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Updated: Never mind. The plan is on hold.
The mayor had directed staff to order and install speed cushions from Traffic Logix on a trial basis. The speed cushions were expected to arrive today and be installed by the Public Works Crew tomorrow, November 6. On further thought the mayor has determined to put the installation on hold.
Kudos to him for being willing to rethink his own plan.
(The Traffic Logix page states that the speed cushions "must be removed in the fall prior to the arrival of snow and installed in the spring after the last snow storm."
The average date of first measurable snowfall in Madison is November 5. The average date of the first snowfall of over 1" is November 18.)
See: http://alacweather.com/FirstSnowStats2009_2010forMadison.aspx
Thursday, November 05, 2009
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When it comes to speeding in this town, I have met the enemy and it is us and the us includes a whole lot of people.
ReplyDeleteEverywhere else I've seen speed bumps, they are used to discourage people from cutting through neighborhoods and divert traffic to the main drags. But Winnequah is the main drag, right? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteWhat will happen if you do this is that more people will use Bridge Rd to get out to Broadway. Will they get speed bumps on Bridge Rd then too?
Last, will these speed bumps be comfortable to go over at 25 mph?
"What will happen if you do this is that more people will use Bridge Rd to get out to Broadway. Will they get speed bumps on Bridge Rd then too?"
ReplyDeletethe Mayor doesn't live on Bridge rd..........oh but I do. :(
Get over the obsession about where the mayor lives. Winnequah Road is a one the three busiest residential streets in the city, so it only makes sense to be concerned about traffic issues, including speeding. Speed bumps or other traffic calming devices will not be installed there or elsewhere unless a majority of the council approves.
ReplyDeleteI have made the point myself that Winnequah (and Bridge too) *may* not be a good place for traffic calming because that is a road traffic supposed to use. Traffic calming i more typically used on local streets with cut-through traffic. HOWEVER, traffic calming can also be used to address excessive speeds.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteI have a question or it might be a comment. If you think I am being flip or too much loose talk, please do not post it.
It seems the Mayor takes a lot of hits about why or why not certain policies are implemented or not implemented. Folks, commonly read something that might or might not be there: speed bumps, schools and new developments...to name just a few.
As you may or may not be aware the city administrator style of government was created during the Progressive era. I was always taught (took a fair amount of urban issues and progressive era courses)that it was created to evaluate the decision making to a more professional level by having a city administrator who was professional trained and educated. He would make decisions with stats and the worldly knowledge of his or her training. I do not mean to imply the mayor does not do this...but there were concerns at the turn of the century that mayors were not doing this.
The hope was that cities would function better and questionable policies and practices would end. This style was in contrast to a strong mayor system where the mayor was the COO.
In the city administrator style of government the mayor (like ours) is a figurehead-who chairs the legislative body-and in those college text books it is commonly called a weak mayor system.
However, it seems to me that the mayor in Monona functions more as a city administrator and it has been this way for a fair amount of time...not just this mayor. (I am not saying that is good or bad....)
For example, "the mayor ordered speeds bumps on Winnequah." In most cities with a city admin style of government-the paper or your blog would say the city admin looked at the data, listened to the concerns and has decided....blah, blah and blah. The city administrator functions as the COO of the the city.
Now, I am not knocking Pat Marsh or the mayor. It just seems to me that Monona executes the city administrator style of government quite differently than other communities that I have lived at and studied about-as a result, the Mayor opens himself to a lot questions ..that may or may not have merit.
What do you think? If you would rather not say anything and not post my thoughts...cool.
I have no agenda and do not want offend the mayor, city administrator or council. Frankly, they are all people who want to do the right thing for our community and spend a lot time working on it-so feel free to deep six this post.
I think those are fair comments. I'm not sure I agree with your description of city administrators. The mayor and council are supposed to set policy and the city administrator is supposed to carry it out.
ReplyDeleteLocating the line between policy and administration can be difficult and depends on the level of generality. Is it policy or administration to say, "Be proactive to reduce speeding", or "Reduce speeding by using traffic calming devices and enforcement."
It also depends on the personalities of the administrator and elected officials. Kevin Brunner was very proactive when he was the city admin. back from 1989-95. He participated more actively in council meetings. He had ideas that he wanted to see implemented and pursued them. He certainly crossed the line into policy on occasion. My recollection is that he was the driving force behind the creation of Ahuska Park.
Personally, I liked that and if the mayor and council had disagreed, then his ideas would not have been implemented. I like it when staff offers and opinion and really wish they would do so more often.
I understand that staffers may get burned when they suggest something that doesn't work and the longer staff stays around the more of those things will pile up. People tend to remember the negative things more than the positives.
Pat Marsh will do offer an opinion when asked. I'd like to see him be more proactive, but he is getting a lot of stuff done quietly behind the scenes. Dave Berner had become pretty gun shy and conditioned to working with a very strong mayor in Tom Metcalfe. It was hard to get Dave to give his opinion about much by the time he left.
Still when things go wrong, voters will first look to the mayor and then the city council for an explanation.
This is a good debate.
ReplyDeleteYou say "Is it policy or administration to say, "Be proactive to reduce speeding", or "Reduce speeding by using traffic calming devices and enforcement."
I would assert the former is policy, the latter is administration. But backing up even further, I think the first directive from the mayor should be to direct staff to investigate whether or not speeding is indeed a problem. So far, I think this assumption has been based on anecdotes, right? And if speeding is a problem, then the mayor/council should direct the staff to prepare alternatives.
Now maybe that's what happened behind the scenes and that's why Kahl asked for the speed bumps. But imo, our elected leaders stray far too often into staff terrain. Your job should be to set policy and direction and let the staff come up with implementation plans.
"But backing up even further, I think the first directive from the mayor should be to direct staff to investigate whether or not speeding is indeed a problem. So far, I think this assumption has been based on anecdotes, right?"
ReplyDeleteRe: speed. We do have traffic ande speeding stats from the Gizmo. Staff is updating that info.
I don't think most voters want us to be as hands off as ypu suggest. If traffic calming devices, for example, get put in they will expect us to answer for it - good or bad.
And I think the line betwen policy and administration is not a bright line. That being said, yeah, there is always a temptation to insert oneself into the carying out of policy, esp. in a small town.
"And I think the line between policy and administration is not a bright line."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, but here it is pretty clear and we can find it in other cases..it is not hard. The previous poster make the very good point that speed bumps are admin not policy. Thus, the mayor and council are setting policy.
The mayor saying putting them in and you guys barking....or someone barking back about not putting them in and then they do not get put in...kinda silly really.....
Basically, we have quite a few people trying to admin the city. OK, I know they all have the best interest of our city in their minds and I mean them no harm.
Yea I am not sure that I know the prefect way to do this just observing that some of criticism tossed the mayor's and coucnicil's way are the result of being involved in policy.
I will admit that he may feel he has to and I may not know the whole story.
For an example of setting policy, take a look at the draft traffic management program. A link is near the end of my post:
ReplyDeletehttp://mononadoug.blogspot.com/2009/11/monona-committee-stuff.html
The council still makes the final choice, but after a process and staff recommendation. People expect that accountability.
I think the comments here reflect an understandable misperception. The council actually follows staff recommendations a very large majority of the time and on very important items, like the recent decision to use Build America bonds rather than standard muny bonds for Monona Drive.
It may not seem that way because the few controversial items get most of the attention and we probably don't follow staff as often in those cases.
And some staffers are more proactive or creative in proposing solutions.
All that being aside, I always say that being an alder is a job with no job description. Each one of us has our own ideas about how to be an alder.