I live on Bluff St and received a notice about this two weeks ago which mentioned avoiding biking on chip-sealed areas for "several weeks". Does the city plan to put out detour signs so all bikers know this? This is a huge bicycle thoroughfare.
While I'm happy my street and many others nearby is getting some work done, it is going to be frustrating walking my bike 1/2 mile or more out of the area for the next 3-4 weeks. -Kristy On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Josh Mayer <[email protected]> wrote: > Just saw the signs on my ride in this morning. Bluff/Kendall > betweenBlackhawk Ave and roughly Farley will be chip-sealed starting today > through > 8/3. Probably a good idea to avoid this stretch for quite a while until > all the chips seal to the road and not the inside of your tubes. > > > Josh > * > * > *From:* Larry D. Nelson <[email protected]> > *To:* 'George Perkins' <[email protected]>; 'Dane County Bicycle > Transportation Alliance' <[email protected]> > *Cc:* "Ellingson, Susan" <[email protected]>; "'Phair, > Matthew'" <[email protected]>; "'Clear, Mark'" < > [email protected]>; "'Solomon, Brian'" < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, July 25, 2012 4:38 AM > *Subject:* Re: [Bikies] SW Commuter Bike Path Lighting and WisDOT > Wisconsin Bicycle Facility Design Manual > > I did attend the meeting and I did listen as intently as I could to the > presentations of Traffic Engineers Dryer and Smith. Both are Professional > Engineers registered in Wisconsin and both have years of experience in > lighting design. I regard them to be "experts." > > It is a good idea to adhere to design manuals, particularly when the > designer cannot rely on years of experience of design, installation, > maintenance, and outcomes. But it is very common to obtain design > exceptions to the policy manual, as was the case on the recent Badger Trail > and is the case on the Lower Yahara Trail. (George, I think that this > information may address your question.) > > In this case, the Professional Engineers prepared a design that would > improve the safety of the public and try to meet the expressed - perhaps > not > the real - concerns of the public. > > I do appreciate that Dave Liebl has had a number of administrative > positions > with the University but I was unable to verify that he is a registered > Professional Engineer. I believe his background is astronomy. Regardless, > suggesting that this interstate bike path should be closed to all but bike > traffic is just not helpful. I am afraid Dave is just inadvertently > stirring the pot. > > > Larry D. Nelson, P.E. > > 1506 Cameron Drive > Madison, WI 53711 > 608 630 6532 (C) > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of George Perkins > Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 9:08 PM > To: Dane County Bicycle Transportation Alliance > Subject: [Bikies] SW Commuter Bike Path Lighting and WisDOT Wisconsin > Bicycle Facility Design Manual > > In case you missed this expert testimony by David S. Liebl on the SW > Commuter Bike Path Lighting project (given at the public meeting held > 7/19/2012. - No, I didn't attend myself.) See below. > > Can someone explain why the city engineers on this project did not follow > the WisDOT Wisconsin Bicycle Facility Design Manual in their initial > design, > and when this oversight was identified (by me and others last December), > they still did not follow the WisDOT guidance during the redesign? > > George > > > Expert Testimony: > > Cross-posting from the City of Madison Southwest Bike Path Lighting, > Beltline to Breese Terrace project page > (http://www.cityofmadison.com/bikemadison/planning/project.cfm?id=41) > > Posted: 07/20/2012 > The lighting design for the Southwest Bike Path between Breese Terrace and > the Beltline Highway, if built as described at the July 19 public meeting, > will create an unsafe situation for both bikers and other users of the > path. > While City staff have been diligent in trying to resolve user and neighbor > conflict through a technical solution (lighting design), the result will > not > satisfy the expectations of either group, and can be expected to raise the > level of hazard for nighttime users of the path. The Southwest Bike Path is > foremost a problem of multi-user conflict, and this must be resolved before > an appropriate lighting design can be created (or not). > > My qualifications for providing an opinion on this situation include the > following: Since 1999 I have served as a statewide outreach specialist on > outdoor lighting for the UW-Cooperative Extension. This nationally > recognized work has included creating the darkskywisconsin.uwex.eduwebsite; > conducting outdoor lighting demonstration projects; writing model outdoor > lighting code and ordinance language; authoring section 4-13 (Lighting) of > the WisDOT Wisconsin Bicycle Facility Design Manual; serving on the 2004 > committee to revise MGO10.085 (Outdoor Lighting); and facilitating the > resolution of numerous conflicts around the state caused by outdoor > lighting. I have also served as a facilitator for master planning and > multi-user recreational trail conflict resolution for the Wisconsin > Department of Natural Resources. > > I understand from the public and official comments at this and the December > 12, 2011 public meeting, that the current multi-user policy for this path > was an accommodation to the various interests involved in the decision to > convert from a railway to a transportation corridor. I also understand that > allowing commuting cyclists, recreational cyclist, pedestrians, runners, > in-line skaters, children and pet owners to all use the same narrow strip > of > pavement has resulted in numerous conflicts and mishaps. In my opinion, the > City must first either dedicate the path to bicycle only transportation, or > provide separation between cyclists and other users, which will require > reconstructing the path. There is no lighting design that will resolve the > current multi-user conflict, as is evident by the number of incidents > taking > place in daylight. > > I have been impressed by Traffic Engineering's willingness to investigate > new lighting approaches in an effort to accommodate the concerns of > adjoining property owners. Unfortunately, improving photometric cutoff to > avoid spill light and glare has further sacrificed lighting uniformity > along > the path. The pattern of abrupt transition between lit and unlit sections > of > the path is more hazardous than if the path were unlit. Both cyclists > travelling at speed and pedestrians will be confronted by visual "dead > zones" where objects, animals, intruders or other path users cannot be > seen. > A situation made worse as the human eye has difficulty adjusting quickly to > changes in illumination. > > The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) DG-5-1994 > Recommended Lighting for Walkways and Class 1 Bikeways is the industry > design standard for bike path lighting. These guidelines emphasize the need > for continuous surface lighting, and are reproduced in Table 4-9 of the > WisDOT handbook. Sufficient lighting uniformity can be achieved by either > increasing pole height, decreasing pole spacing, using luminaires (light > fixtures) that provide a wider photometric spread, or using alternatives to > pole mounted luminaires (e.g. bollards or surface mount lighting). Each of > these options present their own particular disadvantages to users, > neighbors, maintenance crews, or the taxpayer (due to increased cost). > > I urge reconsideration of the apparent decision (by Alder Solomon) to move > forward with the existing lighting design, and rather work to resolve the > primary issue of user designation for the Southwest Bike Path. When that > has > been resolved, a way forward that meets the need for safe nighttime use of > the path, whether it be technical or policy, should become apparent. > > David S. Liebl > UW Madison - Engineering Professional Development UW - Cooperative > Extension > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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