Why have deeded covenants about sidwalks if they're not going to be honored? To me it sounds like a form of fraud. Buy this home, it is zoned for no sidewalk. HA HA! Fooled you into to buying the home. Oh yeah, I forgot we are dealing with politicians.

People using Wright Road to drive onto E. Rotamer use the bike lane all the time for a right turn. At times, there have been 3 vehicles at the stop sign, one turning left and two trying to turn right! I reported the fact that people turning right are frequently using the bike lane and potentially causing a safety issue when they pull up quickly to make a quick right turn and another vehicle is already turning right (legally). I was told that really doesn't happen. I live near this intersection, so I know it does. The other issue I have with bike lanes, people riding towards(and close) to oncoming traffic. When there are bike lanes on both sides of Rotamer and Wright, why don't people on bikes follow the traffic flow? Maybe they should paint arrows for the direction of travel in the bike lanes, like they do for the turn lanes.
Sorry to hijack, but had to chime in on the bike lane issue.

janesville is also behind in the times, alot of cities are changing to black top side walks wider and they serve as both a bike lane and a sidewalk. the work better for two reason s they take up less space, in the winter the snow and ice melt faster. i also disagree with the comment its ok to use a bike lane to pass turning vehicles, really how can u see completely to the right of the vehicle before you move over there , theres also a solid white line which mean s your not suppose to cross it, a bike lane is a bike lane, not a passing lane. how about the traffic just slows down and waits like there suppose to. we saw a car almost take out a motorcycle the other day by using the bike lane to pass and the motorcycle was turning into a driveway. its such of waste of space and money its ridiculous

Hmmmmm...pay my mortgage or pay for a bunch of cement..I smell a rat.

If this goes through, ManOnTheStreet will be a man on the street.

NPR “National Public Radio” did a report on how cites tried to save money by employing their own construction crew instead of contracting them. When the economy took a dive many of the cites turn to building sidewalks that weren’t scheduled to be built for 30 years to keep the crews busy, and why not the landowners are footing the bill. I wonder if that is what is going on here because it sure doesn’t make any sense to me. Now is a time we should be using what little resources we have left sparingly. Feeding the Hungry and taking care of our sick the homeless perhaps. Ever work in a homeless shelter?

I would love to see this issue on the ballot in November. It's not like it would cost the city the same expense as holding a single-issue referendum.
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I find it interesting that the council finally found the "chutzpah" (whatever that is) during the worse economic crisis that any member of this council has seen while in office.
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I'm beginning to take real issue with Russ Steeber. His flip flop stance on the bike tunnel was insulting, but it couldn't hold a candle to his proposal to prohibit what he deemed "harmful material" at Spencer Gifts in the mall. I've absolutely had it with him.

The map will soon be on the city's website. Assuming this link is correct and remains unchanged, you can view the map for zone 3 and 4 on the gazette article from the 9th. (Link is on left-hand side of article.)
http://gazettextra.com/news/2010/oct/09/...

probably not okay to use it as an actual passing lane -- as in the guy in front of you is going to slow so you bust around, and punch it and pass him on the bike lane.. It's alright to go around someone that is turning, or use the bike lane side if you are the one doing the turning. You have to check for traffic IN the lane before you go into it, just like any other lane anywhere else.

and if you want a good picture of how much land they took drive out there where the cars travel that used to be the edge of the road, then look at where the side walks are. what happened to trying to build on less land, the road out there and bike land plus side walk is a huge waste of space. not to mention like i said the cars just use the bike lane for a passing lane which according to the police department is legal if they do it safely

we have emailed went to council meetings , and fought even being annexed we also asked for the builders wanting to add a subdivision to have to pay annexation cost s and for sidewalks all to deaf ears. so far my parents are over 30,000.00 into this. they have lost most of their front yard, on street parking ,and all the city can do is tell them what they have to do next. no to mention at their age now they have to start shoveling a side walk in the winter. and to top it all off the economy tank and there will be no subdivision built.

I think it is crap too.
Do they really do studies(another waste) to figure out if these are needed in those places or just drawing out of a hat?
You should STILL be putting this on hold until things are back to normal LIKE 10 years because most are playing catch up WHEN it gets back to normal.

