March 2, 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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This newsletter is mostly about the Verona Rd./ Beltline reconstruction plans, but don't miss the gardening news.
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Neighborhood Calendar
Thursday, March 4, 6;00-8:30 pm - Public Information meeting on plans for changes at Beltline/Verona Road intersection and frontage roads. Boys & Girls Club, Jenewein Rd.
Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m. - Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood Association Council Meeting, Prairie UU Society, 2010 Whenona Drive (corner of Whenona & Crawford). Residents welcome, but only Council members vote. Inform DMNA president (above) if you plan to attend.
Monday, March 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Marlborough Community Garden Registration, Boys & Girls Club, Jenewein Rd.
Saturday, April 10, 1:30-3:30 p.m. – Marlborough Community Garden Registration, Boys & Girls Club, Jenewein Rd.
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Article List
Verona Road/Beltline Reconstruction
1 - Thursday, March 4: Last Verona Road Environmental Justice Outreach Meeting
(Attachment 1 – Verona mtg flyer.pdf)
2 - Verona Road Meeting Draws Large Crowd and Critical Comments
3 - The Message Should Have Been What People Said, Not About the Food
4 - An e-Mail From a Resident and a Reply from DOT – About Britta Plans
5 - DMNA Council to Develop a Written Position on Verona Rd./Beltline Plans
6 - Alder Solomon Voices Concerns About Verona Road Interchange Plans
7 - See the Verona Road Presentation on Computer: Links to the DOT website that shows new Britta/Frontage Road alignment (and everything else
Gardening News
8 - Community Garden Registration Dates Set
9 - Opportunity to Participate in Garden Research
Odds 'N Ends
10 - Correction: Telephone number for Fitchburg Environmental Engineer
11 - Fitchburg Public Library to Break Ground April 12 Plus Many Other Events Sponsored by Friends of Fitchburg Library
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ARTICLES...
Verona Road/Beltline Reconstruction
1 - Thursday, March 4: Last Verona Road Environmental Justice Outreach Meeting
(Attachment 1 – Verona mtg flyer.pdf)
WisDOT [Department of Transportation] will be holding the last Environmental Justice Outreach meeting about Verona Road reconstruction plans at the Boys & Girls Club in the Dunn's Marsh neighborhood on Thursday, March 4th, at 6:00 p.m. [See the flyer for details. It is in both English and Spanish.]
As before, the general public, including you and your neighbors, are invited to attend, though personal invitations are being mailed to just the residential tenants in the southeast quadrant of the project area.
from Stephanie Thomsen, Strand Associates, consultant on this project
[If you prefer to read short articles about the February 18 meeting before reading the more lengthy summary just below, skip ahead to article 3.]
2 - Verona Road Meeting Draws Large Crowd and Critical Comments
The parking lot of the Boys and Girls Club was crammed with vehicles. The overflow of cars lined Jenewein and Rosenberry. Inside, the gym was abuzz with neighborhood folks who turned out for the public meeting on February 18 to learn about and protest reconstruction plans for Verona Road and the Beltline.
This meeting was the third in a series of four sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation [DOT] in the neighborhood. The first two, one on January 21 and the other on February 4, drew meager attendance because they were not widely publicized. And, to the dismay of people who attended the February 18 meeting and had wanted their voices to be heard, the lead story of Channel 3's TV news coverage emphasized the free meal offered to attendees rather than the main course of the evening: residents' almost uniform distress over the plans.
A large share of the meeting was devoted to a PowerPoint presentation on the plans. They showed frontage roads and access roads that would reach into the residential areas of the Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood. Particularly affected for the first stage of construction in 2013-2015 would be the north end of Carling Drive and Allied Drive, Avalon Village and the interchange to Home Depot, and the Britta Parkway area. This stage would involve raising a portion of Verona Road above its current elevation and cutting off the direct access across Verona Road to Home Depot.
Eventually, if all goes as expected by DOT, by 2030 Verona Road will be sunk down below grade with "bridges" to cross over to the Home Depot area, and half of the park on Britta Parkway will be taken in order to accommodate a realigned Frontage Road. At that time, the commercial area of the Frontage Road between Whenona and Seminole will be wiped out.
