Enforcement of Speed Limits

Issue: Most neighborhood residents feel that cars exceeding thespeed limit are a significant safety threat, primarily on E. Johnson andE. Gorham Streets, but also on less-used streets such as Dayton, Baldwin,Fordem Avenue, Sherman and Brearly. The residents of the Tenney-Lapham/OldMarket Place Neighborhood genuinely desire a safe environment for all ofits residents. A special safety concern is for the growing youth populationas they travel to Lapham School, Tenney Park, and Tenney Beach; the seniorcitizen population living at Camelot Apartments and Tenney Apartments; andthe disabled population clustered at Tenney Apartments and the ReservoirApartments.

Goal 1:

Improve traffic regulation and enforce/encourage compliance with postedspeed limits on the E. Johnson/ E. Gorham corridor.

Issue: The Tenney-Lapham/Old Market Place Neighborhood is a communityof residents and businesses. Unfortunately, a larger Madison community perceivesthe neighborhood as a thoroughfare that funnels vehicular traffic throughthe Isthmus. The neighborhood is home to 5,785 people while at the sametime the two arterial streets ­p; E. Gorham and E. Johnson ­p; handle20,000 - 30,000 vehicles per average weekday.

Automobile traffic volume in the Tenney-Lapham/Old Market Place Neighborhoodis high and has increased by 14% since 1980 on E. Johnson and E. GorhamStreets. Moreover, single-occupancy vehicles constitute a substantial portionof this automobile traffic. The Isthmus Area Traffic Redirection Study (1978)forecasted traffic volumes in the year 2000 to be the same as in 1978 becauseof assumed increase in the use of mass transit and car pooling. Neithermaterialized and mass transit use has fallen.

The increased motor vehicular traffic on the E. Gorham and E. Johnson corridorhas lead to increased traffic filtering through residential streets. Thefiltering traffic is often traveling in excess of the posted speed limit.

Encourage traffic measures that will divert traffic from E. Gorham andE. Johnson Streets, and encourage the use of non-automobile transportationmodes in order to lessen the volume of automobile traffic passing throughthe neighborhood.

1. Construct dual left turn lanes for westbound traffic on E. Johnson atN. First Street. Consider as an alternative, allowing left turns from theleft-hand through-lane, similar to Wisconsin Avenue at E. Johnson and E.Gorham Streets. The corner radius would need to be improved in either case.
2. Construct dual left turn lanes for northbound traffic on S. First Streetgoing west on E. Washington Avenue. Consider as an alternative, allowingleft turns from the left-hand through-lane, as above.
3. Construct a free-flow right-turn lane for southbound traffic on N. FirstStreet going west on E. Washington Avenue. Consider as an alternative, allowingright turns from the right-hand through-lane, as above. Consider as an additionto either alternative, extending the time for traffic on First Street atE. Washington Avenue.
4. Install traffic signal at E. Johnson on N. Blair. In addition, considerallowing right turns from the right-hand through-lane of E. Johnson ontoN. Blair, as above.
5. Modify Wisconsin Avenue to facilitate turning traffic coming off OuterRing. As an interim measure, consider allowing right turns from both lanesof E. Dayton (or constructing a right turn lane and allowing right turnsfrom the right through-lane) to Wisconsin Avenue.
6. The Ad Hoc Committee's diverted a.m. (westbound) traffic flow is fromE. Washington Avenue to E. Gorham Street via the Outer Ring and WisconsinAvenue. The route's current signal timing of less than 25 mph is a deterrentto its use. Consider altering the signal timing to encourage the use ofthe route.

1. Relocate the house on the property on the southwest corner of E. Johnsonand N. Blair as part of the redevelopment of any property in the immediatevicinity. The acquisition of this property was recommended by the consultantto facilitate right turns onto S. Blair by eastbound traffic on E. Johnson.
2. Re-evaluate the factors that lead to the decision to make N. Blair two-wayto determine if the same or greater amount of diversion will still occurand if neighborhood support still exists. The O&D survey and public hearingswere 14 years ago. Blair Street is the westerly border of the census tractand affected residents west of Blair have not been involved with this SteeringCommittee process.

