Alaska had its bridge to nowhere, and now Monroe faces the prospect of a sidewalk to nowhere. The solutions for the City of Monroe seem pretty simple. They're essentially spelled out in the Planned Unit Development (PUD) agreement it signed with Walmart in early 2008.
As the Walmart Supercenter nears its planned late-summer opening, a 450-foot gap in the sidewalk connecting the store to existing sidewalk on 8th Street is causing consternation. Walmart built a sidewalk from its Supercenter site to the south end of the Wisconsin 11 overpass. But from there to 8th Street is just a stretch of grass on a hill resting feet from the turn lane off 6th Street.
Monroe resident Bruce Sylvester rightly requested that the sidewalk be completed. At the Monroe Board of Public Works meeting June 1, City Engineering Supervisor Al Gerber agreed, saying the sidewalk "can and should be done." Sylvester urged the city to work with Walmart to get the sidewalk completed at the company's expense.
It would make sense for Walmart to pay for the complete sidewalk extension from 8th Street to the new store. After all, Walmart, as required in the PUD agreement, paid for the extension of water and sewer services from the city's existing lines to the site, as well as for new public roads.
However, the PUD agreement does not require Walmart to pay for sidewalk all the way to 8th Street. What the agreement says is:
"Walmart shall, at no cost to the City and according to the Highway 11 Pedestrian Crossing Plan and WisDOT requirements, construct a pedestrian walk over the 6th Avenue bridge overpass of State Highway 11 from a point that connects with the pedestrian circulation system within the Project Area to a point within the right-of-way of 6th Avenue West immediately south of the existing interchange ramp that provides access from 6th Avenue West to the eastbound lanes of State Highway 11."
In English, that means Walmart was required to put sidewalk from its site, over Highway 11 to immediately south of the interchange ramp. Which is what Walmart has done. Mayor Ron Marsh told the Board of Public Works on June 1 that the company was going to stop installing sidewalks at the boundary of its property, but "took it upon themselves" to create a sidewalk on the bridge over the highway.
Walmart did not "take it upon themselves." The company was required by the PUD to do what it's done.
Now, the city is asking Walmart to do more than what it's agreed to do, and complete the sidewalk to 8th Street. The board asked Marsh to make the request to Walmart.
No one expects Walmart to accept the request, nor should it.
The PUD should have made provisions for a complete sidewalk and whom was going to pay for it. It didn't.
"I pressed Walmart the whole time through the PUD. They didn't want to," Gerber said.
Eventually, the city agreed to require Walmart to build a partial sidewalk. Now that that's in place, common sense and safety would dictate that the sidewalk be completed. And if Walmart's not going to pay for it - it doesn't have to, nor should it have to - the city must.
It's that simple.
As the Walmart Supercenter nears its planned late-summer opening, a 450-foot gap in the sidewalk connecting the store to existing sidewalk on 8th Street is causing consternation. Walmart built a sidewalk from its Supercenter site to the south end of the Wisconsin 11 overpass. But from there to 8th Street is just a stretch of grass on a hill resting feet from the turn lane off 6th Street.
Monroe resident Bruce Sylvester rightly requested that the sidewalk be completed. At the Monroe Board of Public Works meeting June 1, City Engineering Supervisor Al Gerber agreed, saying the sidewalk "can and should be done." Sylvester urged the city to work with Walmart to get the sidewalk completed at the company's expense.
It would make sense for Walmart to pay for the complete sidewalk extension from 8th Street to the new store. After all, Walmart, as required in the PUD agreement, paid for the extension of water and sewer services from the city's existing lines to the site, as well as for new public roads.
However, the PUD agreement does not require Walmart to pay for sidewalk all the way to 8th Street. What the agreement says is:
"Walmart shall, at no cost to the City and according to the Highway 11 Pedestrian Crossing Plan and WisDOT requirements, construct a pedestrian walk over the 6th Avenue bridge overpass of State Highway 11 from a point that connects with the pedestrian circulation system within the Project Area to a point within the right-of-way of 6th Avenue West immediately south of the existing interchange ramp that provides access from 6th Avenue West to the eastbound lanes of State Highway 11."
In English, that means Walmart was required to put sidewalk from its site, over Highway 11 to immediately south of the interchange ramp. Which is what Walmart has done. Mayor Ron Marsh told the Board of Public Works on June 1 that the company was going to stop installing sidewalks at the boundary of its property, but "took it upon themselves" to create a sidewalk on the bridge over the highway.
Walmart did not "take it upon themselves." The company was required by the PUD to do what it's done.
Now, the city is asking Walmart to do more than what it's agreed to do, and complete the sidewalk to 8th Street. The board asked Marsh to make the request to Walmart.
No one expects Walmart to accept the request, nor should it.
The PUD should have made provisions for a complete sidewalk and whom was going to pay for it. It didn't.
"I pressed Walmart the whole time through the PUD. They didn't want to," Gerber said.
Eventually, the city agreed to require Walmart to build a partial sidewalk. Now that that's in place, common sense and safety would dictate that the sidewalk be completed. And if Walmart's not going to pay for it - it doesn't have to, nor should it have to - the city must.
It's that simple.
