West Madison residents respond to three-lane proposal

    The Iowa Department of Transportation has recommended that West Madison Street change from a four lanes to three lanes. The DOT plans to repave the street from the intersection with Highway 1 to Second Avenue in 2012. When it does so, it can repaint the lines on the street. At the Washington Street Committee meeting in January, DOT engineer Jim Phillips said a three-lane road would be safer.

    A number of residents who live along West Madison Street say the real problem is the speed of the motorists. Jessie Albright lives near the intersection of West Madison and South B. He spends a lot of time outside over the summer, and said that he?s seen a number of accidents and near misses at that intersection. Albright recalled an incident in which a semi drove on his lawn to avoid hitting another motorist.

    ?I was ready to run behind the house,? said Albright.

    Albright said he wants to see the speed limit more strictly enforced. He also said something should be done about the distance between the sidewalk and the road, which he said is too short. When there is a big snow, the snowplows push the snow over the terrace and onto the sidewalk.

    Albright commented that shoveling his driveway is dangerous because cars come so close to the curb. He said he?d like some kind of buffer area between the curb and the first lane of traffic.

    At the January meeting, Phillips mentioned that one possible configuration of the three-lane road would include a two-foot buffer on both sides of the street.

    The potholes on West Madison are also a cause for concern for Albright. He said when semis drive over the potholes, he can feel his house shake.

    Frida Hesseltine lives on West Madison as well. Although she doesn?t drive, she hears plenty about three-lane roads from her daughter Sue Woodard, who lives in Batavia. 

    ?All I know is that my daughter doesn?t like them (three-lane roads),? said Hesseltine. ?She doesn?t like it when you have to turn on them.?

    Hesseltine said that motorists drive too fast on the street. She said that she can feel the semis shake her house every once in awhile. She said she?s mostly concerned about the potholes.

    ?The potholes are bad, especially as you go east,? she said.

    Duane and Phyllis Hagensick live on West Madison near Sunset Park. Neither one thinks the problems with the street will be solved by changing it from four to three lanes.

    ?I think it would be a mistake to go to three lanes,? saud Duane. ?I think we?re going to have even more accidents.?

    The Hagensicks have lived on West Madison since 1961, and it was a four-lane road even back then. Duane said that when the street was last paved, the edges of the street didn?t receive new pavement, which is why there are so many potholes there now.

For more, see our Feb. 25 print edition.