FYI -----Original Message----- From: Ray Polkinghorn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5:12 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fw: Intersection of Fish Hatchery Rd and the Beltline
Dear Mr. Perkins: Thank you for your comments and interest in this project. I work for Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH), a consulting engineering firm that is assisting the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) with the design of this project. The project improvements to the eastbound ramps at Fish Hatchery Road include consideration of pedestrians and bicyclists. This project is scheduled to be constructed the summer of 2009. There is an existing sidewalk along the east side of Fish Hatchery that will continue to provide connectivity across the Beltline for pedestrians. We do expect that there will be inconvenience to pedestrians and bicyclists during construction, but will make efforts to minimize those inconveniences. The existing safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists was discussed at our initial coordination meeting with WisDOT. It was mentioned that the loop ramp crossings along northbound Fish Hatchery Road is of particular concern due to the vehicles merging and other site conditions. I walk to work and sometimes bicycle and can relate to some of the challenges that pedestrians and bicyclists meet here in Madison. You will also be interested to know that the westbound ramps at Fish Hatchery Road are planned to be reconstructed and the bridge over the Beltline will be widened and raised in 2013. Design work has not been started on the westbound ramps and bridge modification project. This future project is expected to provide on-street bicycle lanes in each direction and have a sidewalk on the east side. We will be designing the improvements for the eastbound ramps to dovetail with the future widening. Please keep in mind that these improvements are to the interchange and that Fish Hatchery Road north and south of the Beltline are jurisdiction of the City of Madison, City of Fitchburg, Town of Madison, and Dane County. They may have more information regarding other improvements for pedestrian and bicycle facilities in the area. At this time I'm not able to provide draft design plans. We typically hold back on these in case there are design modifications and then there aren't different versions circulating in the community. If you have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Ray Polkinghorn, PE SEH, Project Manager/Senior Professional Engineer 6418 Normandy Lane, Suite 100 Madison, WI 53719-1149 Tel. 608.274.2020 main Tel. 608.270.5356 direct Cell 608.347.3446 Fax 608.274.2026 http://sehinc.com email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Forwarded by Ray Polkinghorn/seh on 12/02/2008 05:07 PM ----- "Sassman, Gary - DOT" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] To t.state.wi.us> "'Rpolkinghorn (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 12/02/2008 04:10 cc PM Subject FW: Intersection of Fish Hatchery Rd and the Beltline -----Original Message----- From: George Perkins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 10:25 PM To: Sassman, Gary - DOT Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'Robbie Webber' Subject: Intersection of Fish Hatchery Rd and the Beltline Mr. Sassman, I cannot attend the December 3rd public meeting regarding the Fish Hatchery & Beltline intersection. 1. Are there draft designs being proposed that can be downloaded from the Internet? It would be helpful to see and comment in particular on those drafts. 2. General comments below: Improve pedestrian and bicycle access and safety. If possible use a dedicated separate facility for bicycles and pedestrians, separated from each other and separated from motor vehicle traffic. Example: don't place bicycles into a HOV (bus) lane. When weighing the value of a pedestrian or bicycle design choice, give more emphasis the non-motorized user; they are the most vulnerable and they are the easiest deterred from use of the facility if safety is doubtful. Someone driving a car doesn't think twice about multiple lanes, merging traffic, high speeds, etc.; peds and bicyclists do. Design in traffic calming, speed reducing features - narrower lane width, landscaping, and other techniques. A traffic circle is not a good choice for pedestrian and bicyclists - while it calms motor vehicle traffic, a circle actually makes the intersection less safe. If a traffic circle is introduced, separate non-circular routes for non-motorized vehicles is needed. Keep in mind that pedestrians and bicycles will naturally take the shortest distance between two points. Don't design something that requires a non-motorized vehicle to travel a quarter mile around a complicated cloverleaf, around traffic "storage" lanes behind traffic lights, or bypass onto service roads that go in other directions than towards the intended destination. If you do these things, pedestrians will jay walk and bicycles will either not use the facility or will ride against traffic flow, etc. Then you will have to put up ugly cyclone fences and the intersection will be abandoned to only the motor vehicle, which would be a crime. Sincerely, George Perkins 442 Toepfer Avenue Madison, WI 53711 Please enter these comments into the official record. I would appreciate hearing back on the design as it moves forward. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
