Last Week
The week started out with an event in Middleton: Local cyclist and bike advocate Kierstin, who the week before had been forced off the road by a person driving aggressively, organized a Middleton Bike Infrastructure Ride on Monday evening. The ride showcased some of the significant gaps in the bike network in Middleton and brought together both local advocates and supporters from Madison (and Madison Bikes…). Kierstin will publish a guest post about her the ride and her efforts on the Madison Bikes blog later this week.
It turns out all the traffic at Warner Park on Thursday was actually there to watch the Mallards play and not to carry in hundreds of participants for the Regional Transportation Plan 2050 Public Involvement Meeting. In fact, I’m not sure if there was anyone in attendance who wasn’t a staff person, transportation committee member or reporter. I didn’t stay for the whole slide deck, but I did look at all of the maps that depicted current and future bike routes. I think there’s a lot of work needed on these maps to make them meaningful sources of information. On the pedestrian side, there are clearly marked Tier 1 and Tier 2 priority gaps that are prioritized for improvements. On the bike side, there’s no way at all to tell where the most important gaps are currently or how we should go about prioritizing. Until we start clearly identifying our current All Ages and Abilities/Low Stress bike network and the missing links, we’re going to continue to struggle to make any real headway. These maps aren’t up yet, but should be available online soon.
Protected intersection design in Chicago (Source: John Greenfield (https://www.flickr.com/photos/24858199@N00/26125689470)
This Week
Monday: The Madison Bikes Events Committee meets to continue planning for the Winter Bike Fashion Show slated for Saturday, November 19 at the High Noon Saloon.
Wednesday: On Wednesday, City of Madison Traffic Engineering is hosting a Webinar & Chat: Safer Intersections for Peds & Cyclists at the Madison Municipal Building at 2:00pm. The event is open to anyone, but please RSVP on the linked Facebook page.
At 5:00, the Transit & Parking Commission meeting begins and will include an informational presentation on a potential bus route move from Jenifer to Williamson Street.
Also at 5:00 will also be another chance to see the Regional Transportation Plan 2050 presentation, this time at Middleton’s city hall.
Thursday: Madison in Motion Oversight Committee meets for the first time since June. They’ll be reviewing the public input received to date and discussing next steps.
Also on Thursday will be your last chance to catch the Regional Transportation Plan 2050 presentation, this time in Fitchburg.
For details on any of these events, head to the Madison Bikes calendar. If you have an event that you’d like added, send the details to info@madisonbikes.org.