Traffic panel pans idea of golf carts downtown

Port Washington should not allow golf carts and other slow-moving vehicles on city streets, the Traffic Safety Committee agreed Monday.

“I see absolutely no need for golf carts, ATVs and other slow-moving vehicles on our streets,” Police Chief Kevin Hingiss, a member of the committee, said. “There’s enough going on in downtown.

“I would like to see the whole golf cart thing put to rest.”

Ald. Deb Postl, the committee chairman, added, “We do not have safe paths for pedestrians to be separate from bicycles, separate from vehicles. To add golf carts downtown would just decrease safety.”

The idea of allowing golf carts and perhaps utility terrain vehicles on city streets was broached in February by Mayor Ted Neitzke, who suggested they could be used for valet or concierge service, shuttling people from place to place to address parking complaints.

“The number one complaint we get is parking,” Neitzke said at the time, adding that although parking studies have shown the city has adequate parking downtown, it’s sometimes difficult to park near the lakefront or shops.

“It boils down to convenience and access,” he said. “We’ve got all this parking on this side of town, but it’s about getting from here to there.”

Neitzke said fishermen and visiting boaters were prime examples of people who would use a valet service, noting they could drop off their boats and supplies at the marina, park elsewhere in downtown and then head back to the lakefront on a golf cart.

The vehicles could also help people with disabilities to get around the lakefront, he noted.

His intention was not to allow residents or tourists to drive these vehicles in the city, Neitzke stressed.

A report to the committee by City Engineer Roger Strohm noted that preliminary findings in a recently commissioned parking study showed that parking on Franklin Street and the adjacent block exceeds capacity during peak hours but that parking within a few blocks of downtown is underutilized.

“Their recommendation is to manage the parking better and that the introduction of golf carts/shuttles at this time is a partial solution to a problem that could be better addressed with appropriate management of the available parking,” he wrote.

Neitzke said he suggested the city consider allowing golf carts and slow-moving vehicles after a number of people asked why marina and parks department employees can use them but the general public cannot.

Slow moving vehicles are defined by the state as four-wheeled vehicles that can attain a maximum speed of 25 mph on a level paved surface that weigh less than 3,000 pounds.

However, these vehicles can’t travel on state highways — and Franklin Street is a part of Highway 32 — although they can cross these roadways.

Postl noted that would make it difficult for golf carts to traverse downtown.

“Crossing Franklin Street is not an easy thing to do. Making a left turn on Franklin Street is not an easy thing to do,” she said, noting many people make a right turn onto Franklin and then a left turn to make it easier — something a golf cart can’t do.

Ald. Paul Neumyer agreed that these vehicles shouldn’t be added to the traffic mix downtown.

“They’re too low. No one’s going to see them when they pull out in front of them,” Neumyer said. “It’s a safety issue.”