Friends, This explanation will probably not satisfy many people, but I think the many questions and considerable inconvenience deserve a reply.
First, the lack of public advance notice. We planned the schedule for this project many months ago, based on avoiding important events which use the path or stage in Law park. We hoped to do a lot of advance notice when the start date drew near. As it turns out, a major event (Bike Week) had a different date than we originally planned for, which forced us into last minute discussions with the Contractor on advancing the start date to avoid it. With excellent cooperation from the Contractor we were able to advance the date so that we can re-open the path for Bike Week. But we only knew that a few days ahead of the actual start. We posted a notice (plus emails, Twitter, etc) on BikeMadison website, to the Bikies listserve, and to the Bike Fed, asking them to spread the word however they could. But we realize that many people were not aware, and we sincerely apologize for the lack of notice. The bigger issue, or course, is the lack of a designated alternate route. Our only real alternative in this regard was to close a lane of John Nolen Drive to create a temporary two-way bike path in the street, accommodating bikes and pedestrians. We did not feel we could create a safe situation without installing temporary concrete barrier between the street and the temporary path. This would narrow John Nolen to one lane inbound at North Shore and would make it very difficult or impossible to safely accommodate right turns into the Convention Center. Given the great expense, the relatively short duration of the path project, the major impact on many thousands of vehicles and possible loss of access to the Terrace we chose not to do this. But only after considerable discussion involving both City Engineering and Traffic Engineering. Many will not agree with this decision, but we feel it was the correct one. Next we considered a temporary path through the Park. Because of several “pinch points” and the fact that we are reconstructing ramps at both Broom and North Shore, there simply is not a continuous corridor that could be made even close to meeting reasonable path safety standards, let alone ADA handicap accessibility standards. We wrote our contract specifications requiring the Contractor to maintain pedestrian access to the park, knowing that some would choose to walk, walk bikes or even ride bikes on the grass. But there was no way to provide a continuous, safe, hard surface that would safely accommodate the higher speeds of bikes. It would be irresponsible for us to create something unsafe and then direct bikes to use it. Finally, the question of providing a marked detour. Since the “official” alternate route is the street network, and we have to accommodate both bikes and pedestrians, we did not see a practical way to create a marked detour. There is plainly no simple, direct alternative which would serve the majority of users. Depending on the type of user and their confidence level, some would want to use the bike elevator and others would use Wilson Street / King Street (from/to the East). And depending on destination people would use different streets west of MLK Street. No matter what route we marked, a large percentage of people would choose a different route, including walking through the park to avoid the detour altogether. Again after discussion we decided it best to allow users to choose the alternate route that best suited them. This, by the way, is quite normal for street closures, and the great majority of the time we close a street for reconstruction we do not provide a marked detour. Other times there is a marked detour, though often for jurisdictional reasons it is not the route that most people would actually use. Marked detours are not a panacea, and would have served very little purpose in this case. We realize how much inconvenience this project is causing, and also that mistakes were made in implementing the closure. But I wanted to let people know that we try to make these decisions thoughtfully and with a strong commitment on the part of the City staff to all modes of transportation, including biking and walking. The good news is that the work is progressing well and people will probably be pleased with the improvement. Meantime, please use a lot of caution in the vicinity of the construction and make sure if using the Park to not impede the Contractor and delay the completion. Thanks for your patience and cooperation. Tony Fernandez [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> voice: 608-266-9219 fax: 608-264-9275 From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robbie Webber Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 2:01 PM To: Michael Lemberger Cc: [email protected]; Langer, Scott Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park I just spoke to one of my officemates who lives on the east side, and he said, "Oh, so that's what my neighbor was bitching about." He's going to write his alder, because as a transportation geek, we both had the same reaction: Would they just close one of the busiest streets in the city without a marked detour and an effort to at least tell people well in advance?" Considering hills, traffic, and one-way streets, letting people just muddle through (with an emphasis on mud) is pretty ridiculous. Perhaps the alders and Mayor should hear from people that use this route on a regular basis? Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984 (o) 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. On Thu, May 7, 2015 at 12:13 PM, Michael Lemberger <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> 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. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
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