Like Chuck, these opinions are my own and there may or may not be an official response from the Fed on this.
1. As Chuck mentioned, the City had planned for this construction to begin AFTER what has traditionally been Bike to Work Week (next week). When they found out that the Bike Fed coordinated BTTW was being rebranded and moved to June, they scrambled to accomodate that change - so that now, construction will be complete so as not to impede access to the Bacon or Bratcakes. Bike Week is a statewide event - not just a Madison event. 2. It seems from several comments, that even if a detour was marked, people would not use it anyway. I'm also not sure that JohnNolenBikePathClosure-gate really qualifies as a disaster. 3. I am thankful to live in a community where bike paths/lanes are routinely maintained and widened to accomodate cyclists. What a problem to have! 4. When the project is finished, it will be fantastic and all this strife will be but a distant memory. Sarah On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 8:01 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Send Bikies mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Bikies digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Construction notifications (Richard Schifreen) > 2. Re: Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > (Spencer Gardner) > 3. Re: Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park (India Viola) > 4. Re: Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > (Larry D Nelson) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 16:42:20 -0400 (EDT) > From: Richard Schifreen <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Bikies] Construction notifications > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > I don't ride or drive near John Nolen, so I'll keep my thoughts on the > specifics of that project to myself. One thing that does strike me is that > there isn't any single resource to let the public know about road > construction in Madison and around Dane County. The Wisconsin State > Journal used to publish a map each week listing the construction projects > around the city and county with information about start dates, expected > completion dates and detours. It often missed projects, but it was at > least a convenient resource that included most of the ongoing work. I'm > not sure when they stopped including that feature, but its been gone for > some time. > > Specific project issues aside, perhaps some appropriate group could > collect this information from the City of Madison, Dane County and > UW-Madison, keep it current and post to a website, social media, supply it > to the local news sources or somehow make it readily available. > > > Richard Schifreen > [email protected] > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 20:46:17 +0000 > From: Spencer Gardner <[email protected]> > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > Message-ID: > < > sn1pr0101mb1485d66171cdec9cf0727ed6c0...@sn1pr0101mb1485.prod.exchangelabs.com > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > I can?t comment on the execution of the closure as my route doesn?t take > me through there. But I wonder how many voicing concerns here have > contacted their alder or the mayor?s office. I?m sure Tony and others > employed by the city benefit from your feedback, but as Steve rightly > pointed out this is fundamentally a political problem. Concerns voiced on > this list are not going to be translated a change of culture unless they > are also raised through other, more official channels simultaneously. > > Spencer Gardner<mailto:[email protected]>, AICP > Planner > > Toole Design Group<http://www.tooledesign.com/> > p 608.663.8082 x404 > > From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Robert F. Nagel > Sent: Friday, May 08, 2015 3:04 PM > To: Steve Goldstein > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > > Steve is right on. And, not to hijack this link, but if it happens, it > happens, because I think plenty has been said about this problem. > Meanwhile, what could be part of a solution to this problem seems to have > fallen on deaf ears. Recently, I posted about the cluster-f-whatever > between Henry and Bedford streets on West Washington. I do not recall a > single response to that post. It seems that some lane lines could be > painted pretty fast that could help create a safe alternative to the John > Nolen path closure. I'll reprint my old post here: > > Robert F. Nagel <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> > > > Apr 22 > [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif] > > [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]Reply > [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif] > > to bikies > [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif] > > > Does anyone have any insight into what the plans are for three blocks of > west washington between bedford and henry? There's a broken yellow line > down the middle of the street. The street is wide enough for a car lane, a > bike lane, and a parking lane, but because there are no lines painted, cars > seem to