and add this one to Robbie's list: If that bike path is built, crime rates will soar and property values near the path will plummet. Actual result: any house for sale within a half mile of the bike path advertises the bike path as one of the main selling points. Crime rates of course did not soar and if property values declined, it wasn't due to the bike path.
Thanks for the note, Bill, about John Roussos' phenomenal ignorance. I will patronize his business no more. He should consider moving to a strip mall with a drive-through. On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 4:19 PM, Robbie Webber <[email protected]>wrote: > I'm not going to argue with this guy, since he obviously has some issues > beyond not thinking bike lanes are a good idea. But, he is very wrong on so > many points. > > 1. The city - specifically Traffic Engineering (not the most radical > bunch) did investigate other solutions to documented safety issues on > Sherman Ave. They tried other solutions for 20 years. > > 2. There are documented safety problems - for motorists, pedestrians, > transit users, and bicyclists. > > 3. The City Council was following the recommendations of Traffic > Engineering. Again, and I say this with affection, "Not the most radical > bunch, or known car-haters, IMHO." > > 4. Every study of this type of roadway redesign has been shown to either > have no effect or a positive affect on economic activity along the corridor. > > 5. This project is not closing off any routes. Traffic Engineering > estimates that the same volume of traffic will be able to use Sherman Ave > after the re-striping. When you have a four-lane road with no left-turn > pockets, the center two lanes become de-facto left-turn lanes, so only the > outer lanes can be used for through traffic. Local users - drivers - have > said that they worried about being hit from behind when stopped in the > lefty lane to make a turn. this means some people might not even make that > left turn into a business. The center turn lane removes this problem and > reduces conflict points for left-turning vehicles from seven to two. > > 6. Yes, this redesign was put forward twenty years ago by Traffic > Engineering to make the road safer for DRIVERS. > > 7. Civic involvement is how this project got approved. Just because you > disagree with the vote doesn't mean that no one listened to you. It just > happens that there are others - perhaps even a large majority that disagree > with you. > > > Whenever I hear doomsday predictions from people that haven't even > researched the subject, I always want to ask for a retraction after the > horrible results fail to materialize: > Smoking ban will kill all the bars in Madison! (And before that, "All the > restaurants will close if smoking is banned!") > Big building will lead to massive traffic jams every morning and night! > Everyone will sell their house or property values will drop if this > building gets built! > Roundabouts will lead to terrible crashes because people don't understand > them! > No one will move into those apartments, and they will all become run down > when the project fails economically! > etc. > > Every one of the above I have heard in the last ten years, and not one of > the dreaded outcomes has happened. > > Robbie Webber > Transportation Policy Analyst > State Smart Transportation Initiative > www.ssti.us > 608-263-9984 (o) > 608-225-0002 (c) > [email protected] > > > -- > "If we continue to consume the world until there's no more to consume, then there's going to come a day, sure as hell, when our children or their children or their children's children are going to look back on us--on you and me--and say to themselves, 'My God, what kind of monsters were these people?'" --Daniel Quinn
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