Traffic panel steers clear of Grand Ave. debate

A Wisconsin Department of Transportation proposal to add bumpouts and additional crosswalks to the intersection of West Grand Avenue and Webster Street in Port Washington near Port Washington High School and the Niederkorn Library wasn’t endorsed by the city’s Traffic Safety Committee Monday, but it wasn’t dismissed either.

Instead, the committee agreed to have rapid flashing beacons installed at the intersection and conduct a traffic study after they have been put in place.

That will give them more information to make a considered decision, members said.

The bumpout plan had been endorsed by the Board of Public Works, but in June Ald. Deb Postl said she did not believe it is the right solution.

While the measure would make the crossing safer for pedestrians, she said, it would back up traffic in the area.

“I can’t approve this design as is. It’s going to be gridlock traffic,” Postl said. “The prime focus is on pedestrians with little focus on moving traffic.”

The proposal called for bumpouts to be added to Grand Avenue — on either side of the intersection with North Webster Street  and, on the south side of the street, on either side of the intersection of South Webster Street.

Crosswalks would also be added on both sides of the intersection of Grand Avenue at North Webster Street and just west of the intersection of Grand Avenue at South Webster Street.

The bumpouts would slow traffic and shorten the distance pedestrians are in the street, officials noted.

The work would be done in 2029 as part of a Department of Transportation initiative to bring curb ramps for handicapped access up to current standards along highways 33 and 32. 

“What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?” Ald. Dan Benning, a member of the committee, asked Monday. “Are we coming up with a solution that’s actually solving the problem and not creating other issues in the long run?”

“We’re trying to make the crossing safer,” City Engineer Roger Strohm said. “I hear about a lot of near misses there from people, from the library staff.”

The biggest issue, officials said, is that when vehicles stop to allow a pedestrian to cross the street, other vehicles often pass on the right. While there have been few accidents caused by this, there have been many near accidents.

“I think the issue is they (drivers) don’t know someone is in the crosswalk,” Police Chief Kevin Hingiss, a member of the committee, said. 

But, he said, preventing people from passing on the right — something the bumpouts would do — could cause traffic issues when there are events at the high school and at the beginning and end of the school day.

The city installed a flashing beacon at the intersection several years ago, he said.

“I think if we would have had the correct flashing beacon there it would have helped, but we got a useless one,” Hingiss said.

The city will install a rapid flashing beacon — the preferred type of beacon — in the next month, Strohm said.

The question then, Hingiss said, is whether high school students will use it.

Ald. Mike Gasper, a member of the committee, said he believes the bumpouts would not be an issue on the north side of Grand Avenue.

“On the south side, I can see where on occasion it would cause backups,” he said. “It would also slow traffic coming downtown,” he added.