Yah, well, maybe the State boyzzzzz will figure out that forcing motorists to venture one or two miles in the opposite direction from where they actually want to go is....counterproductive?
And maybe not.
More Bluemound work coming! Aren't you happy??
Preliminary designs for the 2011 work propose repeating some of the same safety changes that were made this year, such as closing and reconfiguring medians and building more frontage-like roads. The changes require motorists exiting businesses to turn right only. They no longer can drive across three lanes of Blue Mound Road traffic to get to the median to turn left, a maneuver that has caused many crashes.
Frontage-like roads? Such as, exactly, which ones? The one between, say, Barker Road and Brookfield Road?
Oh, I forgot: there IS no such "frontage road."
And of course, that "right turn only" trick is really neat, until the cursing and swearing motorist cuts a U-turn at a stoplight intersection so they don't have to drive to Wauwatosa when they actually wanted to go WEST from, say, Kinko's.
But this is the real laugher:
Major items yet to be decided include whether to make accommodations for on-road bicyclists and off-road pedestrians
PEDESTRIANS?
There are a few, of course, who venture across Barker Road from the motel to the Perkins, and a few more who cross Bluemound to get to Marty's Pizza. But only State engineers can envision Bluemound Road as some sort of garden pathway for strollers who are window-shopping or doing some sort of exercise-power-walk routine.
And putting in sidewalks isn't going to change that.
The State should spend its time and money re-configuring the mess at Barker/Watertown/Bluemound/I-94.
I am glad the State, feds and local governments can afford this.
ReplyDeleteCome on Dad, think outside the box. This is a perfect application for traffic circles! They can't be any worse than the present mess.
ReplyDeleteI actually tried to play the game the way I thought the traffic geniuses designed it. Left turn from Bluemound onto Calhoun, only to be obstructed by a median that ran past the side entrance to the business I was attempting to reach. An illegal u-turn was needed to get back there.
I'd tell you my shortcuts, but you probably already know them. And I fear that thousands will pick up on them and impede me if I post them.
Better yet, I mostly wwwdotcom my purchases to avoid the hassle (and the sales tax).
Bada bing, the answer is here - http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html
ReplyDeleteI hate these things, but at least they let you get to your intended destination.
Not to worry, HB.
ReplyDeleteWisconsin will adopt the Waukesha method (pre-1990): make all the streets one-way outbound.
That way, there ARE no traffic jams.
Florida has this type of construction down-pat.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myparkwatch.com/US19News/U.S.19Construction.html#U.S.19%20Construction