Letter to the Editor | Giving up on Metro redesign

Sharing a Cap Times Letter to the Editor from a District 11 resident. After receiving an email from John Heim on 10/25/23, I contacted City Staff asking when the intersection at Regent Street and Whitney Way would be completed. I was told on 10/26/23 that, "Our current schedule shows us opening up this intersection completely sometime the week of 11/13. We should be able to open the south bound side next week after the west curb ramps are top soiled and restored." This morning the crosswalks are still closed.

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Bill Tishler 10:47 AM 11/11/2023

Letter to the Editor | Giving up on Metro redesign

by John Heim 
The Cap Times
11/11/2023
 

Dear Editor: Recently I was informed that I have qualified for paratransit. I am blind but I lived in Madison for 32 years before applying. I feel I was the kind of disabled person we all want in this society. I never asked for anything unless I felt I had to. I could take the bus so I did. I considered it a point of pride.

What finally made me apply for paratransit was the Madison Metro system redesign. Years ago, I bought a house on a bus route so I could have easy access to the bus. That route is now gone. I have to walk an extra 400 yards and cross a busy street, Whitney Way, to catch a bus to the grocery store, to the hardware store or to campus. For six months, I haven't even been able to do that because of the construction for the BRT line. Its not safe for me to cross Whitney Way with all that construction. So finally I asked myself why should I keep on fighting the good fight if they are going to treat me this way.

I suppose that I have nothing to complain about. No more lugging groceries home on the bus. No more risking my life crossing Odana Road to get to the dentist. No more calling around trying to find a ride to the climbing gym.

But sorry taxpayers. You're paying for all that now.

John Heim

Madison