By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
The City of Burlington Common Council decided Tuesday night to shelve a proposed study by consultant Kapur and Associates of traffic at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Pine Street.
The study, which would have been a 12-hour analysis of traffic patterns and safety, would have cost about $18,700. The item came up Aug. 2 after a long discussion on the subject of left turns from southbound traffic on Milwaukee Avenue onto Pine Street.
However, while the council started to debate the various options again, which range from simply not allowing left-hand turns from that direction to installing a turn arrow, it came to light the city will need to work with Canadian National railroad to install battery backups to the gates at the railroad crossing near the intersection and also a “gate down preemption” to clear traffic that may be stuck on the tracks.
With that as a side note to the conversation – and the idea of having a left-turn arrow there – the conversation eventually circled back to leaving the intersection alone, and also to simply outlawing left turns.
Alderman Ruth Dawidziak said she spoke to business owners on Pine Street, who expressed concern they would lose potential customers if the left turn is abolished.
Dawidziak said there are safety concerns, but making a change would just shift who will complain.
“We’re just shifting who we’re pissing off,” Dawidziak said.
While Alderman Jon Schultz added that he thought simply giving up on the conversation wasn’t the right answer, the rest of the council indicated the city should do that, and work with the railroad to resolve the safety issues with the rail crossing.
New radios discussed
With the Racine County Executive offering a loan to the municipalities looking to upgrade to digital radios, City of Burlington Fire Chief Alan Babe brought forth a proposal for new fire department radios.
The cost of the project would be about $135,400, and would include both portable radios and in-vehicle radios.
Babe said the current equipment is going on 20 years old and, as a result, is no longer supported by the manufacturer. The new equipment would allow firefighters to see who is keying a mike, hear the various channels called out, and also filter out background noise.
The city got a bid from Baycom, with the payments to the county being $13,275 per year with a first-year $2,655 administration fee.
There is a 40 percent discount being offered on the cost by Baycom for the Motorola equipment.
-
-
-
-
-