Roundabouts, bike lanes, part of DOT plan for South Ave.

Second public meeting by DOT in 3 years on project.

Four basic alternatives to the existing layout of South Ave. were offered up at a public meeting Tuesday.

The Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation unveiled the plans with the goal of reducing accidents and providing more bicycle access.

Two of the potential solutions involve building roundabouts, while the other two would include left-turn lanes.

People attending a DOT meeting at Central High School didn’t seem too happy with the roundabout ideas, while others questioned whether a busy north-south street needs more bikes on it.  

One idea, from Obbie King, was to scrap the bike lanes on South Ave., but provide “parallel accommodations following routes that we bicyclers are already using and filling in the gaps in those routes that would make it easier for the general public to use.”

Tuesday’s sessions was the second public involvement meeting on the South Ave. project in three years. Another such meeting is expected this summer.

Final plans for construction aren’t expected until 2021.

Project manager Darin Blang with the OTIE consulting group told the audience that a key goal of the rebuilding would be to cut down on crashes.

Around 200 accidents were reported on one stretch of South Ave. over a five-year study period. A quarter of those crashes happened at the intersection with Ward Ave.