1. N. Thornton Avenue could be closed at the entrance to the shelter atTenney Park. This would increase greenspace in the park and close off anentrance to E. Johnson Street which has obstructed vision.
2. Cul-du-sac N. Thornton Avenue on the south side of E. Johnson Street.
3. Cul-du-sac N. Few Street on the south side of the intersection withE. Gorham Street.
4. N. Brearly Street from Sherman to Lake Mendota could be reconsideredfor removal to increase greenspace in Giddings Park.
5. Sherman Avenue at Tenney Park could be narrowed. Sherman Avenue couldbe made one-way to provide greater greenspace and/or bicycle lanes and reduceuse of Sherman Avenue as a short cut for the Johnson/Gorham corridor. Trafficthrough this section could be restricted to bicycles, government vehicles,cabs, buses, and other forms of mass transit. Sherman could be open to two-waytraffic on weekends.
6. Convert two-way side streets to one-way traffic, particularly on north-southstreets. This technique could discourage cut through traffic in the neighborhood.
7. Use streetscaping to create a visual setting in which residential attributesare emphasized to reduce vehicle speed.

Issue: Bicycle riders feel that their options are too limited.Bicycle lanes exist on only a few streets and these lanes are often poorlydesignated, sometimes obstructed (especially by snow in winter), and interruptedat points. For example, on East Johnson Street, the bicycle lane ends atN. Brearly Street and then continues at N. Thornton Avenue, but on the otherside of the street as a sidewalk bike route. These problems discourage peoplefrom bicycling, and encourage them to drive a car. These problems also contributeto conflicts or misunderstandings between bicycle riders, pedestrians, andcar drivers.

Make bicycle commuting more convenient. Reduce the likelihood of conflictsand misunderstandings between bicycle riders, pedestrians, and car drivers.

Issue: While many neighborhood residents support the use of bicyclesinstead of motor vehicles, many feel that too many bicycle riders use sidewalksrather than bicycle lanes in streets, do not yield the right-of-way to pedestrians,and travel at excessive speeds on sidewalks. While these problems couldbe reduced by creating more bicycle lanes and by moving toward a more consistentbicycle lane system, in the absence of such improvements, some bicycle ridersare likely to use sidewalks at times. Bicycle-pedestrian conflicts or misunderstandingson sidewalks must therefore be addressed.

Clarify and enforce the rights and responsibilities of bicycle ridersusing sidewalks.

Issue: There are a number of issues that neighborhood residentsfeel strongly about and are interested in pursuing, but realize they cannotbe successfully pursued by the neighborhood alone.

Pursue larger-than-neighborhood issues.

Issue: Although the residents of each housing structure are responsiblefor removing the snow directly in front of it, the snow at street cornersis often not removed at all. This creates a problem of pedestrian safety,visibility, and access, particularly by those who are physically disabled.

Improve removal of snow at street corners.

Issue: Many neighborhood residents travel frequently within theneighborhood and to the Marquette-Schenk-Atwood Neighborhood to shop, runerrands, use community services, and/or visit. Public transportation isnot an option in such situations, since there are no intra-neighborhoodor north-south cross-Isthmus bus routes.

Initiate intra-neighborhood public transportation, i.e., standard routesthat serve only the neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods with stops throughout.

Issue: The development of the Yahara River Parkway, broadly supportedby the neighborhood and the City, is partially a parks and open space issue,and is addressed in detail in the parks and open space component of thisplan. The parkway is also a transportation issue because of safety and accessconcerns, and a central part of the parkway concept is a bicycle and pedestrianpath running parallel to the Yahara River between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota.Development of a bicycle and pedestrian path would greatly increase thepotential connection of the Tenney-Lapham/Old Market Place Neighborhoodto the evolving City-wide bicycle and pedestrian path system.

Emphasize the central transportation dimension of any parkway developmentplan that includes bicycle and pedestrian paths.