Very informative presentation, and great comments, Grant. Thank you! Notably for raising the issue of the Mifflin Street westbound contraflow lane on Capitol Square. I know this location poses unique challenges. But I see this as is the #1 missing link of bike infrastructure in our city.
Peter On Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 1:48 PM, Grant Foster <[email protected]> wrote: > For those interested, here is a link to Engineering's presentation from > last week's joint PBMVC/LRTPC meeting on future transporation projects: > TIP 2015 presentation.pdf > <https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RtNErivWC-V3RBT080TG92anRLMVN4UXhuT3NVNTFRT01r/edit?usp=drive_web> > > and another to a video recording of the presentation: > http://media.cityofmadison.com/Mediasite/Play/e098e471187f4f6796ca4c4517fd8e781d?catalog=df63df8e-d5a2-4d53-ab5e-bc7e1880e490 > > My thoughts are summarized in the comments I submitted below. > > Grant > > Some specific highlights that stood out for me: > > - Lake Loop/Olbrich Park plan: This one hits close to home and I can't > wait to have it in place. Along with accommodations for bicycles, I would > encourage planning staff to really look to bring the park together for > people on foot. This park is an incredible asset for our community and the > current, overbuilt roadway divides the park in two and creates a major > barrier for users. I'm also encouraged to hear the plans to continue bike > facilities from Walter to Monona/CGR and hope that this can be accomplished > sooner than later. > - Charter St. crossing: Can't wait. > - Eau Claire/Old Middleton/Path: This is a huge improvement in safety > and am really pleased with the design. > - Beltline Path from Grand Canyon-High Pt.: Another significant > addition to our cycling infrastructure.* Is there an update on the > path extension from Medical Circle to Whitney and from Whitney to the > Southwest Commuter?* Once this is complete it will provide a level of > service similar to what the beltline provides motorists today. I also hope > that adding bike facilities to Odana Rd. is on a future project list. A > segregated path along the beltline will greatly improve access through this > area, but a road like Odana needs to also be accessible by bike given the > high concentration of commerce. > - Cannonball from Fish Hatchery to Wingra: This will really open up > the doors to less confident riders getting access to downtown and our > greater bike network from south side of town. Please keep in mind the value > of a future extension of the Cannonball from this Bowman Woods connector > along the rail corridor to Park St. (and ideally all the way to the Wingra > Creek path east of Beld St.). I would expect to see some development of the > land between Plaenart, Park and the RR sometime in the next decade and it > will be important to secure ROW for a continuation of this path at that > time. > - Buckeye Rd: Another big improvement to an important gap. > > In addition, I had a few questions on some of the project mentioned: > > - Capitol Square - Mifflin St. contraflow lane: I know this question > was raised at the meeting and really just wanted to reinforce the > extraordinary value of making it happen. E. Mifflin St. is a bike boulevard > and one that is used frequently today. W. Mifflin is also a great route for > cyclists. I believe the changes to Philosopher's Grove will be improving > access for bicycle traffic and it will be really important to accommodate > westbound traffic through this stretch. Going around the square on bike > really is quite out of the way, requires a significant climb and puts the > rider at odds with 6 traffic signals that are almost always red. I'm sure > the design is complicated especially considering the Metro traffic, but > please know that this is worth doing. > - Monroe St: I didn't hear any mention of improving bike access along > this vibrant commercial corridor. I'd like to strongly advocate for some > intentional design here. This part of our city, along with areas like > Williamson/Atwood need to support safe and comfortable navigation by bike. > People on bikes visit more often and spend more money at local businesses > than people in cars. Having a great bike path that runs parallel a few > blocks away does not reduce the need/value of supported access on these > streets themselves. > - Sprecher - Milwaukee to T: There wasn't mention in the presentation > or on the spreadsheet of adding bike lanes here, but perhaps they are > already planned. This is an important escape route for recreational > cyclists and one of the few on the eastside. > - S. Park: As was mentioned at the meeting, bike lane markings on S. > Park from W. Washington to the Beltline are inconsistent and in need of > comprehensive review. There seems to be plenty of space on the roadway and > I would hope that once the repair work is completed that we follow with > some updated markings. Please also keep in mind the future crossing of the > Cannonball path at Park St. during this work. > - Mineral Point/Midvale intersection: To be honest, this slide made my > heart sink a little. The current gaps in our cycling network on Mineral > Point, from Glenway to Research Park and on Midvale, north of Mineral > Point, are incredibly impactful. I was able to get some additional > information on this plan and the challenges in including cycling facilities > with this reconstruction, but I'm still left feeling like this is a missed > opportunity. I'm not necessarily saying that the intersection shouldn't be > rebuilt as proposed given the availability of federal funding and the > safety issues that it will help correct, but I'm quite worried about > locking ourselves into a place that prevents appropriate accommodations for > people on bikes for the next few decades. It's very difficult to accept > that the best solution involves dedicating 54' of road width to motor > vehicles and 0' for people on bikes. There is simply no good alternate > route for east-west movement between Kendall-Bluff-Regent and Odana > Rd/Beltline Path to the south (and neither of these are particularly good > options either). And as far as a north-south alternative to Midvale, there > just isn't any. *Is there a long-term plan/vision for adding cycling > facilities through here? What would be a rough timeline for those changes?* > > And a few items I'll include that I didn't see mentioned (though maybe > they are part of the small project bucket): > > - RR crossing at W. Main St.: W. Main St. is a bike route connected to > the SW path and this RR crossing is downright dangerous. Needs > reconstruction ASAP. > - Commercial Ave. from N. Sherman to Pennsylvania: It looks like the > motor vehicle lanes were repaved at some point, but the curb/bike lane was > not. Especially with the new bike lanes on N. Sherman, this is an important > connector route. Pavement condition of the bike lane especially between the > two sets of tracks is extremely poor and needs replacing. > - W. Washington from Bedford to Henry: Another well-known gap. Need to > connect the bike lanes from Bedford to Henry and do away with the > unofficial 4 lane utilization. > - SW path crossings at N. Shore and W. Washington and Midvale; Cap > City crossing at Fair Oaks: These are all problematic crossings and very > difficult to navigate during peak traffic times. The crossing at North > Shore is particularly dangerous because of the adjacent curve. Am hoping > there are additional supports planned for these crossings (i.e. activated > flashers with yield to ped/bike signage). > - Eastbound from Capital City path to Schenk's Corners: Need a way to > get eastbound from the path at Winnebago to Schenk's corner. It does not > work well today and users are taking to the sidewalk and entering into the > one way on Winnebago. > - Starkweather Creek path at Packers: Need improvements from the > off-ramp to where the bike lane begins on Aberg. This is a really tough > stretch with high speed traffic entering/exiting Packers/Aberg that was > highlighted recently when a cyclist was killed riding the sidewalk through > this stretch. > - Odana Rd: As mentioned above, Odana needs bike lanes even after > completion of a continuous Beltline Path. > - Wilson St. contraflow on capitol hill: I believe this was proposed > at one point, but didn't see any mention in the presentation. Is it still > under consideration? The recent path construction highlighted the > difficulty in moving across the capitol area by bicycle and a contraflow > lane here could improve things. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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