Both proposals would include bike lanes, but option two calls for 2-foot-wide buffers in between cars and traffic, eliminating 24 parking spots.
Make Winnebago Street more bike-friendly? Seems like a no-brainer in Madison, one of just five communities in the country the League of American Bicyclists has given platinum-level status.
But slow your roll, says east side resident Marie Jacobson. She worries a plan to remove two dozen parking spots from Winnebago Street for beefed-up bike lanes isn’t very neighborly.
“This is an affordable housing neighborhood. Many houses don’t have a driveway, let alone a garage. People have to park on the street. It’s not an option for them,” Jacobson told the Board of Public Works during its April 18 meeting. “When you come home at night and have to drag up your groceries, hopefully there is a parking spot. My concern is that people who live in the neighborhood won’t have access to their homes anymore.”
The 2019 reconstruction of a four-block stretch of Winnebago between Schenk’s Corners and the new Union Corners development is the latest street project to test the Common Council’s commitment to bike culture. The neighborhood and city officials are divided on the project and council members will have to decide between dueling options on May 1. Both plans are estimated to cost about $3.5 million and will give Winnebago Street a major facelift by narrowing the street, adding trees and replacing the aging infrastructure.
Option one, preferred by the city’s engineering staff and recommended by the Board of Public Works, would take away just a few parking spots on Winnebago and keep standard bike lanes on both sides of the street.
Option two, recommended by the Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission, would restrict parking to one side of the street along three blocks of Winnebago. That extra space would be used to create a 2-foot-wide line that would buffer bike lanes from traffic. Bicycle advocate Grant Foster, a member of the Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission, says sacrificing parking would allow more bikers to navigate Winnebago comfortably and reflects the city’s goal of improving roads for everyone, not just motorists.
“Every policy document we have says the city is committed to improving bicycle transit. We have gotten to where we are by building bike trails along railroads and waterfronts. But the city has run out of places to put them,” Foster says. “In order to reach the next level, we need to start making streets like Winnebago more accessible to a broader range of riders.”
Winnebago Street resident Michael Matheson often bikes to work even during the winter months but he’s supporting option one — which would preserve parking spots. He says street parking is already scarce on his block because of Atwood’s booming entertainment and restaurant scene. He argues that removing 24 parking stalls from Winnebago would divert motorists to side streets in search of a spot. He says this is already an issue when there’s a popular show at the Barrymore Theatre.
“This is a destination neighborhood. Winnebago is already serving as a parking lot for people coming to this area. I watch [people with] to-go boxes walk by my house all summer long. This is a threat to businesses and residents,” Matheson told the Board of Public Works on April 18. “I also have some real concerns about losing parking and what that means for pedestrian safety. Parked cars slow down traffic and provide protection for pedestrians.”
Matheson says once new housing developments in the neighborhood are completed — like the Union Corners development and the upcoming CohoMadison cooperative housing project — demand for street parking will swell.
But Foster says it’s a missed opportunity to not use the Winnebago reconstruction to increase connectivity for bikers of all ages and abilities.
“The buffered bike lanes aren’t for the hardcore cyclists who already commute year round. We need to do this so the people — who aren’t biking now — will feel safe riding next to moving traffic,” Foster says. “That extra 2-foot buffer makes a big difference. This street won’t be reconstructed for another 50 years.”
Ald. Denise DeMarb, a member of the Board of Public Works, voted against option one. She’d like to see physical barriers (like the concrete ones on University Avenue) protecting bikers — not just lines painted on the street.
“Chicago actually protects its cyclists. Why can’t we?” DeMarb asked at the April 18 meeting. “We pride ourselves on being a platinum bicycle city yet we aren’t taking measures to keep our residents safe.”
Foster says that city officials talk a good game about promoting alternative transportation. But when it comes to individual projects, alders hesitate to vote against the almighty automobile. He says the city rejected plans to improve bicycle amenities during the reconstruction of East Wilson Street in 2017 and on the upcoming re-do of Monroe Street.
“The way the [population] density is growing, we can’t continue with the same level of car usage. It’s physically not going to work. We’re just now starting to see the pain,” Foster says. “This isn’t the first project and it’s not going to be the last. This is going to be a debate for every single street project coming up.”
Ald. Mark Clear, also a member of the Board of Public Works, voted to recommend option one to the council. He pushed back on complaints that the city isn’t doing enough for bicyclists.
“The city has been on a pretty good parking diet the last 10, 15 years. We’ve approved projects where there is less parking than residents or the developer wanted. Overall, the council has been trying to reduce the amount of car use in the city,” Clear said at the meeting. “That said, we aren’t there yet. We don’t yet have technology that will really help us take a great leap in reducing the number of vehicles and the amount of real estate we dedicate to those vehicles. Boy, I hope we get there soon but it’s not today.”
Ald. Marsha Rummel, who represents the Atwood neighborhood, says she also wants Madison to be more bike-friendly. She told the public works board that she likes that option two may mean larger trees can be planted, too. Nevertheless, she’s urging her colleagues to vote against the buffered bike lanes.
“We want everyone to feel more comfortable biking on the street. I think that’s something [the council] is committed to and I am, too,” Rummel says. “But I struggle with how we fit that big goal into this two- or three-block space. I feel like I have to represent the people who are losing something of value here: a parking spot.”
