Thanks Martha, and I want to add a little clarification from my standpoint as the project engineer for this.
We would not have been proposing this project if we thought that it would ultimately harm the Occupy Madison site and program. We felt that we had a good solution using the vacant land that would, in the end, make this a win-win-win-win. (Occupy – Schoelkopf owners and tenants – biking community – City). There was potential to make more space available to Occupy than we would be acquiring for the path while providing fair compensation (through the eminent domain process) to “make them whole”. We had discussed this with some of their Board members and thought we had at least qualified support. Of course we also wanted to minimize impacts to the Schoelkopf site to maintain its viability for current and potential uses. We were coordinating with those owners as well. Taking out a row of their parking would be a major impact. We looked carefully to find a good off-street alternative to going between the Occupy and Schoelkopf sites. In my judgment there is none. There is not sufficient space to create an acceptable bike facility around the Johnson St and Third St sides of the Occupy site without acquiring significant width from the Occupy site on both sides and perhaps having an even more detrimental impact on their site. It would also provide much worse geometry for bicyclists, both rounding the corner and entering Third St. There is also not sufficient space to get a bike path around the west side of the Schoelkopf building (with necessary clearances from the building and the street). The other alternative is to transition bikes into and out of the street for a couple blocks. This is certainly feasible if there is no alternative, but not very desirable when we are trying to create facilities that feel comfortable to a broad range of users. There were complications to making the Occupy land transfer work and in reconfiguring their site. In the end it seems that the Occupy leaders decided they were better off advocating for no change, and we have to respect that decision. Beyond that there may have been some misunderstanding due to lack of communication on our part. At this point I think it makes sense to step back and look at all possible alternatives. Bottom line is we really want this to work for all the stakeholders, including Occupy. IMO there was – and maybe still is - a good solution. Tony Fernandez [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> voice: 608-266-9219 From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Martha Laugen via Bikies Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 3:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bike path, Tiny houses, etc. Thanks to all for the dialogue re: bike path. For what it's worth, a few clarifying points. Yes: Madison BCycle's shop, office and vehicles are based here. In order to serve the community the way we do on the budget we have - we do require all the space in our current lot for vehicle manuverability. So do other tenants in the building including businesses that receive delivery via large box trucks regularly, and customers that arrive via bike, car, motorcycle and wheelchair. We do not want to see anyone displaced of course, and are excited about the path expansion. There is an adjacent parcel of land that is currently unused here. Could that facilitate Tiny House expansion or bike path re-routing? I am not the planning expert but the potential is certainly there. As for how straightforward the path planning is there - I encourage folks to inquire w/ city planners, but as someone who bikes there daily, in all seasons, it is not a straightforward extension of current routes. Currently, paths suddenly become sidewalk, bikelanes merge with paths or just disappear, paths cross busy roads at an angle where it's impossible to see car traffic coming from either direction. From what I've seen of plans, the proposal makes this interface much safer. My hope is that no current area residents or business will be compromised by this - and I'm certainly not sure that's our fate at this time. -Martha Laugen, Madison BCycle -- Martha C. Laugen, MPH 617.320.9806 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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