There was a little educational moment during the 06/21/2021 Municipal Services Committee meeting that readers might find of interest.
As the committee reviewed and approved various street reconstruction projects, Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) wanted to know what the standard street width was or if there was a standard street width that Appleton tries to adhere to. He understood that sometimes they narrowed streets in order to save terrace trees, but from a broader perspective did they look at opportunities to narrow streets as a way of saving money and reducing some of the budget deficit the city has.
Director Paula Vandehey said that they always look at every street they’re reconstructing and ask if they can narrow it and if they should narrow it. Two of the street reconstructions being voted on that day bordered an elementary school. Typically, around schools there are a lot of parking challenges, so they don’t normally narrow those streets and it is normal for them to keep streets around schools at 33 feet wide.
Another staffer said that, generally, they look at a list of pros and cons when evaluating what width of a street they are going to propose. The overarching goal is to have the least amount of street they need in order to accomplish what they need to accomplish. The things they are typically balancing are the real or perceived parking needs, the wellbeing of terrace trees, and, in some cases, bike lanes. Roads by schools have specific issues, and they used to always build all of the roads adjacent to schools at 37 feet which was intended to allow for bumper-to-bumper parking on both sides of the street. In the specific neighborhood by Richmond Elementary that the committee was voting on they have found ways to make 33 feet work, but anything less than that would be problematic and add to issues over there.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=859284&GUID=765DEFC6-4104-46C7-AC95-F5445C5C27A0&Options=info|&Search=
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