I would like to have seen what that intersection looked like before John Nolan Drive was put in. No matter what the city did or could have done would not have made that intersection pretty or absolutely safe because the railroad line has to be accommodated for with a safe crossing.Even without the railroad the main issue with safe crossings is being able to see traffic coming up behind and over the shoulder for any user of JND or Williamson Street. The RR tracks have historical importance to that area and will be important again when the commuter/high speed rail comes to town. So those aren't going anywhere, which will tie up traffic even further at that intersection. So, it would be easier (physically) to take out the flying right for pedestrian and bicycle crossing. But, it won't take the pressure off of Willie St. to be come a relief route when a train is crossing Blair St. where impatient drivers will opt to take a "shortcut" on Willie Street. Which is probably why the flying right turn lane is there to begin with to keep traffic moving east while the Blair to East Washington route is tied up at the crossing. Another suggestion in this regard will not please the motorists (or people and businesses that depend on Willie St. traffic) is to close down a lane on Willie Street. Then make Willie Street a residential street at residential speeds and then put up a gate to prevent impatient runoffs on Willie Street during rail closures.Or reconstruct Willie Street so that it intersects the JND/Blair bent at right angles. The key is keep over the shoulder approaches to a minimum. As far as the parking lot at Machinery Row, there isn't anything that's going to be convenient and safe and cheap. MR and that whole section of the city was built before auto traffic and relied on the resources of the railroad and the lake for its manufacturing. I personally would prefer the parking lot be accessed from the east but the apartment(?) buildings are too close to install a driveway there. I would move the bike path parallel to the Law Park parking lot and have it exit into the MR parking lot so cyclists have to slow down and turn left to a right angle to JDN so they and auto traffic is easier to see. It would have been better in the long run to have the bike path along the shore all the way to MR parking lot and have the Law Park parking lot accessible to automobiles without having to cross the bike path except at the boat launch and the piers. More realistically, I think putting in rumble strips on the streets and bike path to alert people to pay attention can be put in with relatively low cost. My 2.5¢Darryl --- On Fri, 5/21/10, Mitchell Nussbaum <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Mitchell Nussbaum <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Bikies] Another Cyclist Injured 5/19/10 at Machinery Row Entry/Exit To: [email protected] Date: Friday, May 21, 2010, 11:38 PM #yiv1343962981 p {margin:0;}A lot of stuff here, but I'll just respond to 2). In the old days, there used to be an ordinary sidewalk, and nothing else, along Willy St. by the Machinery Row building. It was unsuitable for bicyclists, but it was used very heavily, especially westbound, and nobody was happy with the situation. Eventually the sidewalk was reconstructed; the old sidewalk, next to the building, was reserved for pedestrians, and a new, wider sidewalk was designated as a bike path -- at least I think it was. If the city told bikers to ride in the street to connect to Jenifer, I think eastbound riders would be OK (though some timid riders and families with children might be uncomfortable riding in the street), but westbound riders would have a problem, since they would have to have to cross Willy St. twice to reach the Capital City Trail. If the city put up "no bikes" signs along that stretch, they would probably be ignored pretty routinely. One solution might be to take out a lane of Willy St. and put in a two-way protected bike lane. I'm not sure this would solve the problem, and it might create new problems of its own, but it would make bikes more visible to cars exiting from the east driveway. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Lund" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 5:33:15 PM Subject: Re: [Bikies] Another Cyclist Injured 5/19/10 at Machinery Row Entry/Exit A few observations/suggestions I'd like to make: 1) At least one of these "driveways", specifically the one which runs parallel to the west facade of the Machinery Row building is not a driveway at all but actually part of South Blair Street. I also seem to recall, though am not entirely confident, that the other "driveway" is also property of the City. 2) Cyclists should not be riding on the sidewalk which runs along the front of the Machinery Row building, parallel to Willy Street. If this stretch is not yet legally designated as a sidewalk it should be and, as such, it should be illegal for cyclists to ride there. I know I may take some heat from people who like to connect to and from Jenifer Street about this, but a large contributor to the dangers of this area is the north west corner of the Machinery Row Building and the fact that it obstructs the view of westbound cyclists riding parallel to the front of the building and motorists looking to turn right onto Willy Street. Cyclists wishing to connect to and from Jenifer Street would have two options: Using Willy Street (there is currently a bike lane in the shoulder of the east bound lane) or using the actual Capitol City Trail and using South Blount, South Livingston, or any other North/South street to cross from the trail to Jenifer. Improved signage should be posted. 3) The west-most "driveway" (not South Blair, but the one furthest from the MR Building) should be closed entirely. Motor vehicle traffic wishing to enter and exit the MRB parking lot or the public parking lot should only do so using the S. Blair access. 4) Motor vehicles should only be able to exit the lots by turning right onto Williamson Street at which point they may continue East or turn around at South Blount and head West (this can be done one of two ways or both depending on what is deemed best) by making a U-Turn at S. Blount or right turn onto S. Blount whereupon cars may turn around and make a left-hand turn from S. Blount onto Willy or continue North on South Blount. Improved signage should be placed 5) Motor vehicles should only be able to enter the parking lots by turning left from either East Wilson or from John Nolen. Motor vehicles should not be allowed proceed South on S. Blair, crossing the Wilson/Willy/John Nolen intersection and enter the parking lots. Improved signage should be placed. (Points 2, 3, 4, 5 will all but eliminate the need for motor vehicles and cyclists to cross each other paths with the exception of at the lighted intersection.) 