Hundreds devote Packers pregame to Hoan Bridge details
An extended question-and-answer session on proposals to put a bike and pedestrian lane on the Hoan Bridge revealed new details Monday night, in advance of a decision expected in December.
Close to 300 people turned out for the public information meeting, which showed their pregame priorities ahead of the kickoff of the Packers vs. Vikings game on Monday Night football.
Supporters of the proposal came away with the knowledge that the projections for increased traffic congestion in the less-costly options were based on a 60-mph speed over the Hoan. The speed limit is 50.
Opponents focused on the safety questions, the cost, and their perceptions that the bike and pedestrian lane would get little use for much of the year.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation hosted the meeting to share information and gather input on the pathway proposal. State officials will decide whether to add the bike and pedestrian lane during the bridge rehabilitation.
That decision will be made by the end of the year. The deadline for providing comments is Nov. 30.
The rehabilitation work will start in 2013 and is expected to cost $275 million to $350 million.
Through a representative, Sheriff David Clarke reasserted his opposition to the proposals now being reviewed by the DOT.
Heavy traffic moving next to bikers, runners and walkers is a “recipe for catastrophe,” Lt. William Brown said, while reading a statement from the sheriff. “I don’t care what kind of safety barrier you put up.”
That concrete barrier – to separate the path from northbound traffic in the least-costly option – would be nearly four feet high. The fencing on the outside of the 14-foot pathway would be nine feet tall.
The five alternatives being considered by the DOT range in cost from $9.5 million to eliminate a northbound traffic lane and construct the bike path on the east side of the existing bridge to $95.5 million to build an elevated path 17 feet above the current roadway. In between, the options include $27.5 million to build the path in the center of the bridge and $84.4 million to build a separate bridge 30 feet east of the existing span.
Connecting the pathway to the support structure now in place would cost $76.4 million.
(The full study can be found here.)
This rendering shows the $9.4 million option for a bike and pedestrian path on the Hoan Bridge.
Opponents objected to the high costs, and the potential loss of a lane for northbound traffic.
In the feasibility study, the DOT reported that reducing northbound traffic to two lanes would drop the flow of traffic to an unacceptable level, based on 2035 traffic projections. The details shared Monday night showed that the congestion would occur one hour a day, the 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. peak, and were based on a 60 mph free-flow over the bridge.
The more costly alternatives preserve six lanes of traffic in both directions on the Hoan, which is projected to carry 58,500 vehicles a day in 2035.
“To take out a lane for cars is ridiculous,” said Sandra Smith, a Bay View resident.
Smith also estimated that the high winds and nasty weather would keep bikers off the bridge roughly seven months of the year.
Advocates argue that more and more residents commute by bicycle, and ride even through the winter. In addition, they content the bike lane over the Hoan would provide a safer option for cyclists riding from Bay View to Downtown, and serve as a tourist attraction.
“People discount that, but it adds a whole dimension you can’t ignore,” said Robert Austin, of Shorewood. “This is a huge opportunity that isn’t going to come through again.”
In something of a counterpoint to Clark’s public opposition, Craig Mastantuono explained why Milwaukee Board of Harbor Commissioners recently voted unanimously in support of adding a bike and pedestrian path the bridge over the Port of Milwaukee.
The commission recognizes that commercial operations and recreational activities don’t have to be mutually exclusive, said Mastantuono, a harbor commissioner.
In addition to the Harbor Commission, the Milwaukee County Long-Range Lakefront Planning Committee has endorsed the addition of a lane for bikers and pedestrians on the two-mile bridge.
35 Comments for "Hundreds devote Packers pregame to Hoan Bridge details"
The message from Clark sounded odd, saying that bikes and traffic dont mix..then bikes should be seperate from cars behind a barrier??? That is what a bike lane is...oh well it was nice to see people expressing differing opinions peacefully.
ride no evo Nov 14, 2011 8:56 PM
Tom Held Nov 14, 2011 9:20 PM
The Burrad Bridge in Vancouver is a good point of comparison for the naysayers. It was not built with bike lanes but now has two. It also has a separate sidewalk for pedestrian traffic. And it has 5 lanes for motorized vehicles. All in a bridge just 71 feet wide (compared to the Hoan at 108 feet).
How do they do this? The Burrad uses 10' wide lanes while the Hoan uses 12' lanes. 12' lanes are quite wide for the volume of traffic on the Hoan. If extra room is needed (which it isn't), 11' lanes (or even 10' with a reduction in the speed limit) would still accommodate just as much motorized traffic.
Last year the Burrad saw more than 1 million bike trips across it. When the temps drop below freezing? More than 1500 bike trips a day were still ridden over the bridge (in fact more bike trips occur on clear days with below freezing temps than on days with rain and temps in the 40s).
Excuses about the grade being too steep (a max of 4.2% is hardly steep), the wind (average and peak wind speeds higher on other bridges with bike...none ever blown away), the length (really? it's too long?) have been shown to be just that. Excuses. None is a reason to shelve this bridge improvement.
There is simply no valid reason not to added bike lanes to the Hoan (unless your last name is Walker, Clarke, or Koch that is).
AtomicIsBack Nov 14, 2011 9:30 PM
ListenTOunderstand Nov 14, 2011 9:43 PM
Second, putting up a speed limit sign to reduce the speeds will do little. Just because a sign is put up, does not mean people will follow it. If anything, due to the lower speed limit you will still get some people doing 60 and others doing let's say 40 (if this is the new speed limit). This variability in speeds causes safety issues. There are less crashes if the speed limit is set at a speed that 85% of people feel comfortable driving at. A speed that is too high or too low tends to lead to more crashes due to excessive maneuvers.
Third, Vancover is on the coast. The temperatures there are much milder than they are here. They average high in the winter is 50 degrees fahrenheit. When they have snow or ice, it melts and does not stick around all winter (I know at higher elevations it does, I have been there).
Fourth, narrow lanes with no shoulders are dangerous. On the east coast, many of the lanes are narrower than 12' with no shoulders (These were grandfathered into the interstate system since they were built before it) and see higher fatality and serious injury rates. That is the reason why the federal government has the 12' standard with a wide shoulder.
As for the grades and wind, I agree, these seem to be less of a factor. But there are many reasons for the 12' lane widths and it is very doubtful the federal government would agree to an exemption for the standard.
huggybear28 Nov 14, 2011 10:15 PM
KrazyCat Nov 14, 2011 10:19 PM
KrazyCat Nov 14, 2011 10:21 PM
jimmy blue Nov 14, 2011 10:48 PM
The feasibility study has some interesting information on speeds on the bridge: even during the summer construction motorists averaged nearly 55 mph.
Tom Held Nov 14, 2011 10:55 PM
AtomicIsBack Nov 14, 2011 11:03 PM
Tom Held Nov 14, 2011 11:23 PM
AtomicIsBack Nov 14, 2011 11:38 PM
AtomicIsBack Nov 14, 2011 11:40 PM
In New York State, the Tappan Zee Bridge--carrying I-87 and I-287 over the Hudson River--has lanes as narrow as 11'2" and that lane configuration was established in the 1980's--well AFTER the Interstate highway system was built. (The Tappan Zee Bridge was built in the 1950's as a 4-lane bridge; it was later expanded to 6 lanes and, in the 1980's, to 7 lanes. The bridge roadway itself was never widened; the lanes were painted narrower and the shoulders were removed.)
TransitRider Nov 15, 2011 12:37 AM