Thanks Tony. That was a very thoughtful response. As Robbie and others stated, signs that give folks more advanced warning would still be a decent improvement.
-India WeAreAllMechanics.com [email protected] Stay connected- Follow WAAM on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/We.Are.All.Mechanics> *"How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?" * On Thu, May 7, 2015 at 4:49 PM, Fernandez, Anthony < [email protected]> wrote: > 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] > > 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] > > 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]> > 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] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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