Trying To Get On the Other Side of Town

A couple days ago I received the latest issue of the Williamson-Marquette Gazette which is the newsletter of the Marquette Neighborhood Association. Scott Thornton, the president of the MNA wrote in his column about a meeting, which I believe was held in March, dedicated to the group's Traffic Plan.

Four "concepts" were discussed:

1) "Eliminating the commuter lanes on Williamson Street so that parking would be retained during the 'rush' hours.

2) "Adding additional stop signs to Jenifer, Spaight and Rutledge Streets to discourage 'cut-through' traffic.

3) "Moving Madison Metro bus service to Williamson Street."

4) "Closing Eastwood Drive."

Let's take the first concept of eliminating the commuter lanes on Willy Street. I presume this would cause a lot of congestion, especially if left-hand turns were still allowed, and that this is the whole point – make Willy Street an undesirable route for those looking to pass through the area. The second states its intention boldly – to discourage traffic on those streets east of Willy. In concert, these would move much non-local traffic out of the neighborhood.

I've always wondered why some buses go down Jenifer only to take Baldwin back to Willy Street. Walking one block is not a great burden for riders so I am left to believe that it has to do with parking on Willy from Jenifer to Baldwin. However, route 38 and some sorties of route 3 go the other way down Baldwin to Spaight and eventually Rutledge which turns into Division. So folks by Yahara Place Park would have a slightly longer walk to the bus stop. The object seems to be to get traffic off the side streets and onto Williamson and then off of Williamson.

What puzzles me the most is their desire to close Eastwood Drive, which we just spent thousands of dollars to repave. Why? In addition to Russell Street, is Division just supposed to dead end? I'm sure trucks going to and fro the Schoep's factory would love that. The first three concepts can address traffic on residential streets which is certainly a legitimate concern. However, closing Eastwood just pushes all of this into let-someone-else's-neighborhood-have-the-traffic territory for me.

Let it be noted that the newsletter does not say if the MNA wants to achieve all four goals or if some are perhaps contingency plans should the primary ones not be achieved. It also does not give any reasons for them.

As Madison grows, so does traffic. And the narrow isthmus with the Yahara River to be crossed is a major route for traffic heading to the east side and beyond. These proposals to limit traffic in the neighborhood come across as having a definite NIMBY aspect to them.

I have e-mailed the MNA board of directors asking about the motivation behind these concepts and will await a reply before casting my final judgment.