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"
wisco1999 Oct 18, 2011 11:48 AM
How many fat people will suddenly be encouraged to start riding bicycle, or even start walking more, just because there's a bike/pedestrian lane on the Hoan Bridge?
My guess: None.
A few might take a break during one of the festivals on the Summerfest grounds and walk part way up, just to take a look -- which they'll do exactly once (been there, done that) -- but I highly doubt that a mulitmillion-dollar bike lane on the Hoan would motivate anyone to start an exercise program.
'Course I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
BigJim Oct 18, 2011 11:58 AM
A bike lane on the Hoan would generate none.
BigJim Oct 18, 2011 12:02 PM
Shotmaker79 Oct 18, 2011 12:14 PM
You reference Portland quite a bit, which is fine, but geographically, Portland is quite a bit different than Milwaukee.
Portland "downtown" is comprised of distinctly different sections, mostly divided by the river. For people staying on the NE side, near the arena, convention center etc (as I did the last time I was there), light rail was a great way to get to the old downtown area on the other side of the river, which is a fairly significant walk.
Milwaukee has no such issues, really.
On the other hand, what I like most about Portland was that I have absolutely no need to rent a car...or take a cab. Rail from the airport , rail around the city itself., etc
It rocks, but it's still not the same as Milwaukee.
In fact, from a light rail/streetcar "need" perspective, it's apples vs. oranges.
If I had to start somewhere with light rail in Milwaukee I would crap-can the monumentally stupid "streetcar" thing and look to build Phase One of a light rail system instead -- Mitchell Field to downtown.
Phase Two would be downtown to Miller Park, via Wisconsin Avenue (or something like that).
You gotta pick your battles, and rail proponents in Milwaukee have a done a really lousy job picking their battles in recent years.
BigJim Oct 18, 2011 12:18 PM
Eat or be Eaten.
SMCMAC32 Oct 18, 2011 12:22 PM
SMCMAC32 Oct 18, 2011 12:23 PM
Cheesehead Oct 18, 2011 12:25 PM
Oh wait.. There aren't? Huh...
If only bikes had some sort of mechanism for slowing down when going down a hill. Someone should really get on that.
Bob81 Oct 18, 2011 1:15 PM
You are confusing "light rail" and "streetcar". What runs between downtown Portland (which, in my mind is entirely WEST of the river) and the convention center area is Light Rail (called "MAX" in Portland). Portland's streetcar runs entirely west of the river (although that will change in 2012).
Streetcars are shorter, narrower, lighter, slower, and cheaper than light rail, and are designed to move people short distances within dense areas. By contrast, LRT is better at moving people faster over longer distances (like between downtown Milwaukee and Mitchell Field).
Downtown really needs SOMETHING to make it easier to get around without a car. When I was 10 years old (and starting taking the bus downtown by myself on Saturdays), I thought nothing of walking from, say the Public Museum to the lakefront. Now that I'm 60, walking isn't as easy.
The Milwaukee bus system is designed for travel to and from downtown and just doesn't cut it for trips WITHIN downtown. Except for one unusual bus line (the 57), there is just one downtown street with any E-W bus service at all (Wisconsin Avenue). While Wisconsin Avenue has lots of buses, they all run semi-express through downtown (each bus bypassing most downtown Ave bus stops). There is no way of predicting where (which stop) to wait for the next Wisconsin Avenue bus.
I agree that much of what the streetcar could be done with modern, low-floor buses (although not with the hideous rubber-tire "trolleys" that sometime run summers), but nobody is proposing to run circulator buses downtown. It is streetcars or nothing.
TransitRider Oct 18, 2011 1:23 PM
JTBA Oct 18, 2011 1:49 PM