Alder Speight on Pedestrian Safety

A guest blog post from Alder Chad Speight on pedestrian safety:

I wanted to address the issue of sidewalks, and more broadly, the need to make our streets safer and more inviting to pedestrians.

Monona is a great community in many ways, but Monona is not a pedestrian-friendly community. The simple fact is that the school district is required to provide busing to many students, at great expense to taxpayers, who would otherwise be able to walk to school if our streets were accommodating to pedestrians.

While it IS possible to walk in the street, or to walk through yards on the public right of way, fewer people walk due to the lack of sidewalks and other design features that would make walking safer. So safer streets would allow us to spend less money busing children.

I have often heard comments from parents that Monona needs more sidewalks, and safer streets. While I allow my children to walk or bike around town on clear, sunny days, I always insist on driving them around town when visibility is poor, since I know they will be in the street. And adults make similar decisions.

The result of driving rather than walking has many ill-effects. We waste money on gas, add more wear and tear on our vehicles and roads; and we are less healthy. Not to mention the negative environmental impact of more pollution.

The Safe Routes To School (SRTS) program was started in 2005 to assist communities like Monona, providing valuable grant funding to help improve pedestrian infrastructure like cross-walks and sidewalks. SRTS was established by a Republican Congress and signed by President Bush for all of the reasons stated above, that walking is better for us that driving, particularly for school children. Monona needs to develop a long-range plan to improve our pedestrian infrastructure, and SRTS is a great program that will help pay for any improvements we make.

I proposed the Friendly Streets Ordinance last summer to initiate discussion in our community about such improvements. We have been discussing improvements at Public Safety and Public Works for the last 4 months. I do NOT believe that Monona needs sidewalks on every street, but I do believe that main thoroughfares, which I identified in my original ordinance, need sidewalks or significant improvements which make pedestrian travel safer.

I believe that the lack of safe streets contributes to the lack of families with young children moving into our community, and I presented my ideas to the Family Attraction Committee last month. Some people argue that Monona will lose it's special character if we add any sidewalks, but I think Dean and Nichols Road are just as much a part of Monona as any other street, and both streets already have sidewalks.

I am not willing to wait for a child or anyone else to be hit by a car to decide that this is a priority. I realize that a very vocal group of sidewalk opponents exist in Monona, but I am willing to speak up for the many people who happen to disagree, but who have been afraid to speak up.

I believe that we need to avoid or reduce cutting down trees, by allowing any new sidewalks to meander around mature trees whenever possible. We will need to evaluate all options carefully. I also have proposed adding sidewalks only on one side of the street, to reduce costs. If we can obtain full grant funding, then no property tax assessments would be required. If only partial funding is obtained, then I would support adding the costs of these improvements into the capital budget, to avoid any special assessments, in recognition that these select new paths are for the benefit of ALL citizens. Since most citizens will never have a sidewalk, the few that might get one should not be assessed for costs that exceed any grant funding. The exception would be my own front yard, which needs a sidewalk, and I would gladly pay that assessment.

I want Monona to retain our great community spirit, and I believe that adding a few sidewalks on main residential thoroughfares will help us continue to thrive and prosper, as a great place to raise a family, or simply a great place to live for people of all ages.

A positive next step would be the formation of a SRTS Task force to create a priority list of improvements that would make our streets safer, and allow the district to reduce busing costs. The SRTS program guide suggests that such a task force be comprised of elected leaders, school administrators, parents, and other concerned citizens.

I hope that we can have a healthy dialogue which leads to real improvements in our great city. Please contact me if you are interested in serving on a task force to address this vital public issue.

Sincerely,

Alderman Chad Speight