A citizen-driven proposal to make West Edgewater Street a dead end where it meets West Cook Street - also Highway 33 - was shot down in committee Thursday.

The one-way access to West Edgewater from West Cook Street, located to the right just past the Highway 33 bridge coming into town, has been a constant source of consternation among West Edgewater neighbors.

"They feel that it is a safety issue - that there is speeding and semi traffic that takes that shortcut through there," said Common Council member Doug Klapper, who represents the residential neighborhood.

The proposal was voted down 3-2 by the Municipal Services and Utilities Committee on Thursday. Common Council member Addie Tamboli voted with Klapper in favor of advancing the proposal, while Council members Michael Oszman, Rick Dodd and Fred Reckling voted it down.

"I think it would be in the best interest of the entire city to leave it open," Reckling said.

The proposal met with some trepidation from the Portage Police Department, which had concerns about emergency alternate routes for West Cook Street if it were blocked off at its intersection with Pierce Street.

West Edgewater resident Phil Mattke, the only area resident to attend the meeting, said he was not opposed to keeping the one-way access open, but he said more should be done to prevent traffic from trying to go the wrong way through the access - specifically heavy vehicle traffic.

"Semis are the big issue," said Mattke, who said he has repeatedly watched semi drivers get stuck at the end of West Edgewater trying to get to West Cook Street.

Committee Chairman Rick Dodd said that the committee would look into other ways to help correct the problems that West Edgewater residents are having at a future meeting.

The proposal was generated by a recent meeting of the River to Wisconsin Neighborhood Watch Group. Klapper introduced it to the committee.

If the committee and subsequently the Common Council had approved the closure, it could have been included in the upcoming Wisconsin Department of Transportation highway 33 bridge repair project.

The DOT plans to replace the bridge's deteriorating deck in the spring of 2011.

The project will include installing light fixtures, new signs and railings and replacing curb and gutter. The existing beam guard also will be replaced. Additionally, the width of the current sidewalk will be increased from 5 feet to 6 feet on the bridge to accommodate pedestrians. There will, however, not be another sidewalk added on the other side of the road.

The project is estimated to cost between $2 million and $2.5 million.

In other business connected to the bridge repair project, the committee decided that it did not want to include an expensive city-funded add-on to the project. Members of the committee decided against decorative and more ornate railings for the bridge that would have cost the city about $50,000.