Madison Police Department’s Community Policing Team is focusing on traffic violations in the downtown area as part of an effort to reduce dangerous driving practices.
The team generally focuses on State Street disturbances, bars, underage drinking and common problems downtown, according to public information officer Emily Samson.
The police team focused efforts Tuesday night on specific traffic enforcement on Gorham Street, Johnson Street and University Avenue. During this effort, an officer dressed in civilian clothes observed traffic violators and had uniformed police officers pull over the violators in traditional cruisers.
According to a Madison police report, several citations and warnings were issued Tuesday night in the downtown area.
A police “shadow car” was nearly hit head-on when an elderly individual suffering from Alzheimer’s drove the wrong way down East Gorham Street around 6:30 p.m. The individual was returned to his residence just as officers were sent from another jurisdiction to report his disappearance.
According to Samson, the No. 1 complaint from all Madison citizens is traffic violations, which directly affect pedestrian safety.
“We’re not seeing more than the usual amount of traffic violations, but the team is keeping their finger on it,” Samson said.
Samson noted more people come into the downtown area for different reasons during the holiday season, which can become problematic during winter.
“Parking becomes more confusing because of snow emergency regulations, it’s slippery, there are snow plows — it definitely changes the game,” she said.
Samson said the nature of the downtown is dominated by pedestrian traffic from UW and on no-vehicle entrance roads like State Street.
Ald. Austin King, District 8, who serves on the city’s Pedestrian/Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Commission and whose constituents are primarily students, said pedestrian safety and traffic concerns are something he takes personally to heart.
“I was almost killed once outside [the] chemistry building,” King said. “I take pedestrian safety very seriously.”
Samson, who studied at UW as an undergrad, said many Madison pedestrians opt to walk across any street with little caution.
“Everyone should be aware of street signs. Be conscious of the streets because when [vehicle] accidents happen where the pedestrian chooses to walk across the street, the pedestrian is at fault,” Samson said.
Samson added the area outside of Stillwater’s Bar tends to hold a large crowd after bar time that often spills over onto Johnson Street and surrounding side streets.
“There have been times when I was on patrol and I saw people standing in the streets, almost waiting to get hit,” Samson said. “We are pretty lucky there are not more motor vehicle versus pedestrian accidents.”
Pedestrians or bicyclists at an uncontrolled intersection or crosswalk will be fined $64.80 if they leave a curb or other place of safety without yielding to a car. Similarly, pedestrians crossing traffic in a crosswalk and failing to yield to oncoming traffic can be fined $52.40.
“The people I represent are pedestrians for most parts of the day and overall the city does a very good job of protecting pedestrians in a general way,” King said.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s 2005 budget allocated an additional $10,000 to the city’s Safe Communities Coalition, granting a total budget of $20,000. This coalition works to ensure pedestrian and bicycle safety around the city by investing in programming and public awareness.
