By Alesia Mayfield, Eastside News

After hearing from constituents and business owners, the city of Madison piloted a test eliminating rush-hour driving lanes on Williamson Street during much of October. The test’s purpose was to see if the elimination of the lanes would reduce crashes and improve safety for bikers and pedestrians.

The catalyst for the pilot was a May car crash into Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse. It had been the third crash into the establishment in 15 years. Ha Long Bay, Fire Station No. 3, Willy Street Treasure Shop and Lily Forest Designs have also been sites of car crashes with buildings.

There have been 122 car crashes along Williamson Street since 2020, according to an article posted Aug. 19 to The Cap Times’ website.

District 6 Alder Davy Mayer represents Williamson Street and credited the Marquette Neighborhood Association for getting the ball rolling on the study. Mayer said the neighborhood advocacy organization championed the pilot. The city’s Transportation Commission reviewed the plan and approved it.

During the pilot, which ran from Sept. 9 to Oct. 24, only one lane of traffic in both directions was allowed at all times. On-street parking remained available at all times on both sides of the street. To accommodate trash and recycling collections on Thursdays, parking restrictions were implemented. In November, the Transportation Commission voted to keep the rush hour lanes closed indefinitely.

The two main purposes of the pilot according to Tom Mohr, assistant director of traffic engineering, were to allow the city to collect data related to congestion and operation of the street and get feedback from the public on their thoughts. The city provided an online survey that thousands of people responded to. The city collected information both before and during the test.

Mohr explained how the city set up pneumatic hose counters (devices count traffic and report speeds) to collect hourly traffic volume and speeds; placed remote cameras at pedestrian crossings to observe driver yielding; collected drone videos to observe the traffic queues; and collected travel-time data on Williamson Street, East Washington Avenue and Johnson Street.

Mayer said that constituent feedback has been generally positive.

“Drivers say it takes a little longer to commute the length of Willy Street, but only because more are following the posted speed limit,” he said. “Pedestrians feel safer at crossings. Merchants appreciate the more consistent street parking, though some parking has been removed close to intersections to allow more visibility to drivers and room for turning traffic to merge from side streets.”

Adam Kostecki, a daily driver on Williamson Street, said that driving on the street is better now because there’s not as many traffic jams, and the street contains less congestion because the cars are in one lane, which slows aggressive driving.

At Mother Fool’s, 1101 Williamson St., co-owner Jon Hain is grateful so many people contacted the city after the last crash. He said the study has a silver lining and admits his bias toward the study. The city is getting real data, he said, and he hopes to see the elimination of the rush hour lanes. Even though some parking was taken away, he thinks that overall, the neighborhood will be safer.

Katherine Kornely, assistant store director at Willy Street Co-op East, didn’t see any significant changes to the traffic flow at the store, 1221 Williamson St., nor see significant changes in sales.

“(I hope) the pilot and the data will help the city and neighborhood officials make an informed decision about what is best for the community moving forward,” Kornely said.

Kornely heard from staff who reported concerns with the overall traffic changes on the east side, while another group of staff shared their relief at not being ticketed and towed during the expanded traffic hours and the ease at being able to cross the street during the pilot.

“We haven’t gotten any written comments” from customers about the new traffic flow, Kornely said despite the co-op having a robust system for feedback.

Another aspect of the pilot will look to see if there was a significant diversion of traffic from Williamson Street to side streets like Ingersoll and Jenifer. Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center — though not on Williamson Street — could be impacted by increased traffic on the Jenifer Street side of Williamson.

Aza Muzorewa is a youth programs coordinator at the Wil-Mar Center who watched how the study impacted streets around the community center.

“I remain attentive to any changes in traffic patterns around the (Wil-Mar) Center,” Muzorewa said. “The safety and well-being of the children in our care are always our top priorities. Should the proposed pilot changes on Willy Street present any safety concerns, we will carefully assess the situation and take all appropriate steps to maintain a secure environment for the families we serve.”

To view the results of the study, click here.

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