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The weather and Winnequah Road - everybody talks about them, but nobody does anything.
So, what do you think the city should do with lower Winnequah Road (from Maywood Road to Bridge Road)?
Pick one or more or add your own idea. Please also include whether you live on that stretch of Winnequah Road or just drive on it.
Leave it the way it is?
Add sidewalks?
Remove the 'bumpouts'?
Install stop signs?
Install traffic calming devices?
More police speed enforcement?
Neighborhood speed watch?
Other?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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I don't think it would help with speeding, but I think all of Winnequah (Bridge to Monona Dr) should have a sidewalk. It seems to be the most popular road for walkers/runners and it is horrible leaving Winnequah Park after the fireworks. A park side (mostly east side of street) sidewalk wouldn't end this, but would help.
ReplyDeleteI think the bumpouts DO reduce speeding near them, but then people speed up after they've passed to make up for a slow down. This would suggest that "More traffic calming devices" would help reduce speeding, probably to the ire of many.
You could try to encourage people to take Bridge, by increasing the speed limit and/or removing stop signs. You could make Winnequah one way to reduce its use. You could park one of the broken police cars with a dummy in it each morning. You could install a median wall down the length. Hey you wanted Other, you didn't say they had to be good.
I do not live on Winnequah. I drive the lower half 8-9 times a week year round and run/bike the full length weekly during the summer
1) Admit the current design is a mistake
ReplyDelete2) remove the parking lanes (nobody parks there anyway) and narrow the street- that will slow traffic.
3) In the space install a proper sidewalk from bridge to maywood park, on the other side install a bike line seperated by a concrete curb from the street.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteLeaving things the way they are is certainly not an option.
Our suggestions would be a combination of things:
1) Install stop signs on at least two corners.
2) Remove bumpouts. The concept may be good as initially planned, but the installation was severely flawed (poor design of entrance ramps for bicycles).
3) Install traffic calming devices of some sort; speed tables would be a reasonable idea. I am not impressed by the worries of emergency vehicle passage as Madison and other cities have installed these devices along more major roads without problems for emergency services. I have seen really fast driving by Monona PD and Fire southward on Winnequah; such speeding is not safe (when Fred was an EMT/medic in Michigan years ago, the State Law for emergency vehicles operating on a "code 3" was "no more than 5 mph over the limit"). There is simply no need for fast driving of any sort on Winnequah no matter the situation.
Fred & Jackie Hyde
And when you make Winnequah unpleasant for drivers, then what are you going to do when everyone starts using Frostwoods/Owen/Panther/Midmoor, etc. to Bridge instead, and the people on those streets begins to resent the speeding and traffic?
ReplyDelete"And when you make Winnequah unpleasant for drivers, then what are you going to do when everyone starts using Frostwoods/Owen/Panther/Midmoor"?
ReplyDeleteFair question, but would be even fairer without the accusatory "you".
To Anon above:
ReplyDeleteYou mean that drivers AREN'T using those roads now????
Fred
Oh for Pete's sake, then substitute "we" for the "you's." (gosh, a little touchy, aren't "we?")
ReplyDeleteBut back to the question, it is a legitimate concern for "us" to ponder. What do "we" have to say about it?
My initial reaction is there are not good alternatives to Winnequah for many users of that road and so they will not divert.
ReplyDeleteAnd just why are you picking on Pete?
Who said that nobody uses the other streets in Monona now? That isn't the point. The point is that speed bumps on Winnequah will divert at least some additional traffic over to Bridge Rd. But I think the council and mayor are going to do what the most vocal residents on Winnequah want. I say that without judgement as to whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the postive side, those people live there and have to deal with this situation on a daily basis whereas most of us simply drive on that road for, at the most, a few minutes each day. On the negative, some pretty crummy traffic engineering decisons can be made this way (e.g., the stop sign way at the other end of Winnequah Rd & Monona Drive.) Good luck to all involved. It is a difficult situation.
ReplyDelete"Fair question, but would be even fairer without the accusatory "you"."
ReplyDeleteWhy>
Doug is a cc member if stamps out one problem isn't it his responsibility to solve the problem that he creates by solving the Winneq. problem?
"Fair question, but would be even fairer without the accusatory "you"."
ReplyDeleteWhy>
MD: At the time that was posted it struck me wrong. Not a big deal.
"Doug is a cc member if stamps out one problem isn't it his responsibility to solve the problem that he creates by solving the Winneq. problem?"
A cc member? For a minute I thought I had joined a motorcycle club.
I am one member of a six-person body plus an exec. officer. I don't get to decide by myself.
install cameras, people will behave if they think someone is watching
ReplyDelete