Alder Bridget Maniaci, the Mullins, the Economic Development Director, etc etc etc
I'll let you see for youreself. When the Mayor's office sent out the message saying that tomorrow the bus stop would move to E Wash, Alder Manaici at 2 am sent out a message to neighbors letting know that morning the buses would be there. Not her fault I don't think. But then she went to work and asked neighbors what they thought. I only saw one or two positive responses, no complaints. However, the notice that says they are now moving to the North Transfer Point reveal the following:
THURSDAY
Alder Maniaci has questions
From: Maniaci, Bridget
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:36 AM
To: Harmon, Ray
Cc: Chaney, Brian; Plominski, Katherine; Rummel, Marsha; Schauf, Mary; May, Michael; Richard Linster; timothy.olsen@sbcglobal.net; Tim Olsen; Tucker, Matthew; Verveer, Mike
Subject: Re: greyhound stop
Ray,
There's a bar on that corner and no services anywhere nearby, nor room
for passenger loading. Did the contact say why they wanted Baldwin as
their stop? I have questions and a number of serious concerns.
Convienient they decided to tell us on the day before their lease is
up. I'd like police & Katherine to weigh in on impacts, and I need to
find out what the cafe and especially the bar owners feel about this,
in addition to the neighborhood. The bar has been a quiet, problem-
free establishment with prompt and responsive owners who have turned
the bar around since acquiring it 2 years ago.
With the closing of the bus depot, there was some interest in
ordinance language being put forward to regulate the bus stops. Mike,
what are my legislative options?
Matt, are there any zoning issues? Is there anything stopping them
from unloading passengers on the Capitol square?
Thanks all,
Bridget
Zoning Response
From: Tucker, Matthew
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:45 PM
To: Maniaci, Bridget
Cc: Chaney, Brian; Plominski, Katherine; Rummel, Marsha; Schauf, Mary; May, Michael; Richard Linster; timothy.olsen@sbcglobal.net; Tim Olsen; Verveer, Mike; Harmon, Ray; Murphy, Brad
Subject: RE: greyhound stop
Alder Maniaci- The City's zoning code regulates the use and development of private property. Since this activity sounds like it will be taking place within the public right-of-way, zoning has no jurisdiction.
They could off-load passengers on the square if they would like, I suppose.
Matt Tucker
John Purnell - People are gathering on Mullins steps
From: John Purnell
Sent: Thu 4/1/2010 11:00 PM
To: Jay Mullins; Sue Springman; Brad Mullins
Subject:
FYI regarding temporary greyhound bus stop at 1245 east wash. Lots of people
were gathered on the steps tonight when I left work.
FRIDAY
Sue Springman, from Mullins - We do not want this here
From: Sue Springman
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 8:34 AM
To: Cooley, Timothy
Subject: FW:
This is certainly not going to help us lease this building....I am not sure
what is going on as I am in Florida but if you could have someone look into
this I would appreciate it...we do not want this here.
Tim Cooley, Economic Development Director says Mullins not happy
Tim Cooley wants it moved.
From: Cooley, Timothy
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 9:48 AM
To: Harmon, Ray
Cc: Maniaci, Bridget; Olinger, Mark; 'jbower@bowergrp.com'; Studesville,
Larry; 'Susan Springman'; Mark Bugher
Subject: FW: Greyhound and Mullins
Ray...
Any idea what's going on with this? The owners of the property (Mullins) do
not want a pick-up site in front of their buildings. They were not
contacted re. the change.
Please let me know how we can get this moved.
Thanks.
Tim
MONDAY
Mark Bugher, UW Research Park, wants it moved too
From: Mark Bugher
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 10:13 AM
To: Cooley, Timothy; Harmon, Ray
Cc: Maniaci, Bridget; Olinger, Mark; jbower@bowergrp.com; Studesville, Larry; 'Susan Springman'
Subject: RE: Greyhound and Mullins
I agree with the Mullins position on this one.
Mayor's office responds
From: "Harmon, Ray"
Date: April 5, 2010 3:49:49 PM CDT
To: Mark Bugher, "Cooley, Timothy",
Cc: "Maniaci, Bridget", "Olinger, Mark", Jim Bower, "Studesville, Larry", 'Susan Springman'
Subject: RE: Greyhound and Mullins
Susan-
I shared your concerns with Mayor Dave and he was very supportive of Greyhound moving to another location.
Greyhound will begin operating from the North Transfer Point starting tomorrow at 6:35am.
Please let me know if you have any other questions and or concerns.
Sincerely,
Ray
Neighborhood Notified
from Maniaci, Bridget
to "tlna@yahoogroups.com"
date Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 5:10 PM
subject [tlna] Fwd: Greyhound and Mullins
Greyhound will be moving from using Baldwin & E Wash starting tomorrow.
Bridget
OK, LET'S THINK ABOUT HOW THIS HAPPENED
- Alder sends out notice to neighborhood hours before the bus stop is going to get moved because she only got a few hours notice.
