Municipal Services Committee Receives Feedback On Perkins Street And Morrison Street Reconstruction Project Proposals – Perkins Street Residents Express Opposition To Sidewalk Installation, Frustration With Trucks Utilizing Street

The Municipal Services Committee met 11/06/2023. The meeting ran just slightly over an hour, and all but the last minute or so was taken up with the public Design Hearing for the pavement projects of Perkins Street (Prospect Avenue to 50’ north of Allen Ally railroad tracks) and  Morrison Street (Glendale Avenue to Pershing Street) in 2025.

For Perkins Street, the city is planning to install new concreate pavement, narrow the street by 9 feet, install sidewalks (there currently are no sidewalks), install curb extensions at Charles Street as a traffic calming measure, remove parking on the east side of the street, and remove 10 trees that are in poor condition.

For Morrison Street, the city is planning to narrow the width by 6’,  install curb extensions at Marquette Street and a traffic circle at Lindbergh as traffic calming measures, remove parking on the west side of the street, and remove 11 trees that are in poor condition.

This was a public hearing so nothing was voted on, but the committee did receive a lot of feedback from residents, mostly from the Perkins Street neighborhood, but one person from the Morrison Street neighborhood also attended and spoke.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:

PERKINS STREET RECONSTRUCTION

A majority of the members of the public who attended and provided feedback did so for the Perkins Street pavement project. There were several recurring concerns.

• SIDEWALKS – Everybody seemed opposed to the proposal to install sidewalks. A couple older people did not want to deal with the added work that comes with having to keep sidewalks clear of snow in the winter. Additionally, residents did not want to have to pay assessments to cover the cost of the sidewalk installation. One resident viewed the assessment negatively because they were on a fixed income.
• TRUCK TRAFFIC – The residents were frustrated with the amount of truck traffic Perkins Street endures eventhough it is not a truck route. Questions were raised about the possibility of installing speed bumps or stop signs. One resident suggested that the truck traffic on that street was the result of poor planning by the city; if Lynndale had been extended all the way down to  Prospect Avenue it would have been a more appropriate main thoroughfare and road for trucks, but instead it was never properly extended and now trucks drove through their residential neighborhood even though it was not a truck route because the trucks had no other ready way to go.
• PARKING – The loss of parking on one side of the street concerned a couple of the residents.
• DIGGING UP BASEMENTS – There was also concern that the city was going to be digging up the basements of properties in order to install sewer lines. [I’ve read through the documents related to the project, but I am not seeing the part that talks about the city having to dig up people’s basements. If their understanding was correct, I can easily see why they would be justifiably upset at the city.]
• THE CITY DOESN’T CARE – There was an overall feeling by residents that the city had made up its mind and was going to do what it was going to do regardless of their feedback. For example, although the property owners did not want sidewalk installed, they were told by staff that city policy would call for sidewalks to be installed there. The Complete Streets Guide and how that impacted design choices was also referenced by staff multiple times. Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) tried to gently push back on that belief and told them that the purpose of the design hearing was to get their feedback so their thoughts could be taken into consideration when the final design was crafted, but I’m not sure how much the residents believed her.

City Traffic Engineer Eric Lom talked about how the proposed design was intended to cause drivers to slow down. Merely by narrowing the exceptionally wide street by 9 feet, drivers would feel less comfortable speeding. The installation of curb extensions at the Charles Street intersection was also intended to decrease speed and make the street less desirable for trucks. While speed tables or speed humps were things that could be used to slow down traffic, they were not recommended for this street because Perkins Street was a bus route, and speed humps and buses do not go together very well and tend to result in noise.

MORRISON STREET RECONSTRUCTION

Only one resident spoke on the Morrison Street pavement project. She had some general informational questions about the project which staff answered. She also voiced opposition to the installation of the traffic circle which she viewed as unnecessary and the loss of parking on one side of the street.

Traffic Engineer Lom explained that the cost of installing the traffic calming circle was “inconsequential in the scheme of this” if it happened at the time of the street reconstruction. Kathleen, the resident, asked what data they had to warrant installing one at Lindberg. Mr. Lom did not have data specific to that intersection, but he said that data from other cities they had been installed indicated “they have a really strong impact on reducing vehicle speeds.” Additionally, they tried to install traffic calming elements every 300-600 feet, so the traffic calming circle was only one aspect working in conjunction with the curb extensions at Marquette Street and the overall narrowing of the street in general. Kathleen did not sound like she was convinced.

This was a public hearing so no action was taken, but a final design will be brought before the committee for a vote at a future meeting.

[It’s interesting to watch meeting where residents push back on a city plan. The level of understanding residents have about how the city works as an organization varies from situation to situation as does the ability of the neighborhood to organize and communicate their message. The level of negative feelings toward the city also varies from neighborhood to neighborhood and situation to situation.

I felt like these particular residents didn’t necessarily have much knowledge about how the city functions as an organization, but they still communicated their message fairly clearly. Their frustration with the amount of truck traffic was understandable given that the street is not a truck route. And, in this economy, I wouldn’t fault anyone for not wanting to suffer a special assessment for the installation of a sidewalk they don’t need or want.

I felt like there were strong negative feelings from the residents about the project and a fairly high level of distrust that the city actually cared about their concerns or desires. Government is by its nature bureaucratic I don’t think referencing city policy regarding sidewalk installation and the Complete Streets Guide did anything to allay their assumption that they were not going be given a fair shake.

It will be interesting to see what the final design ends up being and in what way city staff responds to the feedback residents gave.]

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1134140&GUID=9F7E86FF-FDAE-4831-9AAF-3E4D6F1E8B25