It does appear that it would be in the area of the Wingra Creek Path, although the report doesn't specify whether the bicyclists was on the path or on the road.
And yes, this intersection is a serious problem. As a matter of fact, I was at the police department South District for a training on citizen reporting of traffic issues, and the officer doing the training wanted to talk to me afterward about this intersection. He felt that it was dangerous for exactly the reasons George points out, and asked what could be done. My suggestions were to - in order of what I think the City would actually be willing to do: 1. Put up signs advising the motorists to watch for bicyclists on the path. 2. Make the crosswalk much more visible via colored or textured pavement. 3. Educate motorists to actually look for bicyclists (and pedestrians) on the sidewalk at all intersections, but especially where a path crosses. (This really is a sidewalk-riding issue in this location.) 4. Ticket heavily in this location for not stopping before making a right on red and not stopping before entering the crosswalk. Use the media to make a point about the need to stop BEFORE the sidewalk/crosswalk and actually LOOK for users. This is true for all intersections. One of my pet peeves is drivers that stop IN the crosswalk. It's rude and dangerous. 5. Prohibit right on red in this location. Above I have suggested action items in the Education, Engineering, and Enforcement realm of fixing the problem. Multiple city departments should be involved. Oh, and for your viewing enjoyment, a Street Films video on rude drivers in the crosswalk. Granted, NYC is a bit different than Madison, but the point is the same: http://www.streetfilms.org/feature-0/ Robbie Webber Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee www.bikewalkmadison.org Join our group on Facebook! On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 1:25 PM, George Perkins <[email protected]> wrote: > The news report is not specific as to exact locations, but isn't this the > well-marked pedestrian and bike path crossing at Park Street and the Wingra > Bike Path? I have always had problems crossing here, namely: > > 1. Bicyclists who refuse to press the pedestrian button (but hang around at > the curb blocking my access to the button and making me assume they have > pushed the button) > > 2. Right-on-red vehicle turns into on-coming bicyclists in the crosswalk. > > Solutions exist: > > 1. install loop detectors in the bike path to trigger the pedestrian > crosswalk signal > > 2. make it illegal to turn right-on-red > > > > http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_bdb036ec-c960-11de-b465-001cc4c002e0.html > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
