Transportation and Planning

Thomas J. Sullivan

As I sit here in my office thinking about the upcoming Isthmus 2020 workshop, I am reminded of all the past discussions that we have had over the last three years about planning. The newsletter has featured many different points of view on how to make the Isthmus a better place to live. Neighbors went throuh a year long process of planning for Tenney's future. The Tenney-Lapham / Old Market Place (TLOMP) Plan covered a wide range of ideas and thoughts about giving the neighborhood its own identity and strengthening the unifiying character of these blocks we call our neighborhood and home.

Unsurprisingly to most, transportation issues were a major focus in the planning process, as it has been with the Isthmus 2020 committee. I was surprised when someone else proposed that Gorham and Johnson be redesignated as two-way streets. The idea was immediately pooh-poohed by the Traffic Engineers. "Those streets are artirials and you cannot change them" is a common reply when any change is suggested for the one-way pairs. "One way pairs move traffic very efficiently." Traffic Engineers love one-way pairs so much that they are proposing to install another set- Charter and Mills. The University of Wisconsin Master Plan calls for major changes in traffic allignments in the campus area. Although these changes do not affect our neighborhood directly, they do show the thought processes that Engineers are using to redesign our city.

I find it interesting that in the TLOMP plan, and Vision 2020 public participation meetings, people want a more friendly environment, and the traffic engineers want to create eight lane monstrosities in our cities and countryside. From their point of view, the simplest and easiest way to deal with any traffic problem is to put down more pavement.

In the late 1950s, a plan was introduced to build two highways. One, was to be an elevated system where Johnson Street is now similar to the Central Artery in Boston, and the other along the shore of Lake Monona. There were other interchanges and large circular on and off ramps located in the Bassett Neighborhood, at the Field House, and other locations throughout the City. This plan was nixed. Well, not quite. The Plans for the highway along Lake Monona was scrapped but the freeway that was to go down Johnson Street went in after a fashion. Yes, I know there is nothing like the I-93 running above us here, but the freeway did go in none-the-less.

At the end of the 1950's, the orchard located between Few and Baldwin streets was purchased by the city and razed. Gorham Street was extended into its current configuration, creating the Johnson/Gorham Freeway. It is not obvious what has happened until you get to Universtiy. Seven lanes of traffic, two for bicycles, and one for high occupancy vehicles and buses.

One of the other ideas which has surfaced, and has even been modeled, is a North Beltline or Ring. Different alignments were explored between I-90/94 and US Highway 12. The traffic increased slightly in these areas, but a major assumptions were made predicting a decrease in traffic on the Isthmus. There were to be enhancements made to the bus system in July of 1995, but they have been postponed, and have not been implemented to date. Indeed, the whole revamping of the Metro Service has been shelved. Other aspects of the enhancement include some type of rail system, either commuter rail or some version of light rail.

I know that thought of light rail is scary to some. Those ugly wires blocking the view of the Capitol. Dave Wallner asked us to "imagine a light rail line running down East Washington Avenue." Well, maybe not East Washington, but the existing rail bed on the south side of the Isthmus would work very well as a starter line. As any model railroad enthusiast will tell you, you have to start within your means. At approximately $138 million for a self propelled system (No electric wires or third rail), rapid transit can be within the grasp of Madison. I know that $138 million sounds like a large sum of money, but the cost of construction for the North Ring, the US Highway 14 expansion, and Milwaukee Road and US 51 interchange, or the cost of the expansion of I-39 would be more than that.

As I was returning from a trip up to Phillips, Wisconsin, I noticed that most of US 51 has been resigned as I-39. The road is being expanded into four lanes of blacktop far north of Wausau. The question is; will I-39 run through Madison? Chances of that happening are not good right now because the City has balked at creating the same mess at East Washington Avenue and Stoughton Road which has existed at the intersection of Milwaukee Street and Stoughton Road .

What does all of this tell us? The car is almighty? Perhaps, but perhaps not. City dwellers are becoming more and more disenchanted with the automobile. Most of us walk, bus, or bike to whereever we are going. If our buses were faster, or could travel better through traffic, then even more people would ride them. As the system runs now, the bus is just two slow for many people. There needs to be some faster way to get from one place to another if we are going tempt people out of their cars and into public transit. There are a couple of ways of accomplishing this. Among these are

Which brings me back to the neighborhood and our plan. We have asked for the lights to be timed for twenty-five miles an hour on Johnson/Gorham instead of thirty-two. We try to drive at the posted speed limit. This is hard to do when everyone else whizzes by you at some ungodly speed, but it is satisfying to pass by them at the traffic light for which they had to stop.

The radical idea of closing and/or narrowing roads has surfaced on more than one committe. Thorton Avenue is a candidate for some cul-de-saccing. The removal of either the intersection of Brearly and Sherman or all of Brearly down to the lake has also been proposed. Narrowing Sherman Avenue to one lane for buses and emergency vehicles in the area of Tenney Park is being considered as a way to make the park a safer place for our children. As this goes to print, a letter is being sent to the Traffic Engineers askng for more stop signs on Sherman. Our Alderperson, Barbara Vedder, is checking into the status of the four way flashing red on Johnson and Gorham streets during the evening hours and weekends. (The flashing red signal was to be tested over a year ago for a six month period in conjunction with the 24 hour red-yellow-green cycle. The lighting was changed from flashing yellow on Johnson/Gorham to the 24 hour red-yellow-green cycle under which the lights are currently operate.)

If you have any comments on any transportation or land use planning matter, please let us know what you are thinking. You can comment on any of the planning initatives currently underway by simply writing a letter to that committe.
Attend the meetings. The times are published in the Wisconsin State Journal and Capital Times, or check out the neighborhood web sites:
http://danenet.wicip.org/tlna.
Write your Alderperson or County Supervisor. Let them know what you think of Isthmus 2020 or Vision 2020.

Return to Table of Contents

Gates of Heaven Celebration
Transportation and Planning
The Good, Bad, and Ugly
President's Report
Weaving 25 Years
"In Alder Words. . ."
Eye on the Hood
The New Isthmus Garden Club
Assembly Report
Alder's Addendum - Flooding
Neighborhood Safety TIPS
Focus on Flood Fashions
Public Service Announcements