Special Issue
Verona Road Reconstruction March 19, 2010
The DMN e-News and an occasional hard copy DMN News are published by the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association (DMNA) on an “as-needed” schedule. The Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association, Inc. has been working to unite neighbors to solve mutual problems and promote fellowship among neighbors since 1973.
President, Jeff Glazer, jglazer75@gmail.com 277-1778
News contact, Mary Mullen, mmullen@chorus.net, 298-0843
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As always, please look over the article list to see which ones will be most useful for YOU to read. The Verona Road/Beltline reconstruction plans will have far-reaching consequences. Learning about them is an incremental process. But even if you know a little, now is the time to get involved and start expressing your concerns to the Department of Transportation.
Feel totally uninformed? (1) Read this entire e-News and the attachments. You might want to start with Article 11 which lists some impacts and gives the URL to the DOT website which has maps and a PowerPoint presentation. (2) Consider attending the March 23 meeting (Article 2).
Already know plenty? Then try Articles 4-6 which offer addresses and hints for writing an e-mail or letter.
Mary Mullen, editor
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Article list
The Issue in Perspective
1 - An Introduction to this special issue of the e-News
2 - Cars, Trucks & Your Health Talk & Letter Writing Session, Tues. Mar. 23, 6:30-8:00 pm
(Attachment – 1 March 23 flyer.doc)
3 - Baker’s Dozen Vow to Get 500 Letters Opposing Verona Road Project: You May Join Too!
Help for Writing Your Letter
4 - Do It By e-Mail!
5 - Four Steps to a Hardcopy Letter to the DOT (Attachment - 2 Sample ltr form.doc)
6 – In a Hurry? 15 Ready-Made Short Letters. Pick Your Favorite.
(Attachment - 3 Verona Rd sample ltrs.doc)
A Compendium of Concerns
7 - Concerns About Verona Road/Beltline Construction Noted
8 - DMNA Statement Given at Verona Road Environmental Justice Meeting, March 4
9 - First Hand Report from the March 4, 2010 Environmental Justice meeting, B&G Club
10 - DMNA President’s Letter to the Wisconsin State Journal
Project Information
11 – Where to Get More Detailed Information
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The Issue in Perspective
1 - An Introduction to this special issue of the e-News
Are you stirred up about the proposed reconstruction of Verona Road and the Beltline and the frontage roads in the neighborhood? Then you will want to go to the March 23 meeting about health effects of traffic, read about what your neighbors are doing about it, and then fire off a letter to the powers that be.
This special edition of the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood e-News will give you lots of information. If you do want to write a letter – and the neighborhood Verona Road Committee hopes you will – check on the attachments:
o a flyer about the March 23 meeting at Head Start (You can write your letter there among friends),A couple of the articles give suggestions about who to write to as well as their addresses. E-mails are just fine. If you do write a letter, write to one of the DOT (Department of Transportation) officials and please send a copy (hardcopy or e-mail copy) to Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association representative Donna Sarafin. (See articles 3 & 4).
o a sample letter form, and
o some ideas for a short letter (only if you are having trouble thinking of just what to say).
This road construction project is a VERY big thing that will affect our neighborhood forever afterward. The neighborhood Verona Road Committee, the other organizations sponsoring the March 23 meeting, and the DMNA Council urge you to get involved in whatever small or big way that you can. Will you take a few minutes to invest in future of the neighborhoods impacted by Verona Road and the Beltline?
2 - Cars, Trucks & Your Health Talk & Letter Writing Session, Tues. Mar. 23, 6:30-8:00 pm
(Attachment – 1 March 23 flyer.doc)
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) Verona Road Project will bring more cars and trucks into our neighborhood. Just exactly how will people be affected by this traffic and the pollution it brings?
To help our community understand “how bad air from cars and trucks leads to bad health for you and me,” a coalition of organizations is sponsoring an informational meeting on Tuesday, March 23. The presentation, by Dr. Maria Powell from the Madison Environmental Justice Organization, is called “Cars, Trucks & Your Health.” The meeting will be at the Head Start Building, 2069 Red Arrow Trail (where Madison residents vote), starting at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, March 23.
A letter-writing session will follow the presentation. The Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association will provide letter-writing materials, envelopes, stamps, writing utensils, and any help needed to write an effective letter to the DOT. Residents are urged to come and bring as many family members and friends as possible. Teenagers are very welcome.
This informative meeting is sponsored by the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association, the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association, the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh Landlord Association, and the Jamestown Neighborhood Association
For more information, please contact Jo Kelley at 445-5981, 276-8010, or jkellley@mge.com.
by Mary Mullen
3 - Baker’s Dozen Vow to Get 500 Letters Opposing Verona Road Project: You May Join Too!
