If it were up to me, I'd extend the Cannonball Path along the railroad tracks across Fish Hatchery Road, and then I'd extend the Bowman Park driveway through the woods to meet the path (I don't know if this is actually possible, but it looks do-able from the Google satellite image.) This would give Wright MS kids an easy link to their school, and would provide a connection across Plaenert Drive and the Wingra Creek bridge to the Wingra Bike path, which would give adult commuters (and West High students) a good route to campus, downtown and the near west side.
I don't know who attends Wright these days (my own kids went there, but that was a while ago), but I do know it is open to the whole West HS attendance area, including Leopold School, and it emphasizes meeting the needs of minority kids, so I would expect that it would attract a lot of students from south of the Beltline. Also, the bus routes to school are long and circuitous (a small number of buses covering a large area), so a safe, pleasant bike ride to school might be appreciated. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grant Foster" <[email protected]> To: "Larry D. Nelson" <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2013 10:00:58 AM Subject: Re: [Bikies] Verona Road/Highway PD (Mckee Road) I think it's smart to think about the connection with Wright MS. Is there a Safe Routes to School coordinator that has information on this? I see most of the kids walking south on FH towards the neighborhood bounded by Fish Hatchery on the west, Park on the east, Ann on the south and the tracks on the north, but kids who aren't currently walking or biking could be coming from anywhere. I'm interested in why you think this needs to come from the school principal, though? MMSD administration could easily provide the data on where Wright students live, but I would think this is work that should be driven more by Traffic Engineering. Building Safe Routes to School was one of the main themes in the Platinum Bicycle report drafted and adopted by the city. Collaboration will be important, but this feels like it should be driven by the city. I also think a grade-separated path along the west (arboretum) side of Fish Hatchery would be great. This would provide great access from Cannonball/FH to the Arboretum, Lake Wingra, the zoo, Camp Randall, Monroe and Regent street businesses and campus (all without needing to cross Fish Hatchery..twice). It doesn't, however, provide great access to downtown or eastern parts of the city. With this path in place, you'll still leave folks stuck needing to cross Fish Hatchery and Park streets on the current Wingra Path stretch along Wingra Dr. Fish Hatchery/Wingra Dr. intersection is a really tough one right now and is already quite stressed from bike, ped and mv traffic. There is a lot of MV traffic coming south on N. Wingra Dr. turning south onto Fish Hatchery. Pushing more bike/ped traffic to that crossing is only going to make it tougher for everyone (cars are already incredibly backed up here and this often causes some poor/risky driving choices). If there's any opportunity to connect the Cannonball with Wingra at the rail corridor by Beld, this would be a fantastic option. Especially, if there is value in connecting the path with Wright MS, since then that crossing will already need to be addressed and supported. It does look like there's a rail spur running north from that corridor behind the newspaper that could potentially provide great access to Wright. I have no idea on the property owners and easements involved. Overall, I think there are three main points: 1) The Cannonball holds the promise of connecting the entire south and southwest portions of our city to the greater bicycle infrastructure. It should be as well developed and as well utilized of a route as the Southwest Commuter is for the west side or the Cap City is for the east. 2) Current facilities (5 ft bike lane markings on Fish Hatchery Rd, permanently filled with debris and with no separation from 40+ mph traffic) will never support accessibility for any but our most confident cyclists. It's really a shame that there wasn't more opportunity to bend the recent reconstruction towards our commitment to Complete Streets. 3) I've already heard many local residents make off-hand comments about the million dollar bridge to nowhere. The longer it remains unconnected, the more fuel it provides for critics, and the more challenging it will be to execute on these important, large-scale improvements in the future. Grant On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 7:32 PM, Larry D. Nelson < [email protected] > wrote: The lesson here is not to use your iPhone to respond to messages, at least for me. I was trying to edit my response and the fugitive message escaped. Let me try it again. The first completed phase of the Cannonball connected the children in Fitchburg to Leopold Elementary School via the Capital City Trail and the Cannonball and I thought that was a win as we provided an alternate to cars and busses. What I don't know is if Rev. James C. Wright Middle School, a Charter School, has many students that could use the Cannon Ball. If there is potential use, that may cause us to reconsider future priorities. However, the City and the School District has had very little coordination with the city on transportation issues or public works issues. Most of the necessary work has to be done with the Principal of the school and they are very busy people and they focus inside the school, not outside. So, before we simply plan to extend the Cannonball to Beld Street, let's see if there is any advantage to provide a safe connection to Wright Middle School. Perhaps there is a connection from the railroad tracks north to the school mid-block between Fish Hatchery and Park Street that could be developed. And, yes, we have to get across Fish Hatchery Road. Larry Nelson From: India Viola [mailto: [email protected] ] Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 8:50 PM To: Larry D. Nelson Subject: Re: [Bikies] Verona Road/Highway PD (Mckee Road) I was pretty sure you didn't mean that you actually wanted to give pot to middle schoolers, but you had me going for a moment ;). -india WeAreAllMechanics.com [email protected] Stay connected- Follow WAAM on Facebook On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 5:44 PM, Larry D. Nelson < [email protected] > wrote: Sorry, some thought given Sent from my iPhone On Nov 22, 2013, at 5:43 PM, "Larry D. Nelson" < [email protected] > wrote: <blockquote> I would like to see you some pot given to the potential of serving the right middle school