Bikers go over the Hoan and directly to jail
For two bikers, a critical mass ride over the Hoan Bridge last week ended in the booking room of the Milwaukee County Jail.
Based on the sheriff's reports, anywhere from 50 to 150 bikers participated in the ride over the two-mile bridge, which is off limits to pedestrians and nonmotorized traffic. The outing was billed as a ride to protest "Gov. Scott Walker's Anti-Bicycling Agenda," and blocked traffic in both southbound lanes of I-794 about 6 p.m. on May 5.
Responding to a host of 9-1-1 calls, deputies caught and ticketed four of the participants. They booked one of them in the jail for resisting, and another to confirm his identity.
That was Juan Serrano, 23, from Covina Calif., who reportedly told the deputy: "I was supporting my friends who were protesting Luke Skywalker or something."
The others who were ticketed include: Samarah Hagagi, 19, of Kansas City, Mo., Caitlin Hamer, 21, of Milwaukee, and Donald Sanborn, 22, of Wauwatosa.
Their tickets carry fines of $178.
Hagagi also picked up the citation for resisting because she wouldn't stop for the deputy, according to the sheriff's report.
The ride was organized through the Milwaukee Bicycle Community, an informal advocacy group that shares information about group rides on the website www.mkebke.com.
Steve Roche helps run the site, and joined the group on the Hoan.
Their purpose was to generate attention and a spark a discussion about the merits of installing a lane for bicycles and pedestrians on the Hoan, he said.
In the decades since it opened, a number of cycling advocates and public officials have argued that the Hoan should be opened to non-motorists as a connection between Downtown Milwaukee and the south side neighborhoods and suburbs. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation rejected the idea, and proposed an alternate route using surface streets.
132 Comments for "Bikers go over the Hoan and directly to jail"
Bus services, trains, pedestrian trails and bike lanes are no longer funded from the transportation fund (as of the new State Budget), so what's your excuse now? Yes Doyle raided money from the fund, but replaced it with borrowing.
And specifically about trains... Wisconsin imposes a property tax on railroads--not the local property tax you pay on your home, but a state-leveied property tax. This tax is 100% earmarked for highway construction. If it were counted as a railroad "user fee" it would pay for more than 100% of all needed state subsidies for both the existing Chicago-Milwaukee train and the rejected Madison extension.
About half of all road funding comes from local taxes (like he property tax), not "user fees".
TransitRider May 12, 2011 5:30 PM
AZ Retiree May 12, 2011 6:16 PM
as to bike racks at $1000 per they are relatively cheap. remember when one considers costs one has to consider amoritization. bike racks are simple mechanical devices that will last say 100 years making the cost only $10/year
tom906 May 12, 2011 7:02 PM
what the liberals are doing.
Just waiting for them to do something that warrants immature name
calling.
I sometimes have a hard time figuring out which side is more pathetic.
Doyle was a yo-yo, and Walker is the new yo-yo... Wisconsin has turned
into a joke of a state.
Let the kids ride their bikes and move on. I don't ride the bus, but in my
part of time i see the bike racks being used
hellsbells May 12, 2011 9:03 PM
Syvell May 13, 2011 2:00 AM
chrismc May 13, 2011 2:44 AM
arndthblk May 13, 2011 7:09 AM
virgilhilts May 13, 2011 7:23 AM
First, Federal Tax money is also our tax money. If this was such a good thing, we should have gotten Schwinn, Trek or some other bike mfg to sponsor them, not the poor taxpayers as always.
AceOSpades
And your point is?
Mkeisbest
Actually it’s far more than “2 lines”. Again, I’m a city person. Our roads are poured concrete, around 10-12” thick with an asphalt cap. That includes the bike lanes, they’re about 4’ wide with the stripes. The real cost to road projects as always is the labor. It costs the same to build a bike lane as it does a standard lane. On National Ave. and Bluemound Road the added bike lanes actually took away from vehicle lanes. Certainly not my idea of progress, what’s next, removing the car/truck lanes totally to make room for horse & buggies?
TransitRider
The Hoan is a major way for people to move from south side to the north side. Also the Port of Milwaukee benefits greatly because of the Hoan. I think a good story would be how much commerce moves along the Hoan, I suspect it’s far more than any bike trail will ever carry. As to the Zoo, considering that’s the busiest interchange in the state, moving more than 75% of our commerce, I would say your numbers are wrong but knowing how the last administration was anti-highway, I can understand the confusion. Again, bike trails provide no tax money and are totally subsidized. They move no commerce and in Wisconsin are hardly used outside of the summer months.
jimtherepublican May 13, 2011 8:58 AM
"75% of our commerce" on the Zoo Interchange?????
Does Milwaukee County have anywhere near 75% of Wisconsin's commerce? Does even the 4-county metro area???
Do highways even carry "75% of our commerce" (with railroads, pipelines, waterways & electronic media consigned to under 25%)? I suspect not.
At about 350,000 total vehicles/day (about 175,000 each way), that is nowhere near 75% of Milwaukee County's (much less Wisconsin's) highway vehicles.
TransitRider May 13, 2011 10:10 AM
But is there a (to use your words) "sound argument" for counting automobile sales taxes as "highway user fees" or is it just another way highway users access the subsidy trough?
TransitRider May 13, 2011 10:38 AM