Pedestrian, Bicyclist Safety Needs to be Addressed for Oakland Avenue Development, Village Official Says

With traffic projected to increase as a result of the proposed North Oakland Avenue development, one village official voiced concern Tuesday about the safety of pedestrian and bicyclist safety in the area.

Dan Boehm, a member of the village’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee, said at a public hearing Tuesday he worried the mid-block parking entrance planned for the development would be dangerous for bikers and pedestrians using the sidewalk.

Shorewood contracted with Ken Voigt of Ayres Associates to do a traffic study of the two parking lots near Sendik's. Milwaukee developer, the Mandel Group, has proposed a $32 million, six-story retail/apartment development for the lots. It includes 84 apartments and a new home for Shorewood's Walgreens.

Voigt said cars exiting the parking lots would be able to see down the sidewalk at all exits with some partial obstructions due to structural pillars. Boehm said this fragmented view could actually be more dangerous than a fully blocked view.

“When you open up the visual elements and you don’t have a blank wall, you can make cars go faster because they think they can see when they can’t,” Boehm said. “I encourage you to do anything you can to slow cars down.”

Bob Monnat, chief operating officer of the Mandel Group, said they would likely have parabolic mirrors at the exit, and would explore other options as well.

“I have two kids on bikes that play baseball and bike down Oakland to Einstein’s, so I have a vested interest in making this as safe as possible,” Monnat said. “This is close to home.”

In a list of conditions for the approval of the planned development district, the Plan Commission required that “a traffic signage plan be approved” by the village. As proposed by Plan Commission member Nate Piotrowski, the commission voted Tuesday to expand this condition to include a pedestrian and bike safety plan.

Hoping to prevent the issue from getting lost after construction, the commission also voted to add that the village may review the plans as necessary so they can adapt it to traffic patterns.

Some residents were also concerned that increased traffic from the 84 apartments would spread onto surrounding residential streets, especially with cars skirting the light at E. Capitol Drive and N. Oakland Avenue.

Voigt said each apartment would likely add .6 cars to the area during rush hour.

“The impact on any one intersection becomes relatively minor,” Voigt said.

Voigt added a three-level parking garage for the lot west of Sendik’s would be necessary to accommodate new parking needs.

Shorewood voted last week to add a level to the parking lot behind Sendik's, increasing parking stalls from 149 to 204 near the development. With 204 spaces, Voigt said he expected the lot would, on average, be 78 percent full on weekdays, 92 percent full on Saturdays and 98 percent full on Sundays. The developers previously proposed a two-story lot, but Voigt said that lot would be over 100 percent occupancy every day.