Yes go ahead and email council. I have tried on certain issues and told "misprint" or bla bla bla from a lawyer.
Still email- if they get enough maybe they will GET A CLUE!

Yea try to hire somebody else- nobody applies except the loon bird.

Amishbob/ I understand now. I didn't know the city doesn't have to honor deeded neighborhood covenants either. Imminent domain apparently.

well said Tikiman1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How much is the city offering each home owner to take part of their land? Are they buying it or leasing it?

Maybe the city should worry about getting more jobs here before worrying about the sidewalks that people might need to get to said missing jobs!

TJ: When the early Wuthering Hills lots were plotted, they had deeded covenants that there would never be sidewalks. That is the reason for the smaller lot sizes. Of course the city of Janesville does not have to honor those covenants. The sidewalk would almost be halfway to the front of my home. With the new set back codes, all of those homes could not be built today where they sit now. They would have to be moved minimum of 20 feet back.

TJRockCounty:
First of all, when I moved into my home, my home was not zoned to have a sidewalk. I purchased my home on this assumption. Certain people complained and it was changed. So I am a responsible homeowner and I did my homework before purchasing my home. My husband lost his job over 2 years ago. Lo and behold, no one wants to hire older people. We have been without medical insurance for over 2 years. If I could afford it, I would have put money aside for medical insurance instead of a sidewalk. Priorities rule. Maybe the city should do the same. With priorities, that is.

Anybody want to buy a house? Soon it will have beautiful new sidewalks. No lighting, no trees, and a steeply inclined sidewalk that will make it impossible to walk safely on in the winter....and dangerous to shovel...but oh boy I bet it'll look great! Deal comes with a free shovel but back taxes will be due to pay the sidewalk levy. Let's negotiate.

Glad I moved out of the city before this. I used to live on a corner lot so it would have been a double hit (plus adding the wheelchair accesible ramps in 2 crossing locations at the curb). The only benifet would be for the dog walkers to get their animals further up into my yard to relieve themselves.

where do I find this map????????

TJ--It isn't small yards, it's that the houses were plotted closer to the street. The houses would have been set back further if there was to be sidewalks. You will be almost able to touch my picture window fron these "needed" sidewalks.

Amishbob/ That's an awfully small yard if you're losing half of it to a sidewalk!

Honestly, who uses the sidewalk any ways, definelty not the ones on bicycles.

in addition.. be sure to check the map to see if you are even going to have to put a sidewalk in at all! Not everyone is planned to have a sidewalk...

Thank you Hollynfaith for stating my exact feelings on this pile of horse do-do.

"Staff this week will notify about 300 property owners included in the 2011 sidewalk plan of its decision to move ahead with installation." That is why I went to the informal listening session on Monday night before the vote, due to the previous Gazette article implying the same statement. However, while I was at the listening session, the council members said they were voting on the "prioritizing" part of the plan -- and would go from there to decide when to start any plan. I had mentioned to the council that plans could be approved, but the plan shouldn't be implemented until Janesville's official unemployment rate is at an "acceptable" number. I agree that we don't want the city to look like crap; it is important to proceed with some plans so that we don't have a huge hole to dig ourselves out of when the economy does pick back up in the next few years... I also appreciate the talk regarding volunteer work to pay off the sidewalk bills. That should apply to all sorts of city fees. Put people to work cleaning things up!

When the subdivision I live in was laid out, the lots were sized with NO provision for sidewalks. I will lose half of my front yard to a sidewalk. Unless the city is going to remove parking on one side of the street and narrow the street, my property value will plummet. Of course the assessor will claim because I have this nice new sidewalk so close to my home, that my value has increased.

Why not send these comments to the City Council. I doubt they read the paper.

Here are thir email addresses phone number and addresses
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/citysite/...

Call them email them. I have called each of them. they are clear detached from the people that put them in office

Its easy to sit behind the computer and complain about the city council, no one goes to the meetings so what do you expect? If the council has no resistance they are free to do whatever they want. Quit complaining behind the computer and go to a meeting. Notice how the article said there was (1) resident there who was opposed to the plan? (1) person? I already had to "fix" my sidewalk, yeah the price tag hurt, but I paid it cause I had to, I didn't go to any meetings to voice my opinion, so I paid it. The only way the council is going to change it's ways is if the residents of Janesville make it well aware that we are not happy with their decisions. Bloggin all day long ain't gonna do nothing to change their decisions...

