by Joseph King
What follows was written in 1998 but was never published. As if to prove the point of the article, nothing has changed at the UWRP in the year that's transpired.
What follows is a story about failure. In this case failure to gain safe access for pedestrians and cyclists to a business park. It is hoped that by taking apart what happened in this instance, as objectively as possible, such failures can be avoided in the future.
Madison, Wisconsin is known generally as a city that is bike friendly. The University of Wisconsin in Madison contributes to this image by promoting cycling and maintaining it's own bike path system. The University also extends into the community in many ways both public and private. The University of Wisconsin Research Park (Research Park) is a commercial venture by the University which leases space to high-tech businesses.
Before becoming a park for high-tech business, the University used the Research Park property as a research farm. The neighbors on the eastern edge of the property became accustomed to farm plantings which prohibited public access. When the University announced its intention to turn this farm land into a business park, some of these neighbors vigorously opposed it. To them this represented a loss of privacy and security. The University worked with the neighborhood and the Alderperson of the area to come to some understanding as to how that land would be used. The result of this dialog produced a convenant between the City of Madison and the University of Wisconsin. It was also the first and perhaps most important error with regard to facilitating human powered access to the Research Park.
They say that good fences make good neighbors. Although there may be some desire by some to install a tall fence along the edge of the park, this impulse has thus far been well suppressed. The result is a park-like setting that is open to the adjacent neighborhood which many enjoy. The neighbors on the eastern edge use the Research Park for walks, sometimes with the dog, and riding bikes, especially with the kids. Since it is a very quiet place much of the time and especially on weekends, it makes a good place for kids to bike, sled, ski, and play. Unfortunately, perhaps because it so quiet, teenagers sometimes use the parking area near the eastern edge at night. While the drinking and noise-making on Research Park property is not frequent, it is enough to make the neighbors feel justified in opposing the creation of the park. Other intrusions such as pedestrians cutting through the neighbors yards combined with the fear that one day an additional roadway entrance will be added to the park on the east, further supports the view that access from the east should never be allowed.
When employees and businesses located in the Research Park asked about improving access to work from the quiet neighborhoods on its eastern edge, their questions were deflected. Greg Hyer, Research Park manager, told me once that it is too hilly. The owner of one company was told that the Alderperson, then Sue Bauman, won't allow it. An employee at another company was told that they were working on it but that the business that is leasing the land from the University won't allow it. At one time we were told that the person who designs the sidewalks has studied the issue and that no additional sidewalks are needed. Not until Scott Rose and myself collected signatures and presented them to the University and the City of Madison did we begin to get past this metaphorical stone wall.
In the years following the establishment of the park, the need for improved access from the east had become increasingly clear. At least two accidents with minor injuries occurred where cyclists leave the grass of the Research Park and join the public sidewalk. Access from the east in winter was placing cyclists on Mineral Point Road. I took a bad fall on Mineral Point due a snow covered pot hole with traffic on my heels. The unofficial access points were narrow in places and had become rutted. Besides the emerging public safety issues, public policy, and transportation considerations were raised. In a 1995 letter to the Research Park Dr. John Devereux, President of the Genetics Computer Group, Inc., wrote, "we now have seven or eight people who come to work regularly by bicycle and two or three more on foot. They contribute to those of us who come by car by reducing traffic congestion and demand for parking. [T]herefore, could we please meet with the designer for the park's roads and sidewalks to see what his concerns are about the problem. [The] Genetics Computer Group would be willing to pay for some of the expenses." At that time about 20 of the several hundred Research Park employees worked at the Genetics Computer Group.
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As employees' of businesses leasing property from the University Research Park, we collected signatures in support of two pedestrian connections from the east. One at Tocora Avenue and the other at Manor Cross. We were convinced that these connections would provide safe access to the Research Park for those walking and biking to work from the neighborhoods east of the park. The connection at Tocora would provide an alternative to Mineral Point Road for many and the connection at Manor Cross would provide an alternative to Tokay Blvd. There were two significant problems leaving the Research Park via Tokay on bicycle. First, it required climbing and descending a significant hill which can be troublesome in winter on a bike and even on foot. Second, the boulevard median creates a barrier that puts the cyclist on the sidewalk or the wrong side of the street at Segoe and Tokay. Since it is a soft right turn from Segoe to Tokay, motorists take that corner at a high rate of speed putting a "wrong-way" cyclist at greater risk. We felt that a significant public safety issue had emerged that had not been foreseen by the designers of the park.
