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Middleton committee approves draft Active Transportation Plan for public comment, trims pros-and-cons section
Summary
The Ped/Bike/Transit committee voted to send a revised draft Active Transportation Plan to public comment with staff-directed edits: remove subjective pros-and-cons columns, retain a list of options, require a 10-foot minimum shared-path width in the conservancy where proposed, and return to the committee in September for final sign-off.
The Middleton Ped/Bike/Transit Committee voted to approve a revised draft Active Transportation Plan and asked staff to circulate the document for public comment, with the committee returning the plan for final sign-off in September. Chair Ted moved the plan, and Kirsten seconded; the motion passed without recorded opposition.
Scott, city staff leading the effort, told members the current draft consolidates committee and public input and adds a clear orientation and an implementation matrix to show next steps and responsible parties. "We will bring it back to the committee in September for a final sign off," Scott said, describing a public-input phase that will include community events and an online survey.
The committee agreed to remove a detailed pros-and-cons column that members called too subjective for an overview plan and to instead list high-level options and link to committee memos and recordings for full context. "We don't want residents to tune out or get angry by overloading the plan with speculative prose," Pete said during the discussion.
A notable language change adopted as a minor edit replaces "continue enforcement" with stronger phrasing. Mark Opitz, alder for the area, had asked that wording be changed to "improve enforcement of section 8.06 of the municipal code," which addresses obstructions and encroachments on sidewalks; staff agreed the edit was minor and included it in the motion.
Members also pressed for a clearer treatment of the Pheasant Branch Conservancy trail. Mark Opitz proposed, and members supported, adding text to restore the conservancy trail loop to a shared-use-path minimum width standard (proposed in discussion: 10 feet) to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists. The committee agreed the specific minimum-width language should sit in the description section of the plan rather than buried in an options table.
Staff outlined the public-input plan: a presence at Middleton night markets, an open house at a school, and an online survey expected in early or mid-August; committee members were asked to help promote the survey. Scott said staff intends to maintain Appendix D as a living tracking spreadsheet that can be updated annually to report progress against ATP objectives.
The committee’s approval sends the draft to the public-comment period, after which staff will collect feedback and return a revised version to the committee in September for final adoption.