from the bikepath and what would be required to increase the level of service for cyclist on Fish hatchery Road. Sent from my iPhone On Nov 22, 2013, at 4:31 PM, Grant Foster < [email protected] > wrote: <blockquote> I would love, love, love to see this connected to the Wingra path (hopefully via the same rail corridor to Beld). This would be a much better long-term solution than routing this traffic up/down Fish Hatchery. I just don't ever see families from the South/West feeling comfortable biking down the FH bike lanes along this stretch. It really needs to be a grade-separated or completely segregated path to truly connect to downtown. Good luck on the planning!! Grant On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 2:47 PM, Fernandez, Anthony < [email protected] > wrote: Sorry for any confusion based on our original phasing for the Cannonball Path project. Let’s see if this helps: 1. What we originally called “Phase 3” from Greenway View to Fish Hatchery was broken into two segments due to land ownership and timing issues. The recently-completed Phase 3, which includes the new bridge over the Beltline, ends just north of the Beltline with a connection to the north frontage road. A piece of new path extending northeast from there is not currently in service. It will be put in service when we complete the continuation to Fish Hatchery Road. We currently refer to this as “Phase 5’ and we are hoping to complete it in 2014. 2. Madison is beginning to study alternative routes to continue the Cannonball path to connect to the Wingra path. (Working name: Cannonball Phase 6) We are optimistic about the feasibility but not enough work has been done to estimate costs or project a completion year. 3. With the completion of Phase 1 in 2011/12 we now have paved path from the Capital City Trail to the Beltline north frontage road open for use. 4. Our partner, Fitchburg is the lead agency for the path west of Arbor Hills, generally referred to as Phase 2&4. Fitchburg is also the local sponsor with oversight of the WisDOT project constructing the bridge over CTH PD. The info on completion schedules provided by others in this string is correct as far as I know, but I defer to Fitchburg for any detail about that. Tony Fernandez [email protected] voice: 608-266-9219 fax: 608-264-9275 From: Mary Mullen [ mailto:[email protected] ] Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 1:54 PM To: George Perkins; 'William Hauda'; ' bikies-danenet.org '; Dorothy Krause; Fernandez, Anthony Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] Verona Road/Highway PD (Mckee Road) Here are my understandings based on actual observation and also a conversation today with Tony Fernandez, City of Madison Engineering bike person. Phase 1 (blue) is paved and done, including a spur into Arbor Hills (to the north) that is not shown. Phase 2 (yellow) - south of the Grady Tract of the Arboretum and then between Belmar Hills and Dunn’s Marsh - along with Phase 4 (dotted magenta line) - southwest and then finally crossing PD - is passable gravel southwest almost to PD although not yet paved. These phases are scheduled to be completed (paved) by Fitchburg by mid-2014. The second half of the bridge over PD (Phase 4) is due to be set in December, then put to bed until spring 2014 when work will be finished on the path itself. Phase 3 (red solid line), south of the Beltline, is still a mudhole I believe, except for the approaches to the bridge over the Beltline which are paved. The route north of the Beltline is supposed to be Phase 5, not Phase 3. Tony Fernandez informed me that the City of Madison is working with the Arboretum for easements there and has already completed an archeological survey. He suggested that the path will be completed to Fish Hatchery Road next year, 2014. This is funded in the 2014 Madison budget. The City of Madison is also working on putting together Phase 6 which will go still further northeast more or less along that same railroad corridor, to and past Park Street. I’m a little bit hazy on Phase 6, but Tony and I talked about how that would be in the vicinity of Bowman Field which is just south of Wright Middle School. He mentioned that the Cannonball Path map referred to in George Perkins’ e-mail which is also the one I have personally does not show Phase 4 correctly, and does not show Phase 5 or Phase 6. Mary Mullen Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association On 11/22/13 12:47 PM, "George Perkins" < [email protected] > wrote: > A big THANK YOU to the various officials who have worked diligently to make > this all happen. Until the path is open and I can ride it, I find it hard to > visualize the components being discussed. This map > ( > http://www.cityofmadison.com/bikemadison/documents/projectCannonball2and4map. > pdf) breaks the project into 4 phases. Can someone comment on the opening > dates for each phase? Does the bridge over PD/McKee signal near completion > status for phase 4? Did it get bumped up in priority over the other phases > due > to the Hwy 151 Verona Road / Beltline intersection construction? I am a bit > confused on the timing. First I've heard of the Dawley Bike Hub > ( > http://city-fitchburg-wi.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1125&m > eta_id=66685) which will include a much-needed public restroom facility > adjacent to Dane County mountain bike trails near Dunn's Marsh. These are > excellent plans - what unfinished approvals, etc., are still in the works to > make them happen? George Perkins Sent by my iCurmudgeon > TM -------------------------------------------- On Thu, 11/21/13, Dorothy > Krause < [email protected] > wrote: According to the info out of Fitchburg > and DOT, second half will go up in December, and the bridge-to-be will be put > to bed for the winter. The bridge itself is scheduled to be ready for use > around Memorial Day and the Cannonball Path (from Dunn’s Marsh and parts > east) leading to it should be paved in July. Work has begun again on the > Dawley bike hub at Dunn’s Marsh. I’m not holding my breath of dates for that > yet tho. Nice to see work happening again anyway. > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing > list [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-dan > enet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org <blockquote> _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org </blockquote> </blockquote> _______________________________________________ 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 </blockquote> _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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