* Remove ALL flying right turns - E. Wilson to John Nolen, John Nolen to
Willy, S Blair to E Wilson "cutoff".
* Establish real left turn lanes for John Nolen to E Wilson, and S.
Blair to Willy. This is more a car traffic issue than a bike traffic
one, but people not knowing where to queue up for either left turn
frequently gums up the intersection.
* Ingress/egress for both business corners, esp. Machinery Row, MUST be
completely re-thought. I don't have a specific layout in mind, but it
has to be something that doesn't allow, for example, traffic exiting
onto John Nolen to cross both the Lake bike path AND the car turn lane
in order to proceed on John Nolen and then onto S. Blair. Most people
making that move fail to watch for traffic other than that with which
they're trying to merge. Perhaps an entrance/exit at the far end of the
parking lot, near the BCycle station, could be installed, effectively
separating that traffic from the intersection traffic. In fact, if that
were the only ingress/egress, that would also eliminate the always dicey
practice of southbound S. Blair traffic turning eastbound on Willy, then
immediately cutting into the Machinery Row lot.
* Establish CLEAR, WIDE, TWO-WAY bicycle traffic lanes for the stretch
between the intersection and where the East Isthmus path proper begins
behind the Gateway Mall. The present "glorified sidewalk" next to the
roadway (is that a driveway, or is that technincally E. Wilson?) is
waaaay too narrow, with no center stripe. And with the near-hairpin turn
from the traffic light approach, and that hideous juniper (or whatever
it is; I'd bet a nickel it's non-native) bush creating a huge blind
spot, it's somewhere between useless and downright dangerous for
non-motor vehicle traffic. So much so that a LOT of westbound traffic
just uses the adjacent roadway (going the wrong way). Perhaps that
roadway needs to be removed, and some other ingress to the Gateway needs
to be designed in. Some more logical transition from the path proper to
the intersection, with adequate sight lines, is long overdue. The
conundrum is how to integrate the motor vehicle ingress to Gateway Mall.
Perhaps creating an ingress from eastbound Willy St., at the east end of
the mall, beyond the intersection (using a left turn cut-off), similar
to my idea above for Machinery Row, would fit the bill.
* Many of the crosswalk push-buttons are bass-ackwards. Both "westbound"
(E.Isthmus-to-Lake-Monona) and "eastbound" (Lake-Monona-to-E.Isthmus)
users have to reach to their LEFT to operate the signal. As a result,
one VERY frequently sees traffic in that crosswalk, across Willy St,
passing each other on the wrong side. Either stand-alone posts should be
installed so that every approach means a reach to your RIGHT to activate
the signal, or, as mentioned, they should simply be automated.
* EVERY ingress/egress that crosses EVERY multi-use path (including the
little stub "path" along the front of Machinery Row should have a STOP
sign, with a sign below reading TWO-WAY CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP.
Anecdotally, a co-worker and friend of mine simply cannot use that
intersection. She is blind, and has lived in Madison most of her adult
life. She lives south and east of this intersection and prefers to walk
most places she can, but even with her leader dog, it's simply
impossible to navigate this intersection to get to her job downtown, or
her child's day-care across from the GEF buildings. She has occasionally
taken the Williamson sidewalk to the Lake Monona path, and found her way
to the elevator at the Convention Center, but again, that's extremely
unintuitive to those not fortunate enough to navigate it visually. I
recall there was an informal meeting a few years ago about a complete
re-hash of this intersection. Ironically, it was held at a meeting room
in one of the nearby MG&E buildings, and thanks to the layout of the
intersection, she was unable to attend.
On 2011/10/18 12:49, Amanda White wrote:
Hello,
The Bike Fed is assisting the City in getting feedback on biking through
the Machinery Row intersection (Blair/John Nolen/Willy/E.Main). Who
hasn't been frustrated with this intersection?! While the intersection
is scheduled to be reconstructed in 2017, the City is interested in
making smaller improvements to make bicycling safer and more convenient
in this intersection in 2012 - 2013.
Please reply with the following information:
1. What problems have you experienced at this intersection?
2. Do you have ideas for specific improvements?
I am currently compiling the information and will submit final feedback
to the city early next week. Please respond with your comments no later
than this FRIDAY.
Thank you,
Amanda
________________________
Amanda White
Associate Director
Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
(608) 251-4456
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
www.bfw.org <http://www.bfw.org>
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Don't miss your chance to meet members of the *1986 7-Eleven Cycling
Team! *Register NOW for the Saris Gala on Saturday, Nov. 12
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Paul T. O'Leary
Chronic Nuisance
Madison, WI USA
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