In the past decade, Platteville’s David P. Canny Rountree Branch Trail has been paved and lighted as part of a community effort.
The City of Platteville designated a “sharrow” bicycle lane on Main Street and a bike/parking lane on Ridge Avenue. Work on East Business 151 included construction of a multi-use path on the south side of a road that previously had no sidewalks.
But plans are in the works to expand people’s abilities to get around Platteville without a motor vehicle.
The city’s Safe Routes Committee and the Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission are working on growing the city’s 53.4 miles of sidewalks, 12.7 miles of multiple-use trails and 1 mile of bike lanes, possibly with the assistance of a state Transportation Alternatives Program grant.
One goal, according to Safe Routes Committee documents, is to encourage “‘complete streets’ where each transportation mode has a safe space to operate,” in part because “wide streets encourage speeding” and “allowing parking along all streets can be dangerous to cyclists.”
There are no listed estimates for the cost to implement the entire plan if approved, nor are there determined funding mechanisms. Timing of the projects are listed only as “short term,” “medium term,” “long term” or “ongoing.”
An open house Dec. 14 solicited input from attendees to determine where changes should be made in the preliminary plans. The city will consider input and other factors in creating a plan during 2024.
The Safe Routes Committee also has solicited input from other groups, including Platteville Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders, who brought up the lack of pedestrian crossings on North Water Street between Main Street and Madison Street, the pedestrian/bicycle lane on the East Business 151 bridge near Culver’s, and the Rountree Branch Trail crossing across East Business 151 just east of South Water Street.
While the city has 53.4 miles of sidewalks on streets and near parks, another 24.5 miles of city streets have no sidewalks on them, including West Business 151, streets in the Golden Heights neighborhood and the Knollwood Way neighborhood and most streets in the Harrison Park neighborhood. About 20.4 miles of city streets have sidewalks on one side, including Lancaster Street (Wisconsin 81), Pitt Street in front of Legion Park, North Hickory Street north of West Cedar Street, North Water Street (Wisconsin 80) near the Platteville Golf & Country Club, and South Water Street (Wisconsin 80/81) from East Pine Street to Business 151.
The top priority items in the 55-part proposed plan:
• Completing the multipleuse trail along Business 151 to connect businesses on the north and south sides of Business 151.
• Reconstructing East Mineral Street and its sidewalks between Oak Street and North Water Street near Jenor Tower to add an ADAcompliant mid-block crosswalk.
• Adding a crosswalk on North Water Street at Lewis Street.
• Completing the sidewalk on North Hickory Street from West Cedar Street to Camp Street.
• Extending the sidewalk on Southwest Road from UW– Platteville Lot 28 over Rountree Branch to Southwest Lane.
• Adding a flashing beacon pedestrian crossing sign and light at Lancaster Street and Camp Street east of Westview Elementary School.
The proposed plan would create two new trails — a city inner loop and a Platteville Community Arboretum outer loop. It would also change the Rountree Branch Trail crossing south of the South Water/ Business 151 intersection by adding an overpass or underpass, a high-visibility crosswalk, or rerouting the trail to the South Water/Business 151 intersection, along with widening the trail at the East Business 151.
The plan would add a bike lane on Main Street from Moonlight Drive to Broadway and East Mineral Street from Broadway to East Business 151. It would also add a sharrow, now found downtown, on Camp Street and Western Avenue from Eastman Street to West Main Street.
The proposed plan would add sidewalks on Ridge Avenue, Staley Avenue and Harrison Avenue to connect to Harrison Park and West Business 151. It would also fill in gaps in sidewalks on South Chestnut Street, Lutjen Place, May Street, Dewey Street, Union Street, Alden Avenue, West Madison Street, Fairfield Drive, Biarritz Boulevard, Bachelor Street and Lutheran Street. It would also add sidewalks on Means Drive and Insight Drive in the Platteville Industry Park. The proposed plan would add crosswalks on East Business 151 at Insight Drive/Progressive Parkway and Commercial Drive/Vision Drive, South Chestnut Street and Southwest Road, and Pitt Street and North Second Street.
The plan also calls for expanding the multiple-use trail on North Water Street near Platteville High School to Business 151. It also calls for paving all three phases of the Mound View Trail. The city has received state grants for the first phase of the project. It also calls for paving the trail between the Platteville Dog Park and the Skate Park.
The Safe Routes Committee’s next meeting is Jan. 15. The plan requires approval by the Common Council.