Alternatives look to discourage through traffic down street, ease traffic for residents
Results presented to North Lincoln Street residents during a public hearing Monday showed options are available to ease through traffic on the street.
Chief Transportation Engineer for the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Chris Hiebert said after the City asked the commission to conduct a study on North Lincoln Street last year, the commission approached it with a two-phase method.
First, Hiebert said SEWRPC collected data about the operational characteristics of the roadway, monitoring travel speeds, travel patterns and the volume of traffic coming down the road.
“We used that data to look at, how is this road really functioning,” he said.
According to Hiebert, looking back to 2005, about 4,700 vehicles traveled down the road each day and 5,300 in 2009. When the study was conducted last year, he said approximately 5,700 vehicles traveled down the road each day.
With concerns from residents about traffic speeds being high along the road, Hiebert said what SEWRPC found was that the average speed of a driver on the street is about 30 mph, in the 85th percentile, which he said is generally between 5 mph and 7 mph over the posted speed limit.
“What we’re seeing is not necessarily a speeding problem that you’re going to get convictions out of,” he said, noting that most judges won’t convict drivers for speeding within that range.
Hiebert said in addition to studying traffic patterns on North Lincoln Street, SEWRPC looked at other routes in the long-range plan that might be used to draw traffic off the street.
“I will say that North Lincoln Street suffers from being the shortest path through the City of Elkhorn,” he said.
Noting that the street has heavy through-traffic, Hiebert said even with alternate routes, such as the proposed East Market Street extension, SEWRPC expected they would only pull around 500 drivers off of the street.
Though this might have seemed disappointing for some residents, phase two of SEWRPC’s method provided several alternative options that could help ease traffic for North Lincoln Street residents, by deterring non-residents from using the road.
Several alternatives considered by SEWRPC included strengthening signage for the Highway 12 bypass, raising the speed limit on North Wisconsin Street, converting North Lincoln Street to a one-way street and reducing the width of the street by putting in designated parking stalls on one side. However, Hiebert said most of these options wouldn’t achieve the results residents might have hoped for.
Hiebert noted two more alternatives that he believed might be the most optimal for residents along the street: restricting traffic to one-way out bounds and diagonal diverters.
The first option would require the construction of two semi-diverters, a cost of $100,000, at the intersections at West Court and North Wisconsin streets. This option, according to the report from SEWRPC would limit traffic at those intersections to traffic leaving North Lincoln Street only.
The second option, less expensive at a cost of $12,500, would involve the installation of a diagonal traffic diverter, which would direct traffic off of North Lincoln Street at the East First Avenue intersection.
While the study showed both options could have a positive impact on reducing the amount of traffic on North Lincoln Street, it could pose a problem for EMS and fire services trying to get to any emergency calls on the street.
On a more positive note, both options could be implemented on a trial basis by putting up barricades as sample diverters, allowing the City to study the effect before spending large amounts of money on either option.
No action was taken on the study during Monday’s public hearing and the topic will have to go before the Municipal Services and Utilities Committee before any action can be taken. The complete study is available for viewing at City Hall, as well as on the City website, www.cityofelkhorn.org.
After reading the follow up article in the Elkhorn Independent Thursday July 17th about the Municipal Services and Utilities Committee voting to investigate bike lanes as a potential solution to the traffic issues on N. Lincoln St, I have come to the conclusion that this is a poor decision. Following are my thoughts and suggestions.
First, it is clearly stated in the article that N. Lincoln is already too narrow for proper bike lanes. This means we’re going to put people on bikes at additional risk by providing them with a false sense of security as they ride in faux bike lanes.
Second, the bike lane solution uses vulnerable bikers as a tool to slow down cars. I ask, does this pass the common sense test? I hope you come to the same answer I did – no.
Third, the study clearly indicates, “The four alternatives which rely on modification of motorist perception and behavior to divert traffic were not recommended for further consideration owing to concern that desired behavior modification would not occur.” The bike lane solution falls short for the same reason.
Fourth, the article mentions how stop signs at First and Lincoln were a hindrance during Wisconsin St construction. That construction is long over. Maybe we should consider how a few stop signs along Lincoln might now deter through traffic without the flow issues that made it impossible to back out of a Lincoln St driveway during construction. Unfortunately, neither the article or the study clearly explain why “a 4-way stop is not an option.” The article reads as if a minimum number of accidents at an intersection are required before a 4-way stop can be installed.
Fifth, little consideration was given to the semi-diverter (option 6) of the study. This option seemed to meet most of the criteria, yet it was summarily tossed aside. I recommend that we do a trial run as suggested in the study before moving on to an item NOT even in the study – bike lanes. A temporary installation will not break the bank and can be removed if it doesn’t help.
Finally, I call the residents and city officials to remember: You can’t have it both ways – be on a street that HAS ALWAYS been the shortest distance between two points AND have minimal traffic – WITHOUT giving up something. Water, electricity, and drivers take the path of least resistance. To change the status quo, some resistance will have to be inserted. Residents will have to give up some conveniences to get the idyllic quiet street they ultimately want. I chose a home in a cul-de-sac…