Biking the Hoan would be better, riders conclude after trip downtown
Biking over the Hoan would be better, three dozen bicyclists concluded Monday after dodging traffic on a purposeful ride from Humboldt Park to the Discovery World Museum.
The result was no surprise.
State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and his legislative neighbor Rep. Jon Richards set up the lunch-time trip to show the dangers and inconvenience of the Bay View-to-downtown bike route the Wisconsin Department of Transportation chose 10 years ago. Then, the DOT rejected a proposal to add a bike and pedestrian lane to the bridge that connects the south side neighborhood to the lakeshore near Veterans Park.
Richards called it a “bitter conclusion.”
Almost the entire route is on busy streets, and bicyclists have no protection from motor vehicles. Richards called the experience pedaling on S. Kinnickinnic Ave. and S. 2nd St. “unnerving.”
Add in nearly 20 intersections, and the confusing route is clearly inferior to the alternative: a bike and pedestrian pathway on the 2.5-mile Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge, Larson said.
“It would be so much easier to say go over the most beautiful bridge you see, and that’s going to connect you,” Larson said.
The ride was part of the current campaign to change the yet-to-be-completed path chosen in 2002.
Larson, Richards and cycling advocates have a window of opportunity to make their case, while the DOT again studies the feasibility of a bike lane as part of the planning for a reconstruction of the bridge scheduled to start in 2013.
A report on the cost and engineering challenges of adding a bike route, separated by a safety barrier, is set to be released later this year.
“This is a 40-year opportunity; a generational opportunity,” Larson said, as he gathered the group outside the Humboldt Park Pavilion.
The ride reinforced the impressions the bikers brought to the street.
“I prefer not to have all the stop signs and traffic,” said Debra Tuckwood, a member of the Bay View Bicycle Club. “I probably wouldn’t want to do it by myself.”
Tuckwood was one of the thousands who took the opportunity to ride the Hoan during the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts in June. That experience convinced her that the slope and wind would be easily overcome.
“I was surprised it was as easy as it was,” Tuckwood said.
Larson urged the riders, a mix of old and young, some on clunky mountain bikes and others on recumbents, to press business owners and state officials to see the benefits of opening the Hoan to bikers and walkers.
Their task is to convince opponents like Sheriff David Clarke and Gov. Scott Walker, who have called a bike lane on the Hoan too costly and too dangerous.
The group that traveled down S. 2nd St. doesn’t need further persuasion.
279 Comments for "Biking the Hoan would be better, riders conclude after trip downtown"
attc44 Oct 17, 2011 3:41 PM
attc44 Oct 17, 2011 3:42 PM
Conservelove Oct 17, 2011 3:44 PM
Ronny Oct 17, 2011 3:45 PM
...Because putting pedestrians and bicyclists on a bridge, where people are doing anywhere from 55-75mph is so much safer. Add cell phones, ipods, and other technologies that distract pedestrians and drivers alike into the mix, and we'll have a recipe for trouble on our hands. Why not add bike and pedestrians paths to I-43 and I-94, too? Wouldn't it be nice to bike to Brookfield Square or Bayshore Mall?
We've had enough nasty accidents on the Hoan already. We don't need more people, winding up dead in a Summerfest parking lot, before we recognize that this is a bad idea.
janed0e Oct 17, 2011 3:46 PM
attc44 Oct 17, 2011 3:46 PM
Right?
Of course not: the tragic death of the man standing outside his car is completely irrelevant to this issue. And there are numerous examples of large bridges with both freeways and bike/pedestrian lanes.
The ideal might well be a marsupial bridge similar to that attached to the Holton Street Viaduct: that would be both the safest and allow the inclines to be reduced.
2fs Oct 17, 2011 3:47 PM
If the bicycle trip from Bay View to downtown is too difficult, then don’t ride your bicycle from Bay View to downtown. Grow up and drive a car like most of the rest of the adults.
attc44 Oct 17, 2011 3:49 PM
janed0e Oct 17, 2011 3:50 PM
31300 Oct 17, 2011 3:50 PM
I'm only able to guess the costs. But I haven't a clue how you calculate this. Much like our city hall... I'm also considering all of the bike lanes too. They're as costly as the full lane, require just as much service yet there's zero tax money collected for them. That's where the $25 came from.
Ride No
I was going by a display I saw a display showing this as a suggested option. There was a proposal send this all the way down to CAT in South Milwaukee. Like the national health care, anything from city hall or working with WDOT, you really don't know what they're talking about until after they start tearing things apart. As to sales taxes or other costs, I think bike riders need to foot the bills or at least a good portion of this. You can't charge fuel taxes so that leaves registration. On and off ramps, walls, fences, etc cost money. Can't drive trucks, cars, cycles, buses etc. Nothing else can use this space. This is entirely for a pedal powered vehicle, so no commerce either. I think if you want to use this, you should pay for it because there isn't a general benefit to most of the County residents.
jimtherepublican Oct 17, 2011 3:50 PM
apaladino2150 Oct 17, 2011 3:53 PM
apaladino2150 Oct 17, 2011 3:54 PM