From: Wisconsin Bike Fed <[email protected]>
Sender: [email protected]
Subject: Action Alert: Cannonball Path Bridge over PD is at Risk
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:27:53 -0400 (EDT)
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<http://www.wisconsinbikefed.org> ACTION ALERT
Action Alert
Your advocacy is needed!
You are probably aware that a new bridge, under
construction over McKee Rd (CTH PD) just east of
Verona Rd, will carry the Military Ridge State
Trail north to the "bicycle interchange",
connecting to the Southwest Path, Cannonball
Path, Capital City State Trail, and Badger State
Trail. The bridge is being built by WisDOT as
part of the Verona Road project. Paving of the
Cannonball Path and realignment of the Military
Ridge State Trail were delayed to coordinate
with the completion of the bridge this year.
What you may not know is that because of a
dispute between two businesses adjacent to the
bridge, this critical safety measure and
transportation link may be compromised and/or
delayed. The short version of the story is that
WisDOT asked for additional land from General
Beverage, which in turn is asking for the south
access path (connecting to the eastbound bike
land on McKee Rd) be redesigned and moved to the
east side of the bridge. Midwest Decorative
Stone is objecting, as the bridge is already on
the east edge of the right-of-way. A more
detailed recounting of this issue, including
proposed designs, is on pp. 21-31 in
<http://www.fitchburgwi.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/559?fileID=7411>the
packet of the Board of Public Works meeting for
June 16, 2014 (PDF, 1.6 Mbytes):
The various re-designs attempt to give General
Beverage more parking and more convenient access
to parking, but at the cost of tighter turns,
substandard headroom, and/or narrower access
paths for bridge users. Perhaps the likeliest,
and worst, possible result, is that the bridge
and trail could be completed in 2014 without a
south access path to/from the eastbound McKee Rd
bicycle lanes. If this happens, the south access
path would be built later, in conjunction with a
future DOT project in some future year.
Having no south access path could lead to bridge
users crossing the six lanes of McKee Rd under
the bridge without the help of traffic controls,
sidewalk bicycling along McKee Rd, or wrong-way
bicycling in the McKee Rd bike lanes. Since the
next stage of Verona Rd construction around
McKee Rd begins in 2017, this dangerous
situation is likely to persist for three years.
Absent in the discussions of this issue have
been bridge users, particularly bicyclists. I
have argued, without much success, that delaying
the access path or redesigning it to optimize
parking for General Beverage, to the detriment
of bridge users, is bad public policy. Instead
the original design should be used, and WisDOT
should work with General Beverage to modify the
interchange design so as to not need so much land from the company.
WisDOT has removed itself from the discussion,
asking the City to decide among the potential
designs. So far two City commissions (Public
Works and Transportation) have declined to make
a recommendation. The Common Council will take
up the question at its 7:30pm meeting on
Tuesday, June 24. (The agenda will be released
Friday afternoon, June 20,
<http://fitchburgwi.gov/>here.) I believe that a
strong turnout of path and trail advocates
demanding access path completion this summer,
with a design meeting WisDOT recommendations for
state trails, will help Common Council members
send General Beverage back to WisDOT for relief,
to amend the interchange design so it doesn't
need so much land from General Beverage.
Here's how you can help:
Please consider coming to the Common Council
meeting, at <https://goo.gl/maps/Dt6Jq>City
Hall, 5520 Lacy Rd., on Tuesday, June 24th at
7:30pm to support the bicyclists and pedestrians
who will use the bridge. You can speak or merely
register in support. Since the draft resolution
has both east and west side alignments, your
oral or written comments must specify that you
support a western access path and completion this year.
If you have questions about the bridge options
or the mechanics of testifying before
Fitchburg's Common Council, do not hesitate contact me.
- Steve Arnold, <http://www.arnold.us/>Fitchburg
Alder, District 4, Seat 7 & Bike Fed Member
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