Robert, The signs that used to say bicycling on State St Mall was prohibited (and stipulated a $50 fine for violations) were removed. State St Mall is city ROW, not UW, so I’d defer to Tony or someone else from the city on this list, but I imagine that it was probably assumed that removing the signs prohibiting bicycling on State St Mall was enough (especially since they were routinely ignored when they still existed).
As for East Campus Mall, bicyclists are indeed allowed, but the expectation is that bicyclists will yield to pedestrians and generally be courteous in that space. In other words, bicyclists should operate “in a manner consistent with pedestrians” much like language used to describe legal operation of a bicycle in, say, a crosswalk. There are already signs at each end of the 300 block of East Campus Mall (next to U Square) that say No Motor Vehicles or Mopeds, which was (and continues to be) a much bigger source of conflict with pedestrians than bicyclists using East Campus Mall. It was challenging for UW Transportation Services to convince the other stakeholders that even though signs are necessary. I’m fairly certain that other decision-makers at UW would oppose additional signs explicitly allowing bicycles, even if we wanted to put them up. East Campus Mall (north of Dayton St)and 700-800 blocks of State St Mall look and should function like a woonerf now, and putting up signs explicitly allowing everything that is allowed and prohibiting everything that is prohibited is kind of contrary to the point of a woonerf, which is to slow everyone down by making them realize they need to pay attention to what’s going on, because there are not designated spaces for every mode to go as fast as it likes. For those not familiar with woonerven (the plural of woonerf), see, e.g. the images in this proposal for Mifflin St (which seemed appropriate given the subject that this thread was recently hijacked from): http://envisionmadison.net/category/catalytic-redevelopment/mifflin-street-wisconsin-idea-district/mifflin-street-woonerf/ Chuck Strawser Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Planner Commuter Solutions UW-Madison Transportation Services Visit our University Bicycle Resource Center at Helen C White: http://transportation.wisc.edu/transportation/bike_annex.aspx How are we doing? Take our customer satisfaction survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CommSol_CSSurvey From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robert F. Nagel Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 11:05 AM To: STRAWSER, Charles Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] What to do with the 100 block of W Mifflin? Chuck: At the risk of hijacking the thread, I get it that bikes are ok to ride along the East Campus Mall and Library Mall now, but there doesn't seem to be any signs that guide this one way or the other. I realize there are not signs that say biking forbidden, but what about signs that say biking permitted? Or, bikes yield to pedestrians, or whatever the rules are supposed to be. It seems that pedestrians may glare at bikes, not realizing that biking is permitted. Are there further plans in this regard? It seems to be working fine, but I'm surprised the signs are so silent. --- [https://mail.google.com/mail/c/photos/private/AIbEiAIAAAAhCLb07c3c8K-rDxDlm5Wf5ojdzXEY2Nu6rNaKy9KXATABSD0Us7KFk8TqCxcjefJTk980XpA?sz=32] Robert F. Nagel, Attorney Law Offices of Robert Nagel [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> www.nagel-law.com<http://www.nagel-law.com> Thirty on the Square, 10th Floor 30 W. Mifflin St., Suite 1001 Madison, WI 53703 608-255-1501 office 608-255-1504 fax 608-438-9501 cell On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 10:39 AM, STRAWSER, Charles <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hi Bill, I think it’s important that there be a safe and formal connection for bicyclists from Mifflin St on the Square to Mifflin St further west. Although I am not at this time officially representing the University on this topic, my position at UW-Madison has made me keenly aware, as I’m sure you are also, that Mifflin St is a direct connection - from the neighborhoods near James Madison park that are full of students to the neighborhoods near West Mifflin St that are also full of students. Or it would be a direct connection if there was formal access for bikes through what is now “Philosopher’s Grove” (and a contraflow lane for east bound bicyclists on the square trying to get from 100 West Mifflin to 100 East Mifflin). It’s also an important (missing) connection for lots of other folks. My second grader and I ride this way, e.g. to get from our near east home to the central library. I’m not suggesting that the area that is now “Philosopher’s Grove” should necessarily be returned to some kind of conventional streetscape, but rather that accommodation for cyclists should be made somehow that still preserves the space for accommodating other desirable uses. The newly reconstructed intersection of East Campus Mall and State St Mall (aka Library Mall) might serve as an excellent model here. Please enter my comments into the record. Thanks, Chuck Strawser Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Planner Commuter Solutions UW-Madison Transportation Services Visit our University Bicycle Resource Center at Helen C White: http://transportation.wisc.edu/transportation/bike_annex.aspx How are we doing? Take our customer satisfaction survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CommSol_CSSurvey From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Robbie Webber Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 4:01 PM To: Bikies Subject: [Bikies] What to do with the 100 block of W Mifflin? I realize this is a long post, but it really does have to do with bicycling: both bike parking and completing the bike network. The city is considering<http://www.forwardlookout.com/2015/03/update-on-state-st-areaphilosophers-stone/23025> what to do with the 100 block of W Mifflin, AKA the Philosophers Grove. The reasons they are considering changes is that there is a lot of crime, and they think that some physical changes might help lessen that. I won't speak to the crime issue, but wanted to bring the issue of bike infrastructure to the list. West Mifflin is the only corner street coming on to the Square that doesn't have a through route for bicyclists. E Mifflin, E Main, and W Main all have counter-flow bike lanes. State and King are important routes. W Mifflin ends in a cul-de-sac. Many people ride on the sidewalk, which is technically illegal. this street is an important connector for people coming from the west that aren't using State St to access the Square. It is a missing link in the network. The bike racks on that block also are heavily used, especially during Farmers Market, Concerts on the Square, Art Fair on the Square, or any other event. They are heavily used by daily commuters as well, but are completely overstuffed when there are events. From the video linked below, it seems that the merchants on that block don't think that having a through route for bicyclists is a priority. They also seem to think that the racks are only used by troublemakers hanging out on the stones. If changes are going to be made to this block -- and whether changes should be made is a separate question -- I think they should make sure to complete the bike network and not reduce already scarce bike parking. The staff ideas about how to "activate the space" starts about 14:00. The specific comments about a need for a bike route through the block start at 17:40, although it sounds like it is controversial. There is some discussion of bike parking and a bike corral starting at 20:10. Public comments, some rather strong, start at 24:45. At 33:30, one person says both that the idea of a narrow route through the stones is not large/wide enough and also expresses concern that a bike corral would be used by "them" (I think he means the homeless population) as a storage area. So, if you have any comment about either bike access or parking in the area, it would probably b worthwhile to let city staff know. Bill Fruhling -- [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> -- in the Planning Department is heading this up and various city committees are looking at it. http://www.forwardlookout.com/2015/03/update-on-state-st-areaphilosophers-stone/23025 Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984<tel:608-263-9984> (o) 608-225-0002<tel:608-225-0002> (c) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or any other group with which I am affiliated. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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