There are "at construction-time" details missing. These kinds of details (and I can only hazard a few as they spring to mind) deserve development in an SDEIS/DEIS, a hearing with public comment, and refinement before a FEIS.
The public is left to ad-hoc "solutions" to design and construction problems that arise during the chaos of construction. Surely there are standards and best practices which can be identified in advance? Detours are one such problem which can be addressed now. A driver of a motor vehicle is considerably less inconvenienced by urban detours than are pedestrians and bicyclists. With this in mind, I have some questions: 1. Where will detours be placed? 2. What existing paths, sidewalks, signals, signage, enforcement, streets and lanes will be upgraded to accommodate the official and unofficial detours? 3. Is there an acceptable detour distance for all transportation users? How does a pedestrian or bicyclist bypass a missing intersection or bridge? 4. Is it fair to remove a pedestrian overpass (for example) and cause that person on foot to walk additional 1/2-miles, 1-miles, or further to reach their destination? 5. What is considered when detours are selected? Safety? Inconvenience? Barriers? Transit options? Pollution? Noise? Rain water runoff? An entire section of the SDEIS/DEIS seems to be missing! Answers to these, and other construction-time details should be addressed in the SDEIS/DEIS. An example illustrates my point: I bring these elements up now because they plainly were lost when the details of construction were planned for the Park Street / Highway 12-14-18 / Rimrock Road / Badger Road overpass construction project in 2010. The situation is cruel to the people who live and commute in the area. It is a lesson to be learned from and to not repeat. The Badger pedestrian/bicycle overpass traffic did not have a pedestrian or bicycle detour. The unofficial detour is the Rimrock Road bridge. This bridge lacks sidewalks on both sides of Rimrock Road. None of the signals contain pedestrian actuator buttons. South-bound pedestrian/bicycle traffic cannot see the motor vehicle signal lights. And there is no signage or warning indicators to motor vehicles of increased pedestrian or bicycle use. The "detour" is 1-1/2 miles out of the way, a complete barrier to most pedestrian travel. The speed of motor vehicles (coming off or going onto freeway ramps) is so fast as to make the sidewalks and bike lanes hazardous. Freeway interchange projects inconvenience all modes of transportation. Yet somehow the pedestrian and bicyclist was overlooked and omitted from the detour planning on the Park Street / Beltline / Highway 12-14-18 interchange. Had the project included safety upgrades to Rimrock Road for proposed pedestrian / bicycle detours, these problems would have been minimized or avoided. Regrettably, there is no construction detour plan in the SDEIS/DEIS to assist the public understand construction-time impacts and what upgrades need to be made in advance. Besides construction-time planning (detours are but the most obvious example), there are other details omitted from the SDEIS/DEIS (which may be covered by design standards or regulations, but not obvious in their applicability or implementation on Verona Road). Some of these details are often the most important element from the perspective of a human being on foot or riding a bicycle. So, do not lose sight of these essentials: 1. All signals provided to include pedestrian actuator buttons and crosswalks to be clearly visible to motor vehicles. Can I see what the designers propose so I can comment on it? 2. Sidewalks and crosswalks available on all sides and for all directions of travel? 3. Pedestrian and bicyclist lanes, crossings, refuge islands, etc. visible from all directions? --- "Comments on the SDEIS are encouraged from all members of the public and are due by Friday, December 17, 2010." http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d1/verona/index.htm These are comments on the supplemental and draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS/DEIS) reports for the Dane County US 18/151 (Verona Road) corridor. I've edited these down to bite size quick reads... --- _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
