The University Avenue bike lane-turned sidewalk is causing a commotion among bikers and pedestrians.
""Fuck you!"" shouted one cyclist last week as he sped eastbound on University Avenue, his middle finger waving at a young couple he had just bumped.
""What the fuck?"" responded the boyfriend, his injured arm raised in a gesture of disbelief.
Construction on new apartments at University Square has led to the closing of sidewalks on both sides of the site. From Murray to Lake Streets, UW-Madison students now have nowhere to walk. The only option left is the bike lane on University Avenue.
Along the path stand signs that bar pedestrians from entering. However, walkers regularly use the path as a sidewalk.
""I ride down Johnson, which is actually more dangerous,"" said Ray Rosing, a UW-Madison junior. ""I would rather be hit by a car than hit pedestrians.""
Dangers abound for both walkers and cyclists in the narrow corridor: On one side there is a fence and on the other a concrete barrier. When three people walk side by side, as is often the case, bikes clog the lane and muffled curse words are commonplace.
""It's an enclosed area and you have nowhere to go,"" Rosing said.
Pedestrians, who have steadfastly refused to change their class-time routines, claim the city and Findorff should have offered a temporary sidewalk for one of the most heavily traveled areas on campus.
""They should have taken students interest in mind,"" said UW-Madison freshman Karen Barnett.
Instead, walkers weave in and out of two-wheeled traffic, hoping to avoid paying the price for their defiance of municipal traffic signs.
Findorff worked closely with the city in the run-up to construction, and according to senior project manager Jeff McClean, the firm foresaw the problem of a bike lane choked with walkers.
""We worked with the busses, and traffic, and bikes, the UW, anybody that we could get to give us some input,"" McClean said.
""It went through quite a laborus process with the city,"" he added.
Still, according to Deputy City Engineer Rob Phillips, inconvenience often is inevitable.
""Sometimes it is just physically impossible to do something without closing the sidewalk,"" Phillips said. ""And I think in the case of University Square, that was probably the case.""
No sidewalks are likely to appear on the south side of University Avenue before 2008.
