Gmail - FW: Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal

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Daniel Bush <daniel.p.bush@gmail.com>

FW: Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal

Dryer, David <DDryer@cityofmadison.com> Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 8:46 AM To: "daniel.p.bush@gmail.com" <daniel.p.bush@gmail.com> Cc: "Rhodes-Conway,Satya" <district12@cityofmadison.com>, "Soglin, Paul" <PSoglin@cityofmadison.com> Hello Mr. Bush In answer to your questions noted in your email below I can provide you the following. The folks on the North side of Madison have long been requesting improved conditions for bicycling. In the past couple of years we have had the opportunity to add bicycle lanes to Fordem Avenue, Aberg Avenue, Commercial Avenue, North Sherman Avenue between Trailsway and Northport Drive, and on Northport Drive itself. In conjunction with the Packers Avenue reconstruction we have added a bike path connection from the Vahlen Street cul-de-sac across the railroad tracks to International Lane. Bike lanes have also been added to International Lane and Anderson Street. There is a gap between Fordem Avenue at Sherman/N Sherman Avenues to North Sherman at Trailsway. We have long term plans for a bike path along the rail corridor from E Johnson Street to Steensland, but that still leaves a gap from approximately Aberg Avenue to Trailsway. This path has not progressed because the railroad has not been interested in a path within the rail corridor on its property. There has also been long a term plan for a path through the Hartmeyer Estate property between Commercial Avenue and Roth Street, but again the property owner has thus far not been interested in giving us permission to construct this path. We still have hope that these paths will be constructed. Even with these paths, there is still a gap in the bike system that needs to be filled. While there is strong demand throughout Madison, and especially on the Northside, for paths, there is not the ability to construct paths everywhere, especially in already built up areas. Bicycle Boulevards are a relatively new concept, at least for Madison. The intent of a Bicycle Boulevard is to provide bicyclists as similar an experience as on a path as is possible with an on-street route. A Bicycle Boulevard on Ruskin fills the gap noted above, at least on the East side of north Sherman Avenue. In terms of the overall bicycle facility network, it would connect the bike lanes on Northport and on the Warner Park section of North Sherman to the future Hartmeyer and Sherman Flyer Paths, then south to the bike lanes on Fordem and to the Yahara River Path, the Mifflin Street Bicycle Boulevard and the Capital City Path. It would also connect to the east-west bike lanes on Aberg and Commercial, and via the Vahlen Path connection to Packers Ave and across Packers to the bike lanes on International and Anderson and thus to the Starkweather Creek Path and to MATC. Bicycle Boulevards typically also provide intra-neighborhood connections to important neighborhood destinations. In the case of Ruskin, it directly connects the Northside Town Center, Warner Park, Sherman Middle School and the Northgate Shopping Center and less directly to Metros North Transfer Point. While we do not necessarily have lines on a map for bicycle facilities in every neighborhood in Madison, we do have general concepts that we try to follow throughout the city to provide a variety of bicycle facilities in every neighborhood for both local access and through neighborhood mobility for bicyclists. I think the above lays out a lot of what is being done and can be done on the Northside. Should the Ruskin Bicycle Boulevard move forward, we would likely at a later date look at an extension of this across Northport to at least Lakeview Elementary School. There could also be a separate Bicycle Boulevard on the west side of North Sherman Avenue to provide an on-street extension of the Sherman Flyer, when that is built, to Warner Park. Bike lanes on Sherman Avenue from Burrows Park to Tenney Park (which then also connects to the Yahara River Path) are also possible in the future if Maple Bluff and the Town are interested. In terms of the definition of a Bicycle Boulevard in the Platinum Report, any changes to Ruskin, beyond

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Gmail - FW: Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal

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putting up signs and painting graphics on the street, would come from the neighborhood, not the city. I think this was made clear at the meeting. Traffic Engineerings intent is to still follow the adopted Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan policies and procedures (see http://www.cityofmadison.com/ trafficEngineering/documents/NTMP/NTMP-Manual.pdf ) for any other changes to Ruskin. These are proposed by the neighborhood and proceed through the process in the above document. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Sincerely, Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100 PO Box 2986 Madison, WI 53701-2986 608/266-6225

From: Daniel Bush [mailto:daniel.p.bush@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 4:27 PM To: Traffic Cc: Rhodes-Conway,Satya; Mayor Subject: Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal

Mr. Dryer & Mr. Ross, Last week I attended the public meeting about the Ruskin Street proposal, about which I'm concerned as a resident on Ruskin. Since then I've been doing some research and talking to neighbors, and based on this I have a few more questions about the proposal: Why, specifically, was Ruskin Street chosen? Neither the Northside Plan nor the Platinum Bicycling Report mention Ruskin Street as a candidate for designation as a bike boulevard. Your PowerPoint slide titled "Why Ruskin Street?" discussed some general reasons, but nothing that distinguished Ruskin from any other bike routes posted on residential streets. Were there particular individuals or organizations requesting this project? Is there an overall plan in place for north side bike improvements? Mr. Ross mentioned several times during the meeting that Ruskin Street will integrate with other facilities being developed, but I haven't been able to find in the Northside Plan or anywhere else a description of what they are and how they fit together. Could you point me to one? If there isn't one, how are we supposed to assess how Ruskin fits with other projects? What are the City's future plans for bike boulevards? The Platinum Bicycling Report, officially adopted by the City Council, describes bike boulevards as "a corridor where bicycles have preferential status. No through motorized traffic is allowed. Only local motorized traffic is allowed (for instance, to residences). A combination of signs and traffic calming devices are used to limit automobile traffic. Typically, a bicycle boulevard would have few traffic signals or signs causing the bicyclists to have to stop. Bicycles are thus provided a long linear stretch for quick and efficient travel." There was no mention at the meeting of the report or of a policy to grant bikes "preferential status." Are there future policy changes in the works that would result in further changes to Ruskin, beyond putting up signs and painting graphics on the street? How will the actions of the Platinum Bicycling Committee affect Ruskin after it's designated a bike boulevard? Thank you for your attention to these questions. DB -Daniel Bush MPA daniel.p.bush -at- gmail.com

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Gmail - FW: Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal

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608-577-0554 <BikeVision.doc>

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