- Alder sends questions to staff, staff say zoning have no issues with moving to the square.
- One neighborhood response:
I like the idea of a Greyhound terminal on East Washington. And, perhaps eventually in the same complex as a Yahara station train depot. I think they could be complementary transportation services. I think ground tranportation needs to eventaully code share like the airlines do to make for more seamless destination options.- Business community and UW doesn't like it and tells Mayor's office and Economic Development Director.
- Within 3 business days, over a holiday/furtlough/spring break weekend, changes are made to accommodate business community and UW and inconvenience bus riders.
Do you think the neighborhood could have gotten this kind of response? If the business community says jump, does the Mayor ask "how high"? Why wasn't Alder Rummel involved since its on her side of the Avenue? What do UW students think of the UW Research Park position on this? How surprised are people going to be when they get dropped off at the wasteland known as the North Transfer Point with not much around, except maybe Wiggie's. Why wasn't Alder Maniaici's suggestion of the square utilized? There's a lot more options for riders there and its closer to the density of the UW and downtown. It made more sense. Don't get me wrong, this was all poorly thought out, I don't know why that location was chosen with no shelter near by in the first place, but imagine getting dropped off in the rain this morning at the North Transfer Point. Or getting to E Wash and Baldwin and finding out the bus stop moved and having to try to figure out how to get to the bus stop. I'm sure glad the business community is happy and not inconvenienced, but this seems like another stupid decision, there have to be better options.
Good thing we have that Walgreens with with the apartments above it. We needed that more than a bus depot. Right?
ReplyDeleteI think that the suggestion that bus riders near a bar means trouble is classic Madison. Even more classic is that it is okay for bus riders to be near a bar (Wiggies) on the north side, but not on the isthmus. I read the square suggestion as a problematic "what if" as in "could they really drop a bunch of poor people on the square?!" but maybe that is just my bias about liberals on the near east side.
ReplyDeleteKudos to alder Maniaci. Having a Greyhound stop on the Capitol Square is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's centrally located and is served by many city bus routes.
A Greyhound stop in front of 22 E. Mifflin would be ideal.
I will again suggest that Greyhound use the same bus stop as Badger Bus. There is nothing preventing them from using the stop in front of Kelly's Market, and since Badger both closed the original depot and then had the city create a bus stop for them to pick up, I think it would be appropriate. When the new W Washington stop was created by ordinance, we made sure to remove the language that specified it was for the use of Badger Bus. It is now just a "bus loading/unloading zone."
ReplyDeleteRobbie Webber
I live just off the corner where the temporary stop was. I was very surprised to all of a sudden have a bunch of folks waiting around. There are at least two issues here - the neighborhood being notified, and the folks - the riders - being notified, not to mention the issue of where the pick up/drop off should be. All three of these issues are not served well by what happened on East Wash (no shelter - I've been watching people waiting in the rain for days now) and neither are they particularly served at North Transfer Point. What a backwards process. They'll need a solution "before" the Yahara Light Rail, that's for sure, and I agree that square is best located, but communication needs to be clear - ahead of time - for riders and for neighbors!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a 3 time a year greyhound rider, it never feels like they are interested in keeping my business. They don't keep track of how many tickets are sold, meaning that you never know if you will actually have a seat on that bus or not. The old station felt pretty creepy, but it was nothing compared to the back room of a warehouse. Pretty much they exist because they are often the only option for low income people. If there were any other option I would take it! So all this really doesn't surprise me.
ReplyDelete22 E Mifflin, perfect. giggle.
ReplyDeleteSince 22 E. Mifflin was built with $3 million of TIF public assistance, the owners should be happy to provide "public access" for the the public in front of their building.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, for our $3 million contribution, they should allow the bus riding public to use the TIF subsidized lobby to stay out of the rain and keep warm.
The mayor and his common council sycophants claim Edgewater's TIF is for "public access." Then why shouldn't the 22 E. Mifflin TIF also provide some public access?
There's no pay phone near Baldwin and E. Wash. Their passengers are much less likely to have cellphones than the overall population.
ReplyDeleteAre there pay phones anywhere?
ReplyDeleteLucy MathiakApril 6, 2010 at 2:11 PM
So that's what's going on! I saw all of these people with duffles, etc. milling about and then a bus pulled up. Thought it was an alternative school field trip or something (sorry - wasn't close enough to see much detail). Couldn't figure out why a big commercial bus would be picking up people outside of the Research Park incubator building.
ReplyDeleteAnd if people need to use city buses and want to head anywhere but the North transfer point, they get to cross East Washington lugging their possessions. You can pretty much forget about taxi service...
This is a good idea because???
The problem with having bus riders near a bar, rochdale, is that many bus riders are underage college students. If the bar is a de facto shelter, with the only nearby public restrooms (and possibly payphone), that could endanger the establishment's liquor license if 18-20-year-olds try to hang out there waiting for their bus.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that irritates me most about all this is that Tim Cooley, who is supposed to be working for the people of Madison, seems to be working for Mullins.
ReplyDelete