The fact that on the busiest bike route in Madison that there was no
plan for a detour shows a rather profound disregard for the safety of
cyclists IMHO. I've just ben taking the lane the last couple days =
riding on John Nolen around the construction. Several cyclists followed
me this morning. Seems like if we wait a few minutes for a group to
converge, taking a lane of John Nolen is a reasonable thing to do. Saw
lots of folks just riding on the grass, which of course will be
destroyed. Since the grass will be destroyed anyway. one wonders why a
decision wasn't made to just put down a limestone path for the duration
of the construction. Heaven forbid the City query the users of the
cycling commuter route before closing the path and making no allowance
for a detour.
Brian Mink
Monona
Michael Lemberger wrote:
On my way home last night, my habit took me right to the intersection of North
Shore Drive and John Nolen Drive, and it seemed to be the case that many, many
other cyclists (and pedestrians) found themselves in the same situation.
(Assuming they knew about the closure, which I would bet most did not.) Many
chose to ride around the barriers and through the construction site. I actually
chose to backtrack to Bedford St. in order to see what it would be like to
detour through downtown. With the contraflow lanes in place on Main and Doty
Streets, it really isn’t too bad, though the hill appears to be a challenge for
cyclists who aren’t used to climbing it.
I didn’t have a camera last night, but I brought one this morning and visited
the site again, on purpose this time. Please find the photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mababo/sets/72157652015951700
The three or four cyclists I talked to claimed to have no idea that the path
was going to be closed until they arrived at the site. Seems plausible to me,
given that I can’t recall any mention of it in local media and could not find
any mention on local web sites, save one tweet from the city, dated April 30.
Though the barrier configuration at John Nolen and North Shore may now be
correct, there is still a glaring lack of advance signage where opportunities
exist to detour via streets. Lacking a formal detour, this seems the least the
city could have done to help cyclists avoid riding through a construction zone.
Speaking of formal detours, it would be very interesting to hear what was
behind the decision to not bother with one. Was it cost? Some other lack of
resources? While the short timeline and challenging location of this project
may be obvious factors, anyone who knows anything about human behavior should
have been able to see this coming.
Also, what about the people who may not be familiar with Madison’s unusual
downtown traffic grid? Wilson Street’s east-to-west one-way section would seem
to me an obvious barrier to any out-of-towner’s eastbound roll-your-own detour
effort.
My hope is that a better plan will be in place when the section of path between
the Monona Terrace and Blair St. is reconstructed.
Best regards,
Michael Lemberger
Madison
-----------
Grant wrote: "I hope there's some opportunity to enhance the signage and direction
for users."
Tue, 5 May 2015 Grant Foster wrote:
Thanks, Tony.
There are a few other issues that really need to be looked at as well. I came
in from the eastside and had no warning of the closure until getting to the end
of the terrace. Users are forced to turn around there and double back as well.
We really need signs up at the elevator/path and/or at Willy/Wilson/path to let
users know that an alternate route will be required before they go too far. I
also agree with the need for postings up on North Shore path at SW crossing
and/or at Bedford/path for eastbound traffic. Without such, users are going to
go all the way down to Nolen before figuring out that there's a closure.
I'm also disappointed in the decision to not mark a formal detour. I understand
the complexity of the task and that a formal detour route may not be the best
alternate route for all users, but this is one of our highest traffic bikeways
and many users may really struggle knowing how to navigate capitol hill to get
around the closure. I would have hoped for at least one primary marked detour
to help users navigate and reinforce the closure.
Good luck with the project and I hope there's some opportunity to enhance the
signage and direction for users.
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