[NOTE: To get a better idea of the plans, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that readers attend the March 4 informational meeting, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., at the Boys and Girls Club. A public hearing will be conducted in April.]
Only about 10 people had a chance to speak after the presentation. Not one favored the project. Most had very specific objections to it that could be summed up as: This project is nothing but bad for our neighborhood, both during and after construction.
Perhaps the most damning and angry testimony came from former 10th District Alder Ken Golden. He said:
- At one time DOT conducted a stellar process. But the input from back then has been ignored.
- Even though DOT will be holding a public hearing, it will mean nothing because DOT "will have all the answers."
- Something needs to be done, but [with these plans] the DOT has created a scar and isolated the neighborhood and destroyed the quality of life in the neighborhood.
- There will be some less pollution at first [because traffic will be able to flow more smoothly], but the ease of use will attract more traffic and in the end create much more pollution.
Golden promised to do his very best to change the plans. "I know where the buttons are…" he said, implying that he would be pushing every button he could to fight against the worst aspects of the plans.
Neighborhood resident and DMNA Council member Jo Kelley suggested that all people in the neighborhood need to band together to speak as one voice to oppose the plans. She asked interested people to talk to her on the spot or contact her later (276-8010 or jokelley@tds.net).
Other speakers made these specific points:
- The plan really only accommodates traffic. It isn't good for people. It's very bad for children. (Pollution, noise, roads bringing traffic closer to residences)
- It impacts the residential areas too much, specifically Avalon Village, the Carling Drive area, and Britta Parkway. The best tenants will leave because of these impacts, lowering the quality of life in the neighborhood even more.
- Can neighborhood residents be targeted for employment in the construction?
- This project will cause property values to plummet.
- Traffic should be routed away from the Verona Road/Beltline intersection rather than accommodated. What about an outer Beltline for traffic without a specific Madison destination.
- Seminole Highway will be greatly impacted as people avoid Verona Road and Fish Hatchery Road during construction. This is a big problem.
- People who were involved in the past have not been involved by DOT in recent years.
- Reconstruction at this location is like a square peg in a round hole. It's a bad place for an intersection.
- We don't want more streets into the neighborhood. They will bring more cars. We don't want that.
- No barriers are shown/planned to protect the Dunn's Marsh side of Verona Road.
- Did not get a mailing about the meeting. (Several complained of this.)
The final meeting in this round of informational meetings will be held from 6:00-8:30 p.m. this Thursday, March 4, at the Boys and Girls Club.
Channel 3 reported that about 80 people attended the February 18 meeting. At least 30 people known by sight by this reporter were spotted in the audience including 6 of the 12 DMNA Council members.
by Mary Mullen
3 - The Message Should Have Been What People Said, Not About the Food
It was great to see TV cameras covering last night's meeting [February 28] about the DOT's 151/18 Project. I thought our message to the DOT that the project HARMS our neighborhood would reach more people through their news report.
But that is not what the TV cameras were covering. The TV news reports were about the Fish Fry. The breaking news story was that the DOT was spending $500 for food and it is against their policy.
The breaking news should have been that the DOT was presenting their recommended Alternative for the Verona Road interchange, and they picked the alternative that does the MOST HARM to our neighborhood. More homes will be destroyed, more businesses loss, more noise, more air pollution than all of the other options. The DOT got neighborhood input but IGNORED our basic concerns.
The real story is that the DOT showed us their recommended alternative and it does the MOST HARM to our neighborhood. The real story is the Environmental Justice issue!
from Jo Kelley, Crawford Resident
4 - An e-Mail From a Resident and a Reply from DOT – About Britta Plans
The e-mail:
I must say I was surprised to see how the Frontage Rd. had migrated to Britta. I attended meetings in 2008 and the map in the LINK below was presented with the Frontage Road of 2 possibilities. As I recall, the WI DOT reps at the meeting were echoing back to us that DOT using of Britta as a frontage Rd was coming through loud and clear.
Tom, from DOT, last night indicated that the decision to keep the businesses and go behind them w/ the Frontage Rd. involved some City of Madison decisions. I would hope working w/ our Alderman and Neighborhood Associations will change the outcome of what I saw last night on this part of the project.