It was now 1996 and our petition was finally drawing some attention when the problems of the adjacent neighborhoods became the central reason for not providing access. We were told that a convenant existed that prohibited the park from ever providing any access from the east so I had to look into it. The history and development of the plans for the park make for some interesting reading. I wonder if current residents know that the City of Madison requested that the University begin developing the Research Park west of Whitney Way because if it should fail, "the east half of the Rieder Farm [research farm] would then be available for residential development abutting existing residential uses," wrote George Austin, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Madison. As part of this 1983 correspondence between George Austin and Wayne McGown, Assistant to the Chancellor for the University of Wisconsin, Mr. McGown stated, "[u]nder this arrangement, the one-hundred foot buffer zone [on the eastern edge of the Research Park] would not have public access. An alternative, which we have been willing to consider, would be to convey a part of the one-hundred foot strip to the city for public walkway or bikeway purposes..." The final result of this correspondence was the creation of the aforementioned convenant which states that with setbacks, "nothing is permitted except walks, turf and landscaping unless such exception is specifically approved by the Design Review Board." The setback on the eastern edge is an "area only for the purpose of a landscaped buffer zone." Although posibly prohibitive, the covenant can be amended. It became clear that a public relations effort would be needed to gain the support of the adjacent neighborhood. Toward this end Alderperson Sue Bauman agreed to conduct a survey.
The results of the survey were said show "strong opposition from residents," according to Alderperson Bauman. Our analysis of the results, however, show that respondents were split on the issue. Out of 58 households responding 33 supported the connection while 23 opposed. Negative comments indicated that hard feelings remained from the conversion of the farm to a business park while some residents view the park as a neighborhood asset. One resident wrote, "I'm in favor of path - I think it would possibly eliminate short-cuts through my yard by strangers." Another went further, "Since there are no sidewalks on Rushmore Lane, it's too dangerous for our children to ride our bikes. The one place we do allow them to ride is in the University Research Park..."
There were many negative comments to be sure. While these voice understandable fears, past experience could not justify them. Typically the fear relates back to a further loss of privacy and security. Creating clearly designated connections to the Research Park could help eliminate the trespassing problem that some neighbors are currently experiencing. The path might attract adults walking or biking to the nearby shops in the evening thus reducing the attractiveness of the Research Park parking lots to teens. The survey convinced me that with the cooperation of the UW and the City of Madison these public relations obstacles should be overcome in the interest of public safety. I was given the chance to present this view to the Research Park Design Review Board and they agreed. In the fall of 1996 the board directed Ed Hopkins, Planner for the Research Park, to draw up plans for the construction of sidewalks connecting the park to Tocora Avenue and Manor Cross. The purpose of these plans would be to further public discussion and education.
They say that silence is golden. If so, I must be rich because nearly a year and a half after that meeting not a word was heard from the Research Park regarding the plans for sidewalks. This is when I again had a near-death experience on Mineral Point Road during my bike ride home from work. Motivated by the will to live, I sent a nasty email message to UWRP. A week later I was faxed a rough draft of some plans to connect Manor Cross to the Research Park with a sidewalk. More silence followed and in July, 1998 a phone call to Mr. Hopkins went unreturned. I was beginning to think that nothing would ever come of our efforts when a resident of Manor Cross confirmed my suspicion.
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They say it's not over until the fat lady sings. Well, in this case it was nearly over before I even found out about it. A work associate and nearby resident of Manor Cross asked a co-worker to tell me she won't be able to make the meeting tonight but see sent a letter of support. I had no idea to which meeting she was referring. On a hunch, I called Ed Hopkins and he informed me that the plans were complete and he and Alderperson Gary Paulson were having a meeting with the neighborhood tonight. I asked if I could come and he agreed.
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The curb cut entrance of the new path to the park isn't wide enough for a wheelchair nor the snow plows used to clear the sidewalks in the winter. |
Since we were given no warning or time to prepare, representation at the meeting was singularly one-sided in opposition. The meeting ended with Ed Hopkins deciding on the spot that plans to connect Manor Cross to the Research Park will be scraped thereby avoiding any serious public education effort. Plans for the Tocora connection were not even created. Being unprepared and feeling as though this was orchestrated to exclude my involvement, I did not protest. However, the Research Park agreed to create an additional connection from the park to Tokay Blvd. I did suggest that the new connection to Tokay should have a curb cut and a cut through the median. He indicated that he would look into it.
Access to the Research Park is slightly improved by the additional connection to Tokay Boulevard. I see this too as a failure because the adjacent neighborhood was not given a chance to act in their own best interest. During that short meeting they did not see that proposed connection to Manor Cross would have directed pedestrian and bike traffic in the area away from peoples homes and gardens. They had no chance to learn that additional bike traffic on their street, if any, would promote slower auto traffic and better community (for example, on Kendall Avenue during rush hour cars are often seen creeping along behind cyclists until they reach a collector street). The neighborhood remains largely unaware of the many ways that inviting cyclists into your neighborhood promotes community and security.
Unfortunately for the people working at the University Research Park, significant public safety issues remain and will likely remain for the foreseeable future. Even though rutted, employees still cut across the grass to connect to Manor Cross. The lack of curb and median cuts for the new connection to Tokay places cyclists in a "wrong-way" situation at a five point intersection. Snow removal might be difficult because of the extremely narrow curb cut where the path connects to the park resulting in icy conditions during the winter months.
In conclusion, there are several lessons we can take home from this experience:
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During the years I spent working on this project I had always felt that I was a member of two communities. The Research Park is connected to the surrounding neighborhoods not by roads and sidewalks but by people like me and my co-workers have who live there. I felt as though I was being cast out of the community when neighbors to the park expressed hostility to those who bike and walk to work. My image of community in Madison was forever changed by this experience.