think that it's wide enough for two car lanes and a parking lane. > It's really the wild west. It's not safe for bikes, peds, or even cars. It > seems like a little paint would go a long way here. Not sure why it hasn't > happened yet. It's been like this for years. I've been meaning to complain > about it here for at least that long, too. > > > > > --- > [ > 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 Fri, May 8, 2015 at 7:03 AM, Steve Goldstein <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > On 5/8/15 12:13 AM, Melanie Foxcroft wrote: > > I think this is another demonstration of why Madison doesn't receive a > "platinum" award for bicycling. This disaster is simply not acceptable. > The double standard of cars vs. bikes is too much. Hopefully city > transportation people will learn from this disaster and do better next time. > > > The "city transportation people" are the traffic engineers who, after > considering the alternatives, have been forced into this decision because > nothing else meets minimum engineering standards. We all see the logic of > Tony's deliberations and conclusions. > > The problem is that an engineering-only approach doesn't solve this > problem and that was the end of the discussion. If there were enough > political pressure, the discussion could have started out with the > requirement that the most heavily traveled bike route in the city remain > passable during one of the peak months of biking. If that were the case, > other alternatives might have been on the table --- for example, staging > the project to enable access or closing lanes on John Nolen. > > Many on this list will recall the activism opposing of the closing of the > Law Park path during construction of the convention center achieved partial > success. Tony's sensitivity to the issues shows some things have improved > over the past twenty years, but this disaster shows we need more effective > activism. > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.danenet.org/private.cgi/bikies-danenet.org/attachments/20150508/eae6511b/attachment-0001.htm > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 19:18:53 -0500 > From: India Viola <[email protected]> > To: "STRAWSER, Charles" <[email protected]> > Cc: bikies <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > Message-ID: > <CAM3191gWrViTO3gS65sCfKzBUfy7uv5Pw3bxe7bO= > [email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Thanks Chuck. > > -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 Fri, May 8, 2015 at 10:30 AM, STRAWSER, Charles <[email protected] > > > wrote: > > > I don?t know whether my managers would agree with this or not, and I > > haven?t asked. > > > > So these are my personal opinions, not those of my employer. But these > > opinions are informed by my professional knowledge and experience. > > > > > > > > This may come as a shock to some of you, but I?m going to defend some of > > the city?s decisions here (though not all). > > > > > > > > I was in the room five short weeks ago when the assistant city traffic > > engineer was clearly shocked to learn from the representative of > Wisconsin > > Bike Fed that BTWW was going to be scheduled for June instead of May this > > year. I understand why Wis Bike Fed decided to reschedule (and in full > > disclosure, Bike Fed did the same thing a decade ago when I was the > person > > in charge of organizing Madison's BTWW, so I am just as guilty). But > > radically changing the date of an annual event does play havoc with > > construction projects that are scheduled months, if not a year, in > advance. > > I give the city full credit for scrambling to get this project done > BEFORE > > BTWW when they were really thrown a curve ball. If they manage to > complete > > this project, it clearly won't be a home run. But I don't think you could > > call it a strike out either. The easiest route (no pun intended) for the > > city probably would have been simply to decide to delay the whole thing > for > > a year. > > > > > > > > But I disagree with the city?s decision not to reallocate a lane of John > > Nolen to bike traffic. I?m not blaming Tony for that. I think Madison > would > > be far more unfriendly to bicyclists and pedestrians if not for him and > his > > work. I personally benefit from his designs every day. As others have > > noted, he is working with a paradigm that is not really sustainable (if > it > > was, we wouldn?t be constantly arguing at the federal, state, and local > > levels how to pay for the maintenance of roads we can no longer afford). > > > > > > > > Certainly reallocation space on John Nolen would inconvenience motorists, > > and there are many more of them than there are bicyclists. But choosing > not > > to inconvenience motorists for nearly the last century is one reason why > > there are so many more motorists. Consider that when University Ave > through > > campus was rebuilt, there were months when half the capacity of the > street > > for pedestrians (sidewalk on one side) was eliminated, and ALL the > capacity > > for bicycles (both EB and WB bike lanes) was eliminated. Yet there were > > still