We have included both paved shoulders and sidepath in the Plan as options. We heard from many Town and Village residents that they would like to see a sidepath along Woodland, in order to accommodate more casual bikers, joggers and walkers, and children. Traffic volumes on Woodland are quite high, particularly at rush hours, and will continue to grow with new development on Waunakee's south and east sides. The existing paved shoulder on the roadway will eventually not provide a good biking route (and a very poor pedestrian route) due to the increase in traffic. Woodland is an obvious main north-south link. Many children from Waunakee use Westport's recreational fields, and it would be great to provide them with a safe means to access them. Perhaps ideally, the side path and the on-street facility would both exist and compliment each other. The ultimate decision on what facility is constructed and when will be decided by the Town and Village, as well as by the availability of funding resources. I've included the language of the draft Plan below.
"In speaking with Village and Town residents, the Woodland Drive corridor was most often mentioned for bike and pedestrian improvements. An improved north-south link should be made, especially for bicycles, to facilitate movement between the Village and the Town, and to other regional destinations. Two options were considered for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Option One improvements would include widening Woodland Drive to accommodate a new 4-foot wide bike lane on each side of the road, 3-foot gravel shoulders on each side, re-grading to establish ditches, and restoration of disturbed areas. Slopes from shoulder to ditch bottom and from ditch bottom to right-of-way line may be steep if no land or grading easements are obtained. This work would more easily be accommodated as part of the rehabilitation of the entire roadway. This option will likely require acquisition of a 5-foot wide permanent easement along each side of the road. If drainage permits, grading easements (15 feet or so) may be sufficient. Option Two would include construction of an off-street multi-use path along the west side of Woodland Drive. The south portion of the project includes required clearing along DNR lands, and construction of path in lowlands, which have questionable soil stability. The path route will require avoidance or mitigation of disturbances to trees, fences, and the driveways of several existing residences. Power poles and buried telephone cable exist along the entire west side, which may require additional funds to move. This option will require acquisition of a minimum 15-foot permanent easement along the west side of Woodland Drive, and likely another 15 feet for construction easement adjacent to the permanent easement. To facilitate bicycle and pedestrian access to a wide range of people, the Village and Town may ultimately wish to consider constructing both facilities as a third option over time. A logical sequence may be to construct the path first, then wait to construct the bike lanes until the complete reconstruction of Woodland is warranted." Again, the entire draft Plan will be available for review soon. We will let everyone know when and where they may take a look at it. ---Original Message----- From: Michael Rewey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 6:16 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Cathi Wielgus Subject: Re: [Bikies] Re: Waunakee-Westport Bike Plan Can we assume both the paved shoulders and sidepath will be built. I am not a sidepath fan, but if you must, it should never be at expense of on-road bike accommodations. Mike Rewey [EMAIL PROTECTED] "so many roads.. so little time..." ********************************************* Date sent: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 12:02:59 -0500 From: "Cathi Wielgus" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Bikies] Re: Waunakee-Westport Bike Plan > > The Plan presents two options for Woodland Road: a sidepath similar to > what the Village has been constructing, and an improved shoulder for > on-street riding, when the road is reconstructed. > > The Plan recommended a number of routes on existing roads and > potential facility improvements for on-street riding, in addition to > off-road accommodations. > > The draft Plan is being reviewed by Town and Village staff, and will > be available for public perusal within the next couple of weeks. > > > Cathi Wielgus, AICP > Assistant Planner > Vandewalle & Associates > 120 E. Lakeside Street > Madison, WI 53715 > 608.255.3988 > www.vandewalle.com > > > > > The information contained in this communication may be confidential, > is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above, and may > be legally privileged. If the reader of this message is not the > intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, > distribution, or copying of the communication, or any of its contents, > is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in > error, please return it to the sender immediately and delete the > original message and any copy of it from your computer system. Please > not that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely > those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the > company. Finally, the recipient should check this e-mail and any > attachments for the presence of viruses. The company accepts no > liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this > e-mail. 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