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Two Downtown traffic gripes
Wells should go two-way, and watch it when you turn.  
By Jeff Sherman RSS Feed
OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer
Photography by Jeff Sherman
E-mail author | Author bio
More articles by Jeff Sherman

What is a blog?  For us it is a short blurb that we write when the mood strikes us.  It can be first person, funny or informative. In short, a blog is whatever we want it to be. Published April 16, 2009 at 1:18 p.m.
Tags: traffic, wells st., pedestrian, walking, turn on red, cross walk, downtown, yield

As a passionate Downtown resident, I feel the constant need to move the neighborhood forward by providing ideas, input and implementing change.

Today, I provide two simple ideas in the form of gripes that will make our Downtown even better.

Read and react, please.

You must yield to pedestrians
If the light is green, watch the cross walk before you turn right. I see this all the time in Downtown Milwaukee. Cars zoom though green stoplights with no regard to pedestrians who have a walk sign. For our Downtown to continue to grow, its streets need to be pedestrian focused and this starts with drivers who use caution and care. And, people -- this isn't just turns on green, it's about red lights too. Stop, look and then turn. Left- and right-turns at signalized intersections have been found to be three to six times more hazardous to pedestrians mainly because drivers fail to observe or yield the right of way to pedestrians. Let's decrease this statistic.

Wells St., it's time to end your one-way existence
The City is once again moving forward in an attempt to complete the job it started several years ago, changing Wells Street -- along its entire stretch -- to a two-way street.

I believe the city has an obligation to finish what it started (it changed Wells west of 6th to two-way years ago) and to follow the Downtown Master Plan that states, "as many streets as possible be converted to two- way streets."

I also believe that one-way traffic is bad for business, bad for the Bradley Center and M&I Bank (way too confusing) and limiting for the views of The Pabst Theater and the new, taxpayer-funded City Hall renovation. Not to mention that a one-way Wells Street also will drastically limit access to the Bronze Fonz. Two-way streets work for Downtowns. Milwaukee needs to embrace them. It's time for Wells to go two-way. Learn more about one-way vs. two-way streets in this video:

11 comments about this article.
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Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by Preview
Downtowner Look to Chicago for answers! Two new efforts are afoot to make it safer for ...
Nuclear_Art As a pedestrian, I have a greater right to be in the street within a crosswalk ...
ndf2 I love when I'm crossing Prospect with the walk light and get honked at by the ...
funhouse agreed on both!
curlyboy1978 Pls apply this article to locations on the eastside, Bayview, and Shorewood!!


Show me the other 6 Talkbacks

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