WSP03050 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

project, said Mark Schuster, Ayres Associates' manager - transportation engineering. The northbound and southbound traffic lanes were too nar- row, one northbound lane ended abruptly, the street was made of asphalt, and the driving lanes did not line up from block to block. "One emphasis was to line up the lanes," Schuster said of the design. "Now when you're driving straight down Oneida Street. you really can drive straight and not have to jog from one lane to another." Complicating the project further was the fact that about 30 families live in single-family homes along the west side of Oneida Street, while some 20 businesses-many with multiple dri- veways-make up the east side of the street. "One of our first problems was deciding how to design a street to accommodate the residents, some of whom have been there more than 40 years and remember when it was a dead-end road." Kolb said, "The resi- dents wanted a tree-lined median, but the businesses wanted to ensure access to their driveways." A popular parking lane in front of the residences had to be eliminated to make way for two 12-foot northbound and two 12-foot southbound concrete traffic lanes, plus left turn lanes at the intersections. And the landscaped median-which residents had long ago demallded to shield them from the businesses across the street-was turned into an J 8-foot-wide fifth lane, which serves as a dual left turn lane for vehicles trying to turn into driveways on both sides of the street. Kolb said the dual left turn lane was a necessity because ill the past motorists regularly made illegal U-turns to get into drive- ways on the east and west sides of the street-a dangerous habit given the heavy traffic on Oneida Street. To make up for the loss of the grassy median, the width of the boulevards in front of the residences was increased to 9 feet, a great deal of landscaping was done along the boulevards, and 01'03- Trl~ffic .floU's smoOThly a/on?, rhe recOllSlmcted section of Oneida Streef, which carries Ilear!.... 21,000 rel1icles per day alld Jia... bccome a majnr thoroughfare in Greater Green Bay. mental street lights were installed to make the area more attractive. Space also was left for landscaping in the median in areas where left turn lanes were not needed, Ayres Associates also teamed with the Village of Ashwaubenon to help reconfigure residents' driveways. mak- ing it easier and safer for residents to get out on to the busy street, according to Troy Robillard, Ayres Associates' transportation engineer, Robillard spent time with individual homeown- ers to help them determine the most appropriate driveway design to meet their nccds. He also spent many hours working to keep residents and businesses informed about the progress of the pro- ject, helping ensure that there was ample access to driveways throughout the construction period. Because of the volume of traffic and the need for motorists to reach businesses and resi- dences, one northbound lane and one southbound lane were kept open at all times during construction. "There was a lot of disruption, but I think Ayres Associates' employees did a wonderful job of holding that disrup- tion to a minimum," said George Brown. vice president-regional manag- er of North Shore Balik on Oneida Street. "It was a challellge. When you've got that much construction going on there are going to be disrup- tions, But it got completed on sched- ule and it looks great." "This is a major corridor that serves a large part of the Green Bay area." said Steve Kubacki, Village of Ashwaubenon administrator. "Ayres Associates took a roadway that was in a state of disrepair and made many dif- ferent modifications to it for people who travel along the street. people who live on the street. and for businesses located on the street. Oneida Street is a much more user-friendly roadway for everyone.". 5