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NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS AND TRAFFIC: ISSUES AND INFORMATION
Possible Beltline Crossing at Watts Rd/Forward
Drive:
plans, impact, communication
To reduce congestion at the Beltline (Hwy 12/14) Interchanges at Whitney Way and Gammon Road, the Wisconsin State Department of Transportation (DOT) and City of Madison are proposing a NEW road for this area to cross the Beltline. This road will NOT connect with the beltline; just cross it. See detailed information and maps below.
This proposal is a part of the larger Verona Rd./West Beltline project. Information about this project is available at
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/beltlinesostudy/index.htm
RECENT NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION:
September 2009
Larry Barta, Wisconsin DOT Project Supervisor for this project, will present to the Greentree Neighborhood at the October 12 board meeting. More details soon
March 2009
GTNA Board Member Allen Youngwood continues to be in communication with State DOT managers.
Updates to the DOT website include a new report:
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/beltlinesostudy/reports.htm
Summaries of recent communications are below; for the entire archive of correspondence/action please go to the Beltline Crossing Archive page.
August 2008
Documents from the DOT about Scheduled Beltline improvements:
March 2008
Presentations at the March 3 GTNA Neighborhood Forum by Larry Barta, State DOT and Jim Oeth, consultant.
Febrary 2008
Communication from DOT Project Manager Larry Barta
" The study of grade separation additions to the West Beltline was moved into the WisDOT's Beltline Study that extends from the 14 interchange in Middleton to the CTH N interchange east of Madison last fall. Phases 1 and 2 of that Beltline study are nearing completion. They catalogued existing conditions and produced interchange improvement recommendations.
Phase 3 will start up by summer and will resume the look at new Beltline crossings, including several in the vicinity of your neighborhood. We will have general and neighborhood public meetings as part of that effort. The study goal will be to decide which crossings should be built in the future, and in what priority order. Only those that pull sufficient traffic and are supported by the City are expected to land on the list. Work with neighborhoods is a key aspect because that is where changes to traffic patterns and increases in traffic volumes will result. Our plans would include ways to address and mitigate any anticiapted negative affects that could result. Strong advocacy or opposition to any particular crossing will probably also figure into the results, as will construction costs and related impacts. At this time, we have not done enough study to create such a list, or even to say whether or not even 1 new crossing will result.
We are making progress on refining Verona Road improvement details. Monthly meetings with representatives of abutting neighborhoods, businesses, planning and engineering staff from Madison and Fitchburg, agencies and other interested stakeholders are ongoing. This is a continuation of the meetings held earlier in the study that culminated with the the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and all the details it contains regarding 2 alternatives. A supplemental (revised) version of that DEIS is to be produced once all discussion and desired changes to those 2 alternatives have been completed. More general and neighborhood public meetings will be held too as the work progresses. I do not yet have a solid time line for when public meetings should be expected or when the Supplemental DEIS will be ready, but the construction start goal is still somewhere between 2013 and 2015."
BACKGROUND:
To reduce congestion at the Beltline (Hwy 12/14) Interchanges at Whitney Way and Gammon Road, the Wisconsin State Department of Transportation (DOT) and City of Madison are proposing a NEW road for this area to cross the Beltline. This road will NOT connect with the beltline; just cross it.
There are four proposed crossing alternatives. Alternative “X4:East Watts Extension” would connect Watts Road and Forward Drive south of the Beltline, with Odana Road and University Research Park Drive north of the Beltline.
ISSUES:
Some Greentree neighbors are concerned that traffic through our neighborhood will increase, particularly on:
Chapel Hill Rd
Frisch Rd
Woodington Way
Hathaway Rd
Traffic could increase substantially as commuters south of our neighborhood
find “shortcuts” through Greentree to use the new crossing
(see map below).
Of particular concern is morning rush hour traffic coinciding with Falk Elementary school’s start time. Falk is located on Woodington Way, and begins school at 7:45 a.m. Increased traffic on this narrow neighborhood street, while many children, parents, buses and cars are present, could cause major pedestrian safety issues.
Other Recent Street-Related Activities
Traffic Signal at Struck and Schroeder?
The GTNA Board held a special meeting in September 2008 and sent a letter of concern to the city:
Hammersley/Whitney Way Intersection - 2008
Recommendations for reducing potential car crashes at the Whitney Way/Hammersley Road Intersection were posted at the City of Madison's Traffice Engineering web site:
At this site there is also an on-line comment form. Traffic Engineers are seeking neighborhood comments on the proposals, in advance of a public hearing that will be scheduled this winter. The primary recommendation is installing a "directional median crossing" that would prevent direct traffic crossing across Hammersley Road and would divert traffic for a block to prevent the turns deemed most dangerous.
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© 2008 Greentree Neighborhood Association, Madison, Wisconsin