Britta is a neighborhood street used for walking, riding bikes, and the church. Green spaces are playgrounds, and occasionally kids and play equipment run out in the street. Using Britta would greatly negatively impact safety, noise and pollution and quality of life.
Connie, Crawford Dr.
The answer, from DOT
Hello, Connie: Thanks for taking the time to come to the meeting and for this follow-up.
Your memory serves you well – the frontage road alignment we are now showing as the preferred change is a blend of the 2 versions we brought out to the public in 2008. And you are correct that WisDOT responded to the feedback by eliminating it from further consideration. The blended version was indeed put together with the intent of reducing business buy-outs. One other plus is the buildings provide a small amount of noise blockage and quite a bit of visual blockage of the Beltline. We know the downside you point to is a concern but we weighed it against another frequently noted criticism that this project is impacting too much private property. A difficult set of circumstances to weigh against one another to be sure.
We will take your feedback and that of several others that agree with you into consideration in the final evaluation of the frontage road. We will also see what additional input we receive after the environmental document is published and a Public Hearing is conducted. We will take a final look at this detail at that point and be as objective as possible in determining which is the better solution.
Thanks again and have a fine day.
from Larry J. Barta, Project Manager - Planning Unit,Southwest Region - Madison Office
Work Phone = (608)246-3884
5 - DMNA Council to Develop a Written Position on Verona Rd./Beltline Plans
At its February 16 meeting, the Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood Council supported the concept of developing a statement regarding plans for the Verona Road/West Beltline reconstruction. Council member Jo Kelley had presented a draft statement that could be signed on to by organizations and individuals in the neighborhood. She promised to circulate it in electronic form to the Council for suggested revisions in hopes that it would be ready to go for the March 4, 2010 informational meeting to be held by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
In brief, the draft statement expresses opposition to the Freeway Concept and then lists demands to be met if that alternative is approved and enacted anyway. Among the demands would be that
· residential buildings be made eligible for state-funded weatherization/energy efficiency programs at no cost to the building owners. (This would protect homes against the noise of increased traffic that will be closer to homes.)
· the State of Wisconsin will fund air monitoring, and
· Phase 3 will not be approved or implemented until a comprehensive study on the "south reliever" [a "Beltline" located much further south of the present Beltline] is completed along with its potential to affect traffic
It goes on to list demands for all construction alternatives.
· prohibition of engine braking
· prohibition of nighttime construction
· provision of additional bike and pedestrian connectors that are visually public and well lit
· no additional road connectors to the neighborhood
For more information on this statement, contact Jo Kelley (276-8010 or jokelley@tds.net).
by Mary Mullen
6 - Alder Solomon Voices Concerns About Verona Road Interchange Plans
In a March 1, 2010 e-mail to Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials and the DOT's consultant, Strand Associates, Madison 10th District Alder Brian Solomon expressed the negative feedback he had received about the Verona Road/West Beltline reconstruction plans. Due to conflicts, he had to miss both the February 18 and the March 4 informational meetings.
Alder Solomon said:
I have a conflict Thursday and will unfortunately miss this meeting as I did the last one. But I do want you to know that I received very negative feedback from the last meeting. People are EXTREMELY concerned about four things:
· The plans for Britta Parkway,
· The long term plans (phase 3) and its impacts on the community,
· Short and long term noise, environmental, and public health impacts, and
· The strong belief that all decisions have already been made and that dissent or even discussion is fruitless
The good news is that most people believe that you have listened well on the access issues and that many of those concerns have been addressed. However, there are some substantial concerns in both the Allied and broader Dunn's Marsh community about the items I've listed above. There may be other concerns as well, but the above ones are definitely the loudest and most frequent that I've been hearing.
I'd really like your thoughts on how to address these concerns in a meaningful way that once again empowers the neighborhood to believe its voices are being heard.
Also, again, my apologies for not being able to make the meeting Thursday.
Thanks so much, Brian
Quoted comments from e-mail by Alder Brian Solomon
7 - See the Verona Road Presentation on Computer: Links to the DOT website that shows new Britta/Frontage Road alignment (and everything else)
Here is the link to the WI DOT web site that has the meeting information and new Britta Rd/Frontage Rd map: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d1/verona/public.htm. It is listed toward the bottom of the web page as "Updated Newsletter/other... Click on "Presentation to city of Madison Plan Commission, Dec 14 2009 complete document." Then find pages 11,13, 14 etc.
