Darin et.al., I am not aware of anyone who is advocating widening Pheasant Branch Road to four lanes. In fact, the city is planning on there eventually being an east-west road north of the city to guide drivers away from PBR to the (old) Highway 12 corridor, which the city will convert into an urban boulevard called Parmenter Street in 2006 after the bypass is operational. (Actually, the new road north of the city would follow a more northeast-southwest alignment, connecting Balzer Road with Schneider Road.)
As far as Pheasant Branch Road goes, city engineering staff have proposed creating a wider two-lane road and reducing the crown of the hill (adjacent to Middleton Hills) for sight distance reasons, but this concept has also generated some concern. Those opposed to this design cite concerns about tree loss and increased vehicle speeds due to wider travel lanes. Another issue is whether bike lanes should be included in the design. (Any opinions on this debate?) A final vote on the future design of PBR will likely occur early next year in conjunction with the approval of plans for the 7th Addition to Middleton Hills (the two issues are tied together because the MH developer plans to have the neighborhood street grid connect twice with PBR, and the city will require them at that time to modify the road according to city specs). By the way, in case you didn't know, this summer the city constructed a 10' wide crushed limestone trail between the Century/Branch St. intersection and the PBR/Whittlesey Rd. intersection on the northern edge of the city. This route roughly parallels Old Creek Rd./PBR, meaning it's no longer necessary to do a short jog on Century Avenue from Branch Street in order to get to PBR. We have also been working on trail development west of the Beltline. For more information, check out the city's website at: http://www.ci.middleton.wi.us/Lands/Trails/trails.htm Mark Opitz Assistant City Planner & Zoning Administrator City of Middleton voice (608) 827-1094 fax (608) 827-1080 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] web www.ci.middleton.wi.us -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, September 26, 2003 8:46 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Bikies] escape routes, cont'd Speaking of Pheasant Branch road, I was at the NMPAC (a.k.a 'Not (really) the North Beltline') meeting last week. (see: the rather out-of-date: http://www.danenet.org/bcp/northbelt.html). Lots of stuff to mention (more later), but PBR came up. Because I specifically asked about it. What are the chances that PBR will remain a decent bicycle escape route? Here is what they said: * All the other 2-lanes have been 'improved' to 4-lanes, so its probably inevitable here, too. * Perhaps it can be forestalled, but that would require planning, and a grid system (see below). * If the recommendations of the NMPAC are adopted, all of the growth along PBR will be pretty much limited to the city of Middleton. So, its possible all the traffic, and hence the need for expansion, will be concentrated on the southern portion (e.g. south of Balzer road). Again, this would take planning and agitation, to keep the highwaymen from destroying THE LAST ESCAPE ROUTE. p.s. Grids: is there anyone out there in bikies land who isn't up to speed yet? if not, repeat until memorized: A rectangular grid of streets is good! Cul-de-sacs suck! -darin _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