Meeting at MacDonalds on March 10, a dozen people, mostly residents of the Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood, vowed to do everything they could to stop the Verona Road/Beltline construction project. The group included people of African-American, European, and American Indian background.
The over 2-hour meeting started with a round-robin where every person gave voice to their concerns. It ended with a collective vow to get 500 people to write letters of opposition to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) by the end of March. The idea is to “build a record” of opposition including the reasons for opposing and the DOT’s response to letters.
To that end, resident and meeting organizer Jo Kelley promised to arrange for two health-information meetings that will support letters of opposition on health grounds. Others took on additional tasks such as making a list of bullet points that could be used by letter writers, providing a letter format, a sample letter, and even finished form letters that people could sign. Some people will be going door-to-door or soliciting letters from people they come in contact with.
The group is urging one and all who think the DOT’s plans will cause harm to this neighborhood to join the growing opposition.
Anyone interested in receiving a packet of information with the bullet points, sample letter, and additional information, please contact Donna Sarafin, dksarafin@yahoo.com or 273-0437.
People attending the meeting besides those already mentioned are Bill McCarthy, Carol Brown, Connie Roderick, Gigi Miller Solari, Jim Lyne, Kim Zinski, Mary Mullen, Nathan Franklin, Selena Pettigrew, Sina Davis, and Ted Collins,
by Mary Mullen
Help for Writing Your Letter
4 - Do It By e-Mail!
E-mail is the easy way to get your opinion to the people who need to change their minds about the Verona Road Project. Write it once and just put the addresses into the “To” and “cc” lines. The idea is to “build a record” of opposition with the Department of Transportation and to also let the neighborhood Verona Road Committee know what your opinions and concerns are.
The committee recommends that you write your e-mail to Larry Barta of the DOT and Tom Lynch at Strand Associates, the engineering consultant for this project.
Larry.Barta@dot.wi.gov Tom.Lynch@strand.com
Please copy (cc) the letter to the following neighborhood representatives:
DMNA & Verona Road Committee: Donna Sarafin, dksarafin@yahoo.com
ADMNA: Florenzo Cribbs mad_fetti_records@myspace.com
Also copy your e-mail to the decision-makers below. They need to know just how much we care about our neighborhood and all the people in it.
Ald. Brian Solomon: briansolomon@charter.net (for Madison residents)
Co. Supervisor Carousel Bayrd bayrd@co.dane.wi.us (for Madison residents)
Ald. Carol Poole: carol.poole@city.fitchburg.wi.us \ (for Belmar - Fitchburg -residents)
Ald. Andrew Potts: andrew.potts@city.fitchburg.wi.us \ (for Belmar - Fitchburg residents)
Co. Supervisor Matt Veldran veldran@co.dane.wi.us (for Belmar - Fitchburg residents)
"Rep. Therese Berceau" brian.rieselman@legis.wi.gov
Governor Doyle. Use contact form at http://www.capwiz.com/politicsol/mailapp/webform/?CW_WF_id=31791&CW_WF_target_dest=GV&CW_WF_body_id=CUSTOM&CW_WF_order=-1 <http://www.capwiz.com/politicsol/mailapp/webform/?CW_WF_id=31791&CW_WF_target_dest=GV&CW_WF_body_id=CUSTOM&CW_WF_order=-1>
MPO (Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization) Use contact form at http://www.madisonareampo.org/contact.cfm
5 - Four Steps to a Hardcopy Letter to the DOT (Attachment - 2 Sample ltr form.doc)
STEP 1
Using the attached sample letter form, write you original hardcopy letter to Larry Barta and Tom Lynch
Mr. Larry Barta Mr. Tom Lynch
Wisconsin DOT Strand Associates
2101 Wright Street 910 W. Wingra Drive
Madison, WI 53704 Madison, WI 53715
STEP 2
At the bottom of your letter, cc it to the people on the list below (first line only)
STEP 3 (optional, only if you have time)
Address an envelope to Mr. Larry Barta (above). Put your name and return address on the top left side.
STEP 4
Send or give your hard copy letter and addressed envelope to Donna Sarafin or another member of the Verona Road Committee who will see to it that Donna gets it.
Donna Sarfin, DMNA-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4338 Windflower Way
Madison, WI 53711
Donna will make copies of your letters and send them on to the following people.
