Public Invited to Help Develop Bike, Pedestrian Plan

Wauwatosa is developing a Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Plan, and your help is being sought.

There's the good old-fashioned way: Show up at a Town Hall-style meeting, hear and see in person what's being offered, and share your own ideas and concerns.

You can do that from 6 to 8 p.m. May 1, a Wednesday, at Fire Station No. 1, 1601 Underwood Ave. in the Village. There will be a presentation from 6:30 to 7 p.m., followed by an open house exchange where you can mark up maps and buttonhole planners and one another to discuss opportunities for a more walkable, bikeable community.

Then there's the virtual way: In the comfort of your home, office or favorite coffee shop, you can study and interact with the city's Bike/Ped WikiMap online. The map allows you to flag and comment on routes and hazards you've experienced on the streets of Wauwatosa.

For instance, you could mark the intersection of Fear Street and Terror Avenue as a place the city desperately needs to address as a pedestrian crossing. You can even leave a note, such as: "Grow old waiting to cross here or take your life in your hands trying."

Conversely, you can hold up a safe, well-marked corner as an example that should be followed elsewhere.

You could even make a helpful suggestion, such as: "Safe, smooth bikeway to work around road construction at (fill in the blank)."

The plan that comes out of this public input will focus on increasing bicycle and pedestrian access and connections within Wauwatosa as well as to adjoining communities.

In late 2012, the City of Wauwatosa hired Toole Design Group and the Wisconsin Bike Federation to produce the draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Plan, to assess existing conditions for bicycling and walking and make recommendations to improve conditions.

The idea, ultimately, is find creative ways to improve the city’s walkway and bikeway network within the limited resources available to implement changes to infrastructure.

The Plan will provide recommendations focused on what are often known as the “Five E’s:” 

Engineering: Improvements to physical infrastructure such as sidewalks, bike lanes, bicycle boulevards and shared-use paths. 

Encouragement: Activities focused on encouraging people to walk and bike more such as Bike-to-Work-Week, bike rodeos and other events. 

Education: Efforts focused on educating all users about the rules of the road. This includes motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. 

Enforcement: Proper enforcement of the rules of the road for all users. 

Evaluation: Measuring efforts to improve bicycling and walking conditions including bike counts, miles of bike lanes or sidewalks, and other data collection.