Pedestrians and cars, it goes both ways

I read Isthmus' cover story on pedestrian safety a couple of weeks ago, went on a work trip to DC, and came home to a speed trap on Packers Avenue. All this churned together in my head, and helped me realize that our problem in Madison isn't just one of big steel cars with careless, malicious drivers.

I've lived in Madison for eight years, and for nearly all that time I've been a bus/foot/bike commuter. These days I rely on the 27 bus (and sometimes the 29) to get to and from my job downtown. In our neighborhood, catching a bus often means crossing Sherman or Packers Avenues at the busiest time of day.

Crossing Sherman can be terrifying, considering how many drivers seem to like doing 40 down the long stretch between Warner Park and the stoplight at Schlimgen Avenue. On the other side of the neighborhood, the new stoplight at Packers and International is an improvement but you're never quite sure if the car turning north onto Packers will bother to look for you.

I know some of our older neighbors (and the former alder) fought to keep Sherman four lanes when it was reconstructed a few years ago, but to me it seems like a foolish decision. We could've had safer crossings with islands, dedicated bike lanes, and car traffic kept to a reasonable speed. Do we really need to encourage commuters from Waunakee to cut through?

Still, you can't just engineer your way to safety, and Madison's allergy to traffic enforcement is the flip side of this problem. Speed limits and crosswalks are enforced sporadically, with enforcement team actions announced well in advance. Bike enforcement is even more haphazard, prioritizing rolling stops through quiet intersections over danger zones like the Capitol Loop and Library Mall.

And have you ever seen a jaywalker stopped by police? There are two specific groups of pedestrians who terrify me: drunk students late at night in the campus area, and youths who dash across busy roads. I can avoid the former easily enough, but the latter are a frequent occurrence on the Northside.

City officials seem dedicated to the belief that enforcement doesn't work -- such as Ald. Rhodes-Conway, who made a point of expressing it at last August's bike boulevard meeting. Yet the residents of Monroe Street, profiled in the Isthmus piece that started this post, have been complaining for years to no effect. I hear the same complaints from friends and family about Madison's horrid traffic culture today as I did eight years ago.

We have a culture problem, not an engineering problem. Calming medians and speed humps will help, but drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians won't change their behavior until the community regularly enforces consequences that make clear unsafe behavior is unacceptable.