Neighbors turn out en masse to oppose non-motorized improvements.

The city is speeding past the real problem on North Madison Avenue, some residents says.

“It’s become a miniature highway,” said Ben Pecora, who has lived for over a decade on North Madison, which stretches between its intersection with State Route 305 and the north end of Phelps Road. “Speed is the issue on North Madison. The city is misappropriating public funds until speed is addressed.”

Pecora and a handful of his neighbors turned out at a public hearing on the city’s 2007 preliminary budget meeting Monday night to urge the City Council to abandon non-motorized transportation upgrades planned for North Madison.

Instead, residents say they want to see the speed limit along much of the road reduced from 40 to 30 miles per hour.

The city had planned an $820,000 project to build bike paths and horse trails and improve pedestrian safety along the stretch of North Madison between 305 and Day Road.

More than 100 bicyclists travel North Madison each day, according to city estimates, and the road is popular with neighborhood joggers and walkers.

The project was recently listed on the city’s 2007 preliminary budget deferred list. Unless the City Council approves two proposed capital programs engineers, the project will likely be put on hold indefinitely.

Still, some North Madison residents made clear the project will not improve their neighborhood.

“I’ve ridden my bike everywhere on every road on the island (and) Madison can be scary,” said North Madison resident Terry Endicott. “But a huge bike path? No, we don’t want it.”

Endicott believes the non-motorized project would alter the rural character of North Madison.

“We’re becoming like Mercer Island,” he said. “Is that what you want?”

The non-motorized transportation improvements would require the widening of North Madison, cutting into front yards and putting the porches of some older homes unpleasantly close to the busy road.

“Some of these houses are 40 or 50 feet from the road,” said North Madison resident Tom Koken. “With the new (upgrades), these sidewalks and horse trails would be within 5 feet of some front doors.”

Endicott warned that forcing upgrades on the neighborhood could lead to a costly legal battle.

“This is a lawsuit waiting to happen,” he said.

Increased traffic on the island has bled from 305 to North Madison, which runs in a nearly straight line parallel to the highway. The additional vehicles are making the road less safe, especially drivers who regularly exceed the speed limit. Pecora has noted drivers traveling nearly twice the 40 mph speed limit.

“For over 11 years I’ve worked for a lower speed limit,” he said, noting 70 mph speeding tickets listed with the Bainbridge Island Police Department. “This is appalling.”

Koken said traffic backups on 305 often sends commuters in search of a short-cut through his neighborhood.

Evidence, he said, can be seen along Day Road’s intersection with 305, where up to 40 vehicles pile at the signal at rush hour after cutting along North Madison en route to the mainland.

Bike paths and sidewalks likely wouldn’t alleviate this problem, according to North Madison resident Jan Willsey, but a speed reduction could dissuade some commuters from using her neighborhood road. Lower speeds may also improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, Willsey said.

“I know it’s hard to bike the road,” she said. “But a speed reduction would help us and the bike riders.”