Month: August 2019

While everyone is trying to squeeze in a few more summer rides, parents are thinking about sending the kids back to school, college students are planning their classes, and days are getting shorter, we are still hard at work on a number of issues.

We’ll be releasing a request Soon we’ll be asking for people who might want to be on our board of directors. No formal process or link yet, but think about if you might want to be one of those people.

We made our goal for fundraising to sponsor a rack at the new Pinney LIbrary, so when it opens, look for the rack with our name. Thanks to all who donated!

And the city’s Bike Madison updates are now available in PDF form each week. Here’s the Aug 23 edition. We try to keep you up to date on construction, plans, meetings, detours, official city events, and other news, but if you want to get the latest directly from the city, you can subscribe to their updates. There are links to a number of upcoming projects as well as some updates and detours for current construction going on around the city.

The week ahead

Monday

Both Bike Fitchburg and Madison Bikes will be holding meetings.

This is the regular monthly meeting of Bike Fitchburg from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Rd.

Madison Bikes is trying something new. Instead of having our committees meet separately, we are going to have the entire board — and any interested volunteers — meet as a group and work on the events and issues we have before us. This month we will be meeting at 6:00 pm Bendy Works, 2nd floor of 106 E Doty St. If you are interested in getting involved or helping us with advocacy, events, or communications, come on by.

Tuesday

The two city transportation committees — the Transportation Planning and Policy Board and the Transportation Commission — will hold a joint meeting at 5:00 pm in Room 215 of the Madison Municipal Building. The only topic is to review the transportation ordinances and the responsibilities of each committee. I.e. they’ll be talking about who is supposed to be doing what.

Slow Roll Cycles — 4118 Monona Dr — will host a no-drop ride and art party 5:30-9:30 pm.I’ll let them explain:

“For this edition we have a special guest – Morgan McArthur – who will sharing some of this work and will be pin-striping a bike while we ride. Morgan does contract work for Waterford here in Wisco, has been doing this for years and knows his craft very well. We are riding at 5:30, strolling to the Lower Yahara River Trail and back (15 miles). After we will have beers (BYOB), snacks and talk art and bicycles. We will be joined by the Madison Rotary Bike Fellowship – they are arranging this special night. Share, tell your friends to come – NO Drop casual ride as always.” More information at the Facebook event page.

Wednesday

Cyclocross practice at Reindahl Park. If you are interested in trying out cyclocross, or want to sharpen your skills, there is a long list of practice opportunities. More info, the calendar, and more links can be found on the Madison Bikes Community Calendar.

Thursday

How will bus rapid transit affect bicycling in Madison? Maybe it won’t, but if you have any questions about this coming transit option, or just want to weigh in, come to the third public meeting for the planning study at the Madison Senior Center, 330 W Mifflin St, 6:00-7:30 pm.

Sunday

One of the best known rides of the summer will be held as a fundraiser for Free Bikes For Kids. The Wright Stuff Century, put on by Bombay Bicycle Club, will start and end at Capital Brewery in Middleton. Routes options of 30, 60, and 100 miles will give almost everyone a ride they can enjoy. More information can be found here.

What were we talking about on Facebook?

There are always lively discussions on our Madison Bikes Community group. Here’s a sample from the last week:

After one of our members had a nasty crash when a driver ran a red light at John Nolen Dr and North Shore Dr, a lot of people had opinions about what should be done at the intersection and what the law is regarding using a crosswalk on a bike.

Photos of new bike paths at Machinery Row and in Shorewood Hills were posted, and people commented. The new link in Shorewood Hills isn’t ready for traffic yet, so please stay off for a while longer.

Photos of the crazy combination bike lane/sidewalk on Winnequah in Monona — with trash bins blocking it — sparked discussions about Monona’s plans for better walking and biking facilities and the history of the weird arrangement that is on the ground now.

And unfortunately, last week started with news of two more bike crashes on the far west side, one involving a hit-and-run on Gammon.

Remember, if you have an event for our community calendar, please send it to us.

Last call for donations: Pinney Library Bike Rack

Our fundraiser for the new Pinney Library is nearing it’s end. We have raised just shy of our $800. Can you help us achieve our $1000 goal, which would allow us to get a Madison Bikes-branded rack at the library? Donate now on our website! And thanks to all those who have already contributed!

Public Input Wanted

There are a few Master Planning projects in the works of particular interest to this group. They are the Law Park Master Plan and the Vilas Park Master Plan. Law Park is the major waterfront park that runs from Machinery Row to the John Nolen Drive bridges over Monona Bay, and includes the most heavily used path in the state, the Capital City Path. Vilas Park is adjacent to Henry Vilas Zoo and currently has a one-way road with a somewhat deficient contraflow bike lane. Both of these projects have open community surveys with which you are encouraged to participate, links below.

There is also a Bicycle Friendly Community Survey being conducted by the League of American Bicyclists looking for input about local bicycling conditions from everyone who bikes in Madison. The survey is being conducted to assess the LAB’s Bicycle Friendly Community rating for the city. Madison is currently rated a Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community by the LAB. There are also Bicycle Friendly Community surveys available for Fitchburg, Verona, and Sun Prairie.

Law Park Survey

Vilas Park Survey

League of American Bicyclists Survey

Last Week

On Thursday, the city held its first planning workshop with regards to the Law Park Master Planning process. Law Park is a major waterfront park in downtown Madison that includes the heavily used Capital City Path, and the city wants your input in how the park will be used in the future. Thursday’s workshop was the first of four public outreach efforts the city is planning. The second one being this Wednesday, so watch out for that. In the meantime, you are encouraged to fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.

