India,
I was Co-chair of the Committee for the Design of the SW Path back in 1998.
As Larry has said, a conscious decision was made not to include lighting on
the path from the Beltline to Breese Terrace. Among other things the
neighbors didn't want at the time was a paved path, a path less than 10 feet
wide, a path without the 5 foot shoulders, and a path without most of the
access points we now enjoy. Many of the items in the above list were
mandated by federal and/or state regulations since the path was funded 80%
with federal funds. It took a lot of effort to persuade neighbors of the
path of not only the federal requirement but also the necessity of these
features.
One of the items not required by the regulations was lighting and the
neighbors were dead set against it. The Committee would never have approved
a report to the City if lighting would have been a recommendation in the
report and I have doubts the path would have been approved if the lighting
had been recommended to the City Council. The lighting recommendations from
the Committee are listed below:
8. There should not be lighting unless most of the adjacent landowners
request it. Requests should be considered on a block-by-block basis. The
only exception to this is where lighting is needed for safety.
9. Conventional streetlights are needed for safety where roads cross the
Path.
10. Where lighting is requested by adjacent landowners, it should allow
timed operation subject to neighborhood preferences and safety
requirements. Lighting should be done by specially selected, reasonably
priced, down-lighting fixtures that concentrate light along the Path and
further minimize light spillage by using shields. A demonstration rig
should be used to allow neighbors to compare lighting options.
11. From the Beltline south to Lovell Lane, adjacent landowners,
including residents and businesses, requested lighting from dusk to dawn
with no restrictions on light spillage to promote a safe and secure
environment.
12. The committee believes that the Path segment near campus, from
Randall Avenue to Breese Terrace, will be safer if conventional streetlights
are installed.
13. The committee believes that access points should have low wattage
lighting or illuminated signage.
14. Wiring conduits for lighting should be installed along the entire
length of the Path.
15. Funding should be extended to allow neighborhood requests for
additional lighting for one year following completion of the project.
Even these recommendations caused controversy and didn't satisfy a number of
people but they allowed the committee to pass a report and the City Council
to approve the project. What you see now on the path is pretty much the
lighting scheme recommended in the Committee report: no lighting between the
Beltline and Breese Terrace except at intersections and path access points,
and wiring conduit installed even where lighting was not.
So what is the point of all this verbiage? You say you may be "looking into
moving forward on this." In that case, you will need the above background
to do that and to know how the system works.
In the political system in Madison, neighborhoods have a lot of power and
one of the politically powerful neighborhoods is the Dudgeon-Monroe
Neighborhood. Dudgeon-Monroe was the neighborhood most against lighting and
is the neighborhood you will have to convince that lighting is a good idea.
If the neighborhood is on board, the alder will be on board. So if you
really want to pursue this, start by contacting the head of the
Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association Transportation Committee and Alder
Brian Solomon (contact info below). Don't try to go to City Committees
first because it will be dead on arrival.
Transportation
Chuck Kalish
2106 West Lawn
257-7843
[email protected]
Alder Brian L. Solomon
2148 West Lawn Ave
Madison, WI 53711
Phone: 608-294-9289
[email protected]
Hope this is helpful,
Mark Shahan
On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 1:19 PM, India Rose Viola <[email protected]> wrote:
> Because of a night class that I am taking out at UW Research Park, I have
> recently been riding on the Southwest Path between Monroe and Glenway
> between 6-10pm and find it startlingly dark. Dark enough that my
> standard-issue headlight does not give me enough time to anticipate
> obstacles or people in the path. It also makes me feel particularly
> isolated and vulnerable on my bike (I am generally a confident night
> cyclist). I know that the path is very close to many neighbors' back yards,
> so any added lighting would need to be sensitive to that. As an urban bike
> commuter I really enjoy having the option of riding on a city path at night
> when I need (or want) to get from point A to point B. Is this something
> that other people are also concerned about, or should I just invest in
> brighter bike lights?
>
> I am comparing the lightedness of the Southwest Path to area streets and
> also to the John Nolan Path and the segment of the Capital City Trail that
> runs behind Atwood Ave along the railroad tracks which are on my
> daily/nightly route. I feel much safer on these east-side paths because of
> the amount of light provided at night.
>
> -India
>
> ***********************
> India Viola
> UW-Madison
> Stretton Lab
> 115 Zoology Research Bldg.
> 1117 W. Johnson St.
> Madison, WI 53706
> 608.262.3336
> ***********************
>
> "How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?"
> -Anonymous
>
> "We exist in the bacterial world, not bacteria in ours" -Stuart Levy
> _______________________________________________
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>
--
Mark N. Shahan ------ __o
607 Piper Drive ------- _`\<,_
Madison, WI 53711-1338 ---- (*)/ (*)
(608) 274-9367
[email protected]
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