Governor Jim Doyle
115 East State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
DOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi
4802 Sheboygan Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
Madison Metro. Planning Organization
121 S. Pinckney Street, Suite 400
Madison, WI 53703
Alder Brian Solomon (Madison residents) Co. Sup. Carousel Bayrd (Madison residents)
2148 West Lawn Ave. 4901 Sherwood Rd.
Madison, WI 53711 Madison, WI 53711
Alder Andrew Pottts (Fitchburg residents) Co. Supervisor Matt Veldran (Fitchburg residents)
2564 Chesapeake Drive 5738 Kroncke Dr. Fitchburg, WI 53719 Madison, WI 53711
Alder Carol Poole (Fitchburg residents)
4518 Crescent Rd.
Fitchburg, WI 53711
A Compendium of Concerns
7 - Concerns About Verona Road/Beltline Construction Noted
Many concerns were expressed about the proposed Verona Road reconstruction project by the baker’s dozen of people who met March 10 at MacDonald’s. That’s the meeting where the committee vowed to get 500 letters to the DOT.
Concerns, questions, and comments included:
- Making Britta into the Frontage Road
- Sacrificing the Montessori School
- Moving traffic into our community
- Health issues – noise, exhaust fumes
- 7000 cars per day on the Frontage Road
- Lowering property values
- Feeling that Allied isn’t having a say
- Traffic on Carling Drive which is proposed to connect to Allied Drive
- Safety of kids going from one part of the neighborhood to another
- Concern about pedestrians in general
- Relocation of the pedestrian overpass so that users would have to cross the Frontage Road to get to it
- How pedestrians & bicyclists will be able to get across the Beltline during pedestrian overpass destruction/re-construction
- Source, date, and accuracy of the data being used by the DOT and Strand Associates to sell the project
- Since Beltline is already at capacity, why is Verona Road being rebuilt to send more traffic onto the Beltline?
- Allowing Stage 1 to go through makes Stage 3 - which will encroach even more on the neighborhood – inevitable.
8 - DMNA Statement Given at Verona Road Environmental Justice Meeting, March 4
At its March 2 meeting, the DMNA Neighborhood Council took the bull by the horns. It approved speaking out to express neighborhood residents’ grave concern about planned construction on and along Verona Road and the Beltline.
Council members Gigi Miller and Donna Sarafin composed the following statement and presented it to Strand Associates and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation at the Environmental Justice Public Meeting on March 4.
The Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association would like to express its grave concern over the proposed 151/Verona Road Plan. The DMNA feels that this project concentrates the harm from over 60,000 trucks and cars right into our neighborhood!
This type of high speed interchange takes space. The only way to gain space for a freeway is to encroach on space where people live. We feel the DOT’s plan to funnel all this traffic through our neighborhood is going to distress an already distressed area. The concern is that this encroachment will cause blight further into our neighborhood.
The Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood needs businesses. The DMNA is concerned that this plan obstructs our efforts to grow and nourish businesses in our neighborhood.
The freeway as planned increases both the amount of traffic as well as the speed of traffic. Each of these factors increases the amount of noise and pollution we will experience in our neighborhood. All of the factors together will make the level of noise and pollution unacceptable.
DMNA members are very concerned about what will happen to property values in our neighborhood as we support the burgeoning needs of the DOT.
9 - First Hand Report from the March 4, 2010 Environmental Justice meeting, B&G Club
NOTE: A neighbor who could not attend the March 4 meeting presented by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Strand Associates asked me for a “report.” This is the e-mail I wrote to her the next day.
I counted 50 people at one point. At least 18 were people I knew from the neighborhood, including Allied. Since I actually got there early, the presentation started late, and they attempted to address some of the questions that had been raised in the previous session, I got a more complete idea of the plans.
Of the 2 people who spoke about what should happen to the Frontage Road in Phase 3, one favored locating it further south and right in front of the apartments on the south side of Britta so as to save the park area. The other favored keeping the road as distant from the main residential area as possible which would mean cutting the Britta park area in half. I think I would go with staying as far north and close to the Beltline as possible. I guess the Frontage Road has about 7000 vehicles per day. (Compare that to 60,000 on Verona.) Do you have an opinion?
The DOT also talked about “compensating” for reducing the size of the Britta park area by putting play equipment in the open space on De Volis Parkway.
I thought it was interesting that they said it was due to public input that they are staging the construction and that adding a lane to each side of Verona Road in Stage 1 was allowing them to put off making it into a sunken freeway for 20 or 30 years. They also said that only “moderate” traffic increases were expected making me wonder why they were doing this at all.
A scary thing is that while today a person crossing Verona Road from our part of the neighborhood to get to Home Depot has to go across 11 lanes of traffic, after Phase 1 is complete, we’ll have 18 lanes to cross. Maybe that is at the crossing close to the Beltline. But if you use the “jug handle” up by MacDonalds, you’ll cross a frontage road, then go underneath the main lanes of Verona, and then across more frontage road lanes. I’m not sure how much faster, if it all, it will be in a car to get across to Home Depot since there will be 3 sets of signals related to that. Now there’s just one set.
