 2020 Planning Advisory Committee of this information in November, 1999, while attending their final meeting on the state highway plan development. I informed the Committee that I believed it was important for highway planning officials to know of recent scientific study results that linked rises in the number of asthma attack hospitalizations in residential areas located in close proximity to heavily travelled highway. I still believe that, and that is why I am continuing to pursue my interests in arguing for reduced highway development that serves to increase the amount of automobile travel in Wisconsin, as a personal project of mine. Also, could you possibly tell me the exact number of vehicles the present Highway 151/East Wash Ave. is designed to accommodate, compared to the number of vehicle the DOT believes the unimproved East Washington Avenue can adequately accommodate? In the event the proposed project does not accommodate any more vehicles than does the existing highway, then I believe the capacity of the existing facilely ought be reduced, while also providing alternative modes of transportation along with auto traffic demand reduction programs, such as meaningful incentives for people to drive less (not just offering token bus tickets at reduced prices). Moreover, the incentives (rewards) should also be provided to people who already use alternative means of travel in Dane County, since they do not presently benefit from large scale highway projects, as much. In my opinion, the existing U.S. Highway 151 to the Capital is already WAY over designed for the area that it passes through. It accommodates tens of thousands of motorized vehicles being driven right through the heart of Madison's east side residential community, spewing airborne cancer-causing, heart attack-causing, stroke causing particulates and soot, and asthma attack causing ozone precursors, including volatile organics and nitrous oxide, and huge quantities carbon dioxide gas and other greenhouse gases, gases which remain in the atmosphere for 120 years, on average, warming the planet for people not even born yet. The cost of facilitating continually increasing motor vehicle travel in Dane County, the state, and elsewhere, is much higher than the cost of highway construction. The projects should be designed with those "costs" in mind, too. Mike Neuman ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