Gardening News
8 - Community Garden Registration Dates Set
Ready! Set! Go! If you are a person with a yen to garden in the Marlborough Park community garden, it's time to put a couple of dates on your calendar.
Registration is set for two dates this year: Monday, March 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 10, 1:30-3:30 p.m. The location for both dates is Rooms A and B of the Boys and Girls Club on Jenewein Drive. Anyone who wishes to rent a garden plot may sign up and pay for the plot at that time.
The garden management is looking for volunteers to help with registration. Volunteers staff tables where registrants fill out forms, review the rules of the garden and sign up for workshops and leadership positions.
Hmong, Khmer, and Spanish translators will be available at the registration. Gardeners can also pick up free seeds.
To volunteer, contact Community Action Coalition Gardens Specialist Nicole Craig, 608-246-4730 ext. 208, nicolec@cacscw.org. Nicole will be sending out postcards to past gardeners and to new interested gardeners to let them know about the registration days.
by Mary Mullen
9 - Opportunity to Participate in Garden Research
UW PhD student Vincent Smith is looking for gardeners to assist with a doctoral study related to gardening. Check out his request below. If you are interested in participating, please contact Vincent directly. He's looking for people who can commit to the entire project, which will span the growing season this year.
I am a doctoral student at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison searching for gardeners willing to assist in a study this summer. I am currently conducting research on the socioeconomic value of gardening in the Madison area. My research attempts to capture both the economic value of food generated in gardens throughout the area as well as the social and or personal value of gardens to those who keep them. I am looking for gardeners who would be willing to collect data on their garden this summer. I am requesting the following information from participating gardeners:
1. Track garden related expenses
2. Track garden related time
3. Record the weight of everything harvested
Gardeners chosen to assist in the study will be provided a digital scale for weighing all food crops generated. While I can provide no compensation for helping with the study (I have no compensation myself), I can provide you with the scale to keep, and can offer you the opportunity to help share your passion for gardening with a larger audience. I sincerely hope this research will improve what we know about gardens and their potential as places of food production. While I am especially in need of gardeners willing to help collect data this summer, if you have a garden that you are willing to have me look at this summer, but do not feel you have the time to weigh your bounty, please let me know as well.
If you would be willing to assist with this research this summer or have additional questions, please contact me via email at vmsmith2@wisc.edu (preference) or cell at 608-852-7774 and let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.
Vincent M. Smith, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
25 Agricultural Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Odds 'N Ends
10 - Correction: Telephone number for Fitchburg Environmental Engineer
Sometime the finger just slips and makes a typo. If you are interested in obtaining some of the wood to be cut from Lots 19 and 20 below Crescent Road at Apache Drive, the correct number to reach Rick Eilertson is 270-4264. Or e-mail him at Rick.Eilertson@city.fitchburg.wi.us.
11 - Fitchburg Public Library to Break Ground April 12 Plus Many Other Events Sponsored by Friends of Fitchburg Library
Fitchburg Public Library and the Friends of Fitchburg Library have some events coming up that I'd like to share.
Monday April 12, 2:00 p.m.from City of Fitchburg
Official Groundbreaking followed by celebratory reception at City Hall.
Monday April 12, 6:30 p.m.
Award Ceremony and reception for bookmark contest winners.
Council Chambers, City Hall
Wednesday April 14, 7:00 p.m.
Family Pajama Party Storytime - wear your jammies!
Fitchburg Room, Fitchburg Community Center
Thursday April 15, 7:00 p.m.
Friends of Fitchburg Library and FPL Present
Author and Artist Jeff Hagen
Fitchburg Room, Fitchburg Community Center
Friday April 16, 7:00 p.m.
Teen Gaming Night
Oak Hall Room, Fitchburg Community Center
Saturday April 17, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Friends of Fitchburg Library Used Booksale
2690 Research Park Drive
(This event re-occurs every third Saturday of the month)
----------------------- end of March 2, 2010 Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood e-News -----------
Thanks for reading!
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