LETTER: Parklike walkway not suitable for streets like Crestview Drive

To Ozaukee Press:

The editorial in last week’s Ozaukee Press stated there is walkway on Port Washington’s Upper Lake Park road, which is true. However, there are many differences between this road and Crestview Drive, one of the streets designed to include sidewalks.

The Upper Lake Park road is one-way with no parking except in designated lots, and a speed limit of 20 mph. Also, as there are no houses along the road, there are never any garbage carts on the road.

 When Crestview Drive was reconstructed, it was narrowed to basically four lanes, two for vehicular traffic and two for parking. With many curves on the road, in winter there is snow several feet from the curb, which makes the road even narrower. Then when there is garbage collection, many people place their cart in the street, which decreases the width of the road even more. So where exactly is the walking lane going?

The speed limit here is 25 mph, which may not seem like a huge difference, but with the use of cell phones for both talking and texting, it does create a potential for a dangerous situation. I for one feel a lot safer with a curb protecting me as opposed to a white line.

One alderman brought up the idea of future subdivisions having sidewalks only on one side of the street. How is this going to be determined? I seriously doubt anyone is going to volunteer to have sidewalks.         The vast majority of homes in Port Washington have sidewalks. Let’s keep it consistent and fair throughout the city.

Ron Lauters
Port Washington