Debate continues over converting East Johnson and Gorham into two-way streets

The East Johnson Street Traffic Study held their second public informational meeting this Thursday to discuss and answer questions regarding the implications of transforming East Johnson and Gorham into two-way streets.

During the meeting, four scenarios were described for the future of the streets; three consisted of changing the streets into two-way routes, and a fourth maintained the one-way direction.

Discussions of changing the streets precede major construction scheduled to begin on East Johnson and East Gorham in 2014.

The upcoming construction will replace pavement and curbs, along with sewer and water utilities. Some of the utilities along the route date back to as far as the 1880s. The construction could potentially also change the streets into two-way thoroughfares.

“The bottom line is, it’s going to be a better street after [final construction] completed in 2014, whether it’s one-way or two-way,” Jeff Held of Strand Associates said. Held and Madison city engineer Chris Petykowski led the meeting.

The first meeting regarding the street construction was held in early November 2011 when a traffic study to identify the effects of changing the streets was just getting underway. The study was originally approved by the Madison Common Council in August and conducted by Strand Associates.

The traffic study, which was developed after the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association (TLNA) recommended the two-way conversion, focused on three main transportation goals: improve bicycling conditions, accommodate for pedestrians and maintain and improve public transit service.

 These goals were chosen from the top concerns voiced in an online survey completed by Tenney-Lapham neighborhood residents as well as those who live on the corridor. Other goals stressed improving livability in the area.

For biking conditions, the study looked at three major aspects: travel, parking and bicycle lane width. The minimum bike lane accommodation is 12 feet.

A bike lane, which will be a shared bike and parking lane, will be included in the East Johnson construction. The need for a bike lane is a requirement of the Federal Highway Administration, which is providing half the project’s funds. The other half of the funds will come from the city of Madison.

“I regularly bike on Johnson and Gorham and am very interested in having a safer environment to ride through, along with easier access to local businesses,” Kevin Luecky, meeting attendee and resident of Ingersoll Street said. Luecky said he supports transforming Johnson and Gorham into two-way streets.

Pedestrian safety is also an important issue for many TLNA members and meeting attendants.

“My experience is that a very significant safety consideration for pedestrians is that automobiles turning onto a one-way street only look in the direction cars are coming from,” a concerned meeting attendee said.

 Attendant Ledell Zellers, along with a few others announced they had personally almost gotten hit by speeding cars multiple times.

In addition to pedestrian and bicycle safety, transit was evaluated on how busses travel along the streets. Even with reconstruction of the streets into two-way routes, the data forecasted an equal amount of congestion to occur in the area. 

Overall, the plan that best accommodated the goals of the study was to maintain Johnson and Gorham as one-way streets, the study found. 

“A two-way conversion is not impossible. Nothing’s impossible if you’re willing to live with it. However, our initial recommendation is that leaving it as one-way best balances our various corridor goals,” Held said.

Strand Associates will soon complete the traffic study and city planners will move into preliminary design. Whatever the outcome, construction on East Johnson and Gorham will begin March 2014. 

For more information, visit the East Johnson Street Reconstruction page.