6) Motor vehicles should be prohibited from heading South on S. Blair and turning left onto Williamson Street. Instead, they must turn right and proceed up East Wilson to either Hancock or King (whichever is deemed best) where it should be legal to make a U-Turn and proceed East from there. Improved signage should be placed. This will not only make things safer for cyclists, it will help calm down the intersection as a whole for North & Southbound motor vehicle traffic. 7) Cyclists wishing to use the shoulders as little as possible when heading East & West should be crossing Wilson/Willy at the crosswalk which is a specified roadway crossing of the Captiol City Trail. Improved signage should be placed. 8) The "exit lane" of John Nolen which drivers take to access Williamson Street and/or to turn right onto S. Blair to access the parking lots is currently lighted by a red/green arrow. I feel that this arrow should never be green and instead should be flashing yellow except for pedestrian and bicycle crossing, in which case it should go to red as it does now. Improved signage should be placed. 9) As Peter suggested, liberal use of the red paint which was just put down in the bike boxes. Thoughts? -Martin On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 4:23 PM, Dan Ross <[email protected]> wrote: I'm reading some anti-business tone in these postings. (I'm not a business owner, and I've never owned a car.) Let's be accurate: the driveway(s!) are for park access, too! I walked by that intersection today, and unless I'm mistaken, there are two driveways there, about what, 30 feet apart?, one hugging the Machinery Row buildings, the other before the crosswalk across John Nolen, which join in a common road. They both serve not only Machinery Row, but the parking lot for Law Park (is it still called that?) and its boat launch. They are heavily used by waterskiers, boaters, hikers, and yes, even people who drive in with their bikes. I agree that the congestion and design there are extremely unfriendly to bikes and peds--I feel like I'm getting whiplash when I ride across that stretch, looking around for other vehicles that are not watching. The design change sounds reasonable, although it may reduce park parking and increase traffic through the "park". I don't know why we need a U-turn/signal for westbound traffic on John Nolen---I don't think westbound traffic can turn into Machinery Row at present, can they?--so that would only be Here's the Google Maps satellite view, to show the two driveways, the park and its parking lot and boat launch, and what appears to be a median along all of John Nolen up to Williamson St. (Make sure it's all on one line.) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=john+nolen+dr+and+williamson+st,+madison,+wi&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.863178,53.261719&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=John+Nolen+Dr+%26+Williamson+St,+Madison,+Dane,+Wisconsin+53703&ll=43.07542,-89.375668&spn=0.002077,0.003251&t=k&z=18 --Dan On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 3:31 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 17:37:55 -0500 > From: Matt Logan <[email protected]> > To: India Rose Viola <[email protected]> > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Another Cyclist Injured 5/19/10 at Machinery Row > Entry/Exit > > India > > ?I second your recommendation! I sent exactly the same recommendation > (move the entrance for machinery row to further down JN) to Traffic > Engineering the last time they were evaluating how to improve that > intersection. I am sure the businesses at machinery row will object to > the move, but someone needs to ask them how many bicyclists need to be > injured so their customers can have platinum-level automobile access. > > On Thu, 2010-05-20 at 14:50 -0500, India Rose Viola wrote: >> Yesterday (Wed. May 19, 2010), a bit after 12pm I was biking westbound on >> the Cap City Trail and saw the very fresh aftermath of YET ANOTHER auto/bike >> collision at the entryway/exit to Machinery Row. >> >> A cyclist was hit by a red pick-up truck that was entering into the parking >> lot. Because I did not see the crash happen, I don't know which direction >> either the bike or truck were traveling from, or what specifically >> precipitated the crash, but what I DO know is that there will continue to be >> cyclists injured at that driveway entry/exit. >> >> When I passed by, the EMT's hadn't shown up yet, but there was a small crowd >> of folks who had gathered and were using a cell phone to call for help. The >> truck and bike were still positioned in the middle of the path/driveway >> intersection where they had collided. The cyclist was sitting down, holding >> his head, which was bleeding quite profusely. >> >> How many "accidents" need to happen in one location before a major design >> change is initiated?? >> >> The Willy/Blair/Wilson/Cap City Trail intersection is already amazingly >> congested and complex. There should NOT be an auto entry/exit to businesses >> at Machinery Row on that corner. We need to block off that driveway and >> make the entry/exit further down on John Nolen. The issue of creating a >> U-turn and/or signal for westbound auto traffic to turn left off of John >> Nolen into the lot will need to be worked out. >> >> C'mon Madison, let's not wait until there is a death. The blood is already >> on our hands. >> >> -India Viola >> Cyclist, Pedestrian, Auto Driver, Citizen >> >> cc: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz via >> <http://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/contactMayor.cfm> >> >> "How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?" >> -Anonymous _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org -- ......... __ o .........-\<, ......(O) (O)........... ........................... _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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