If the city insists on pursuing the sidewalk plan, the cost should be covered by the general tax levy, not individual property owners. That's the way it works best. The way it is now, it pits neighbor against neighbor, and it simply is not fair. Hopefully, a City Council can be elected to correct this mistake by the current Council.

So we are barrowing money from a country “like China” that can’t feed it’s own people to build 47 miles of sidewalks in Janesville, does that sound smart to anyone else? I might understand if GM and all the companies here in Janesville that supports GM are doing great but hey we all know that’s not the case. As “book9” says: “people are barely making it as it is” Lets toss these bums out of office and get some real leadership.

Apparently Mr. Steeber has found a new definition of the word "chutzpah", which now includes the definition "screwing the taxpayers I was elected to represent". Well Sir, here's to hoping the voters have the "chutzpah" to vote you, and every other waste of space that sits on the city council that voted for this crap right out of office.

Why doesn't the city just use the money they were going to allocate for that stupid ice arena that nobody wants? That should pretty much cover all those sidewalks. Or is that too outside of the box for them to comprehend? Seriously, these people haven't a clue as to what truly is in the best interest of this community. Homeless getting kicked out of shelters, Food pantry usage at an all time high, but as long as it's not in their neighborhood, they get to sleep soundly? All the while, poor grandma down the block is fretting over what medication she is going to cut out to be able to pay the bill so she doesn't lose her house to the bogus forclosures in this town? It's really sickening. I think some of them are in for a rude awakening when re-election time comes around.

Has the world gone mad or just the Janesville City Council. This is not free money from the government, this is our tax money. What are the numbers? How much is it per person, per day, per user. Twenty dollars a day for ten years, would you buy that if it was an option? And you know it is more like $1,000 a day per sidewalk user.
I know for myself it will be 20’ X 150’ "or 3000 square feet of my land", plus 60,000 worth of decretive shrubs and they will more than likely charge me $138 a foot to put it in for a total of “$20,000”. Will my property value go up 100,000, I doubt it, in fact I bet it will go down. All that and than I have to take care of it. Hmmmmmmmm? Just what I wanted for Chirstmas. Thanks guys!

http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/Library/n...

again i will say it they forced half of rotamer road to put in sidewalks , first they took alot of the front yards to widen the street and put in a bike lane, now side walks. very few people use the side walks and the bike path is used for a passing lane, it also took away on street parking. how much more do they want people to give. most have now lost half of their front yards. keep in mind alot of these property owners were just annexed into the city which already cost them close to 15,000.00 some more then that. alot of these property owners are retired and built these houses and living on a fixed income the whole things seems like a huge waste of money.

Badgerlvr: Next time you see Stevie walking in the road, yell at him & tell him to start using the sidewalk! LOL

Deep thoughts from somebody that sounds like a true apartment dweller.
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My house is 90 -NINETY- years old and has never had sidewalks or a reason for them, that is until some bureaucrat decided otherwise. I will have to have a 200+ year old oak tree removed, a telephone pole relocated, and a retaining wall built as my property is 4 feet above the street level. Who is going to pay for all this extra work?

Foe/ Very mature comment. Always a pleasure having someone like you join the blog. Eye roll.

As a matter of fact the council has the power to delay it, dump it, or change it.
So TJRockCounty take your comment and blow it out your ...!

In 2008, THAT Council put this plan in place. The Council held off on proceeding with the plan for 2 years in an effort to give people time to put money away. The sidewalk plan could not be delayed again. In the meantime, homeowners have from 1 to 7 years to prepare for the sidewalks. There is an easier payment plan also.
Homeownership is a responsibility, you have more than a mortgage and taxes to pay for. Sidewalks are a part of that responsibility. The complaints are silly. Suck it up and go buy your snow shovel.

Ha! The former city manager and his wife walk by my house (in the street) nearly every day. Two years ago he pushed sidewalks in my neighborhood claiming it was a "safety" issue. Talk about a hypocrite. Good luck in talking to the city counsel. I suspect they're all hearing impaired.

What a crock!!!

Retired and low income people are barely making it as it is. Now there will be more houses on the market. I will definitely make plans to sell my house, and will vote against any of the current council members when they are up for election.