three lanes of WB traffic for cars, just as there has been for > > decades (whether capacity for transit riders was reduced because buses > had > > to share one of three lanes of traffic filled with 50,000 cars per day is > > debatable). > > > > 50,000 cars per day on University Ave is a lot. But there are easily > > 50,000 pedestrians per day trying to use University Ave as well. And > 15,000 > > bicyclists. > > > > So let?s see.. in very rough numbers, University Ave carries 50,000 > people > > in cars, 50,000 people on foot, 15,000 people on bikes, and an unknown > (to > > me) number of people in buses. So in very round figures, 43% of Univ Ave > > users are in cars, 43% are on foot, and 13% are on bikes (again > > disregarding transit, cause, you know, that?s not really transportation > > anyway). > > > > Yet when we had to decide how to allocate scarce space on the street, we > > decided to reduce the capacity of the road for people on foot by > 50%,reduce > > the capacity of the road for people on bikes by 100%, and reduce the > > capacity of the road for people in cars by, er, well actually we decided > > not to reduce the capacity of the road for people in cars at all, even > > though they represent less than half of the road?s users. > > > > > > > > Don?t even get me started on so many RailRoads unwillingness to share so > > many of the corridors they were given for free by the federal government > > 150 years ago with anyone else. > > > > > > > > > > > > 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]] *On Behalf Of > *Brian > > Mink > > *Sent:* Friday, May 08, 2015 7:17 AM > > *To:* GOLDSTEIN, STEVEN > > *Cc:* [email protected] > > *Subject:* Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > > > > > > > > I agree Steve and Melanie. I think Tony's response if frankly a cop out. > > Basically says there was not a perfect solution so we opted to do > nothing. > > I think that is frankly a lame approach to a significant problem. We live > > in a world where there is seldom an ideal solution. Heaven help us if we > > can implement solutions that are less than perfect. This is precisely why > > folks get so frustrated with government, analysts, and policy makers. > Most > > of us are just fine with a less than ideal solution. We want some attempt > > made to solve the problem. One could use Tony's rationalization at every > > level of government as an excuse to do nothing. Which is exactly what has > > been done. The excuse that the city often closes streets and os not > > implement detours is fine for cars because it is no big deal to use you > 2-5 > > liter engine to go out of your way a few blocks. The attitude in my mind > is > > very cavalier and I don't think we're comparing apples to apples. > > > > > > Brian Mink > > Monona, WI > > > > Steve Goldstein wrote: > > > > On 5/8/15 12:13 AM, Melanie Foxcroft wrote: > > > > I think this is another demonstration of why Madison doesn't receive a > > "platinum" award for bicycling. This disaster is simply not acceptable. > > The double standard of cars vs. bikes is too much. Hopefully city > > transportation people will learn from this disaster and do better next > time. > > > > > > > > > > The "city transportation people" are the traffic engineers who, after > > considering the alternatives, have been forced into this decision because > > nothing else meets minimum engineering standards. We all see the logic > of > > Tony's deliberations and conclusions. > > > > The problem is that an engineering-only approach doesn't solve this > > problem and that was the end of the discussion. If there were enough > > political pressure, the discussion could have started out with the > > *requirement* that the most heavily traveled bike route in the city > > remain passable during one of the peak months of biking. If that were > the > > case, other alternatives might have been on the table --- for example, > > staging the project to enable access or closing lanes on John Nolen. > > > > Many on this list will recall the activism opposing of the closing of the > > Law Park path during construction of the convention center achieved > partial > > success. Tony's sensitivity to the issues shows some things have > improved > > over the past twenty years, but this disaster shows we need more > effective > > activism. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > 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 > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.danenet.org/private.cgi/bikies-danenet.org/attachments/20150508/7a73f827/attachment-0001.htm > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 20:01:00 -0500 > From: "Larry D Nelson" <[email protected]> > To: "'Spencer Gardner'" <[email protected]>, > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > As a member of the Bike Fed, I look forward to a response from the Fed > regarding this issue. I am not interested in the blame game: this needs to > be avoided in the future. From a project scheduling standpoint, these type > of issues should be addressed in the 4th quarter of the year prior to > construction. > > > > Larry D Nelson > > > > > > From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Spencer Gardner > Sent: Friday, May 08, 2015 3:46 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > > > > I can?t comment on the execution of the closure as my route doesn?t take > me through there. But I wonder how many voicing concerns here have > contacted their alder or the mayor?s office. I?m sure Tony and others > employed by the city benefit from your feedback, but as Steve rightly > pointed out this is fundamentally a political problem. Concerns voiced on > this list are not going to be translated a change of culture unless they > are also raised through other, more official channels simultaneously. > > > > <mailto:[email protected]> Spencer Gardner, AICP > > Planner > > > > <http://www.tooledesign.com/> Toole Design Group > > p 608.663.8082 x404 > > > > From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Robert F. Nagel > Sent: Friday, May 08, 2015 3:04 PM > To: Steve Goldstein > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Notice of closure of John Nolen Path in Law Park > > > > Steve is right on. And, not to hijack this link, but if it happens, it > happens, because I think plenty has been said about this problem. > Meanwhile, what could be part of a solution to this problem seems to have > fallen on deaf ears. Recently, I posted about the cluster-f-whatever > between Henry and Bedford streets on West Washington. I do not recall a > single response to that post. It seems that some lane lines could be > painted pretty fast that could help create a safe alternative to the John > Nolen path closure. I'll reprint my old post here: > > > > > > > Robert F. Nagel <[email protected]> > > > Apr 22 > > https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif > > https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gifReply > > https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif > > > > to bikies > > https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif > > Does anyone have any insight into what the plans are for three blocks of > west washington between bedford and henry? There's a broken yellow line > down the middle of the street. The street is wide enough for a car lane, a > bike lane, and a parking lane, but because there are no lines painted, cars > seem to think that it's wide enough for two car lanes and a parking lane. > It's really the wild west. It's not safe for bikes, peds, or even cars. It > seems like a little paint would go a long way here. Not sure why it hasn't > happened yet. It's been like this for years. I've been meaning to complain > about it here for at least that long, too. > > > > > > > > > --- > > Robert F. Nagel, Attorney > > Law Offices of Robert Nagel > [email protected] > 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 Fri, May 8, 2015 at 7:03 AM, Steve Goldstein <[email protected]> > wrote: > > On 5/8/15 12:13 AM, Melanie Foxcroft wrote: > > I think this is another demonstration of why Madison doesn't receive a > "platinum" award for bicycling. This disaster is simply not acceptable. > The double standard of cars vs. bikes is too much. Hopefully city > transportation people will learn from this disaster and do better next time. > > > > > The "city transportation people" are the traffic engineers who, after > considering the alternatives, have been forced into this decision because > nothing else meets minimum engineering standards. We all see the logic of > Tony's deliberations and conclusions. > > The problem is that an engineering-only approach doesn't solve this > problem and that was the end of the discussion. If there were enough > political pressure, the discussion could have started out with the > requirement that the most heavily traveled bike route in the city remain > passable during one of the peak months of biking. If that were the case, > other alternatives might have been on the table --- for example, staging > the project to enable access or closing lanes on John Nolen. > > Many on this list will recall the activism opposing of the closing of the > Law Park path during construction of the convention center achieved partial > success. Tony's sensitivity to the issues shows some things have improved > over the past twenty years, but this disaster shows we need more effective > activism. > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > http://www.avast.com > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.danenet.org/private.cgi/bikies-danenet.org/attachments/20150508/de9aaaea/attachment.htm > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: not available > Type: image/png > Size: 174 bytes > Desc: not available > URL: < > http://lists.danenet.org/private.cgi/bikies-danenet.org/attachments/20150508/de9aaaea/attachment.png > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Bikies Digest, Vol 79, Issue 12 > ************************************** > -- Sarah Gaskell, APBP *Planning Manager* Wisconsin Bike Fed 409 East Main Street, Suite 203 Madison WI 53703 (608) 709-2943 - PLEASE NOTE THE NEW NUMBER www.wisconsinbikefed.org
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