Another thing that concerns me, other than just the sheer magnitude of this project and the noise, exhaust, and 2 1/2 years of construction dust, noise, and inconvenience, is the fact that they will be raising the elevation of the Beltline by about 5 feet where it crosses Verona Road and raising Verona Road by about 11 feet where it crosses the “jug handle.” My guess is that that will allow the sound to carry into the neighborhood more than it does now. They also pointed out that very little in the way of sound barriers would be put up because they have to meet the criteria of reducing the sound by 8 decibels at the cost of no more than $30,000 per “receptor.” A “receptor” is a housing unit that is right next to the road, not one that is in a second row of houses or apartment even though people in them can hear the traffic. Only the first floor of an apartment “counts.”
In Phase 1 they plan to add a sound barrier on the north side of the Beltline. They said it would be an “absorptive” sound wall rather than reflective so it should not be adding to the noise we will hear.
Again, nobody spoke in favor of the project. In one-to-one discussion later, one of the consultants said that when Phase 2 is done (the PD portion of the construction), there will no longer be a stop light there or at the crossing to Home Depot (because of the jughandle underpass), but there will be one at Jamestown and also at the Beltline. The consultant thought that would cut in half the waiting time at stop lights if you were in a vehicle coming from Verona to the Beltline.
by Mary Mullen
10 - DMNA President’s Letter to the Wisconsin State Journal
After reading the Wisconsin State Journal’s coverage of the February 18 Public Information Meeting regarding the Verona Road reconstruction project, DMNA President Jeff Glazer was outraged. The paper’s coverage focused on the meal provided to participants and didn’t bother to mention any of the concerns expressed by residents of the neighborhood. Jeff immediately fired off a letter to the editor.
The Journal printed his letter in it February 20, 2010 issue, as follows.
Verona Road Project
will do great harm
The state Department of Transportation
held a farce of a meeting this week on its
redesign of the Verona Road interchange
with the Beltline. Our public officials
proclaim to listen to, and incorporate,
neighborhood concerns into their project
plans – only to turn around and choose the
options that suit themselves.
The reality is that despite neighborhood
concerns about this project’s increase in
traffic, pollution, noise levels and this
project’s destruction of community homes,
businesses and public space, the DOT has
selected a project design that does the most
possible harm to this already struggling
neighbor! It will remove families from
their homes and remove businesses that
provide tax dollars to our city.
-Jeff Glazer, president, Dunn’s Marsh
Neighborhood Association
11 – Where to Get More Detailed Information
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has a webpage all about the Verona Road/West Beltine Project. Go to http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d1/verona/public.htm.
Under the second headline, Public Information Meetings (PIM), look at Past Meetings. The PowerPoint presentation made by DOT and Strand Associates on March 4 is available for viewing and printing.
Special maps are available too. Look at the sidebar and click on Maps. Scroll down to 3 stage solution alternative (March 10, 2010).
Stage 1 is scheduled to start in 2013, with construction going on for 2 ½ years!!! It involves
- adding lanes to Verona Road and the Beltline,
- raising both above their present levels,
- reworking the frontage roads of both highways, pushing some right up against residences on Britta and in Avalon Village,
- making 2 underpasses of Verona Road
- tearing down the pedestrian overpass of the Beltline at Whenona and rebuilding it on a slightly different alignment and destroying a newly remodeled business building in the process,
- demolishing 29 dwelling units, 1 school, and 4 business buildings, some with more than one business in them
- connecting the Verona Road end of Carling Drive to Allied Drive.
Here’s a summary of what the DOT calls “relocations” (Stage 1) and what any citizen might simply call destruction.
On the Beltline frontage road, starting just west of the motel and going east: David Sisson Orthotics business which looks much like a house, two 4-unit apartment buildings on Niemannn Place, the Montessori School, Winner’s Circle Hair Restoration which also holds a branch of The Vinery, the Burr Oak center which has just been very nicely remodeled and holds several businesses.
On the north side of the Beltline where the pedestrian overpass comes down, the 2 single-family houses on either side of Whenona.
On Midvale, where the westbound exit of the Beltline empties out, 17 units of Midvale Town Homes
On Hammersley on the north side of the Beltline just west of Upper Iowa University, 2 single family homes
On the west side of Verona Road, Kentucky Fried Chicken.
by Mary Mullen
------ end of the Verona Rd. special issue of the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood e-News, 3-19-10 ----------
Thanks for reading.
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