What Would You Improve in Wauwatosa in 2013?

Sharpie January 15, 2013 at 02:28 am

I would like to see a significant increase in bike lanes along roads, particularly where anyway changes are made (eg Watertown Plank Rd where street is going to rebuilt, a lot of new university and other jobs will be created etc). Wauwatosa could be a bike friendly town with fairly little effort but unfortunately fails pretty miserably in this aspect.

Karen Hudachek McNeely January 15, 2013 at 02:48 am

Ikea in the Burleigh Triangle.

jbw January 15, 2013 at 03:07 am

You might want to keep a closer public safety eye around the city hall/North Ave & 76th St area. A gang of Milwaukee teenagers loitering at the bus stop there tried to attack me in broad daylight when they saw me walk around the opposite (SW) corner of the intersection last weekend. I could have been hurt if they had known how to throw a decent punch or use a weapon.
I've seen shady characters there many times before over the years, including seeing people fail to board the only bus routes coming through there because they just want to loiter. But this is the first time one of them struck me. Not sure whether it was a fluke or part of a recent trend.

jbw January 15, 2013 at 03:16 am

Do you think there'd be a lot of usage of bike lanes? I mean on par with the other vehicle traffic to justify paving roadway for it. I see about one bike for every 100 cars now, though I suppose you could argue "build it and they will come".
I noticed the little 1-2 block stretches of bike lanes here and there around the greater metro area. I suppose the idea is to connect them at some point as roads are redone, unless people only want to bike within a range of 1 or 2 blocks.

jbw January 15, 2013 at 03:18 am

http://invisiblebread.com/2012/12/put-it-together/

Sharpie January 15, 2013 at 04:32 am

Yes, at least to some extend I would argue "build it/mark it and they will come". 1-2 block strechtes without much concept unfortunately won't really cut it as you indicate. Excellent trails like the Hank Aron trail however get good use. They would get even better use if city streets would connect. In regard of paving.... in some instances, for example Watertown Plank there would be even no need for pavement (maybe just fixing the holes) since there is already an extra lane. Just mark it, and add some safety features (eg at entrance/exit of Highway 45- car drivers on cell phone hit almost or actually do hit riders quite frequently there). Main argument for not biking to work/college/school for people living close enough is usually "feeling not safe", "no trail", only sometimes "sweating" or weather in general. Nevertheless quite a few people do commute by bike and the more they do the more this decreases the traffic burden on the community and drivers - a win for all.

Pam from Tosa January 15, 2013 at 02:15 pm

I would really like to see a change at the intersection of 76th and North Avenue. Going north on 76th Street, and approaching North Avenue, many times this part of the area is quite congested when the stoplight is red . A bottleneck of cars is not unusual, especially when cars wanting to turn left onto North Avenue are in line with those cars not turning at the corner. The left turn lane needs to be lengthened, to improve the flow of traffic and decrease those who eventually get in the left lane and find they are racing to beat a red light. We’ve lived in the area for years, see this a lot, and often remark why this continues to be this way