Several construction projects have also started to enter their final stages.

The construction on Wilson and Williamson Streets has largely been completed, and the light poles are now up for the Blount Street diagonal crossing. As part of this project, new stop signs were erected to face car traffic at the Capital City Path crossing at Blount, demonstrating the city’s commitment to improving bicycle infrastructure for people.

The construction of the Shorewood Hills Path between University Bay Drive and Marshall Court is also nearing completion. Last week the asphalt was laid to bridge a long-identified gap in that path that starts on the University campus and extends all the way to Allen Boulevard near Middleton. Although the asphalt has been laid, there is still much work to be done, including pouring the concrete for the curb ramps, so be patient and continue to use Marshall Court for the time being to allow the contractor to properly finish this project.

Also, according to the East Johnson Street project web page, the path between Burr Jones Park and First Street is expected to reopen this week, although it appears the path crossing at First Street will continue to be closed.

This Week

Monday, August 19

The monthly Madison Bikes Board Meeting is taking place at Madison’s Central Library and starts at 6:00 PM.

Tuesday, August 20,

Bombay Bicycle Club is having a Ride and Social starting and ending at Wisconsin Brewing Company, located at 1079 American Way in Verona. Meet at 5:45 PM for a route briefing, and stay for the post-ride social from 7-9 PM. More details, including the Ride With GPS route, can be found on the Facebook Events page for the event.

Wednesday, August 21,

From 9 AM to 11 AM, there will be Free Bike Tune-Ups courtesy of Freewheel Community Bike Shop at First United Methodist Church, located at 203 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Madison. There will also be an educational element to the event. Read more about the event here.

From 5:30 PM to 6:45 PM at Badger Prairie County Park there is a free Cyclocross Practice opportunity. Badger Prairie County Park is located at 4654 Maple Grove Drive in Verona. The free cyclocross practice is sponsored by the Capital Off-Road Pathfinders, L5, Neff Cycling, and Madison Parks.

The second Law Park Community Workshop is being held at 6 PM, this time at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center, located at 1625 Northport Drive on Madison’s north side. As mentioned above, you can learn more by heading over to the city’s Law Park Master Planning process web page. You can also fill out the public survey or send in your thoughts via email to LawPark@cityofmadison.com.

Thursday, August 22,

The City of Madison is hosting a public meeting regarding Demetral Park Path Lighting. The meeting will run from 6 PM to 7 PM at Bashford United Methodist Church, located at 329 North Street on Madison’s east side. Read more about the meeting here on the City’s website.

Sunday, August 25,

Trek is hosting a Mountain Bike Demo at Quarry Ridge Park, located at 2740 Fitchrona Road, in Fitchburg. The demo runs from 10 AM to 2 PM, and you are welcome to try out Trek’s new full-suspension and hard tail MTBs. Read more about this event on its Facebook Events page.

Madison Bikes is looking for Board Member Candidates

If you think you would be a good fit on the Madison Bikes Board, there will be a board member open house on September 12 at 6 PM. Location TBD.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday

Events Committee 6:00 tonight at Rockhound Brewing Company. Preparations have begun for the winter bike fashion show, help us make it great.

Wednesday

Transportation Commission 5:00 –⁠ 7:00 pm 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd Room 207, Madison Municipal Building. There will be a presentation about Safe Routes to School.

Cyclocross Practice 5:30 pm at Aldo Leopold Park Madison Parks, Capitol Off Road Pathfinders, L5 and Neff Cycling are joining up to offer a huge calendar of free cyclocross practice opportunities this year.

You have 2 options to choose from at each practice: a beginners clinic and an intermediate/advanced practice. It’s your choice, or you could try both! All practices are free and open to the public. All ages and abilities are welcome (boys and girls); anyone old enough to ride a bike and take instruction fairly well. More info is available here.

Thursday

Erik’s Bike Shop MTB Demo at Middleton Bike Park 4:00 pm Join for a free mountain bike demo. Erik’s staff will be on hand to help you find the right Specialized or Santa Cruz mountain bike and get you set up for a ride. More info is available here.

Send us your events

Reminder that we have a Community Bike Calendar on our website. If you would like to add something, send it to us. We can’t guarantee it will be featured in the weekly update, but at least it will be available for people to see.

This past week

August in Madison, when everyone is out on bikes, and city meetings slow down. We did have one great event this past weekend. Adonia Lugo came to Madison to talk about her work on race and bicycling. We helped to organize a nice community ride n Saturday. She then did a reading from her book and took questions. If you missed it, but are interested in this subject, you can either buy the book or get in line to check it out from the library.

The week ahead

Monday

The Transportation Planning and Policy Board will meet at 5:00 pm in Room 215 of the Municipal Building. On the agenda is:

• Update on the Wilson St project
• Nelson Neighborhood Development Plan (with some new pedestrian-bike connections)
• Oscar Meyer Special Area Plan (there are no documents available, but additional bike-ped connections are needed in this area.)
• Projects that will be submitted for Transportation Alternatives Program funding (federal bike-ped funding). These include path connections, over/underpasses, and paths along roadways. Not all of these will necessarily be funded, but this is what the city is requesting.

Tuesday

The Madison Bikes Communications Committee will meet at Memorial Union Terrace at 6:00 pm. If you are interested in attending or helping with communications, drop us a line at Media@madisonbikes.org/. We always love to have new volunteers, and helping on one of the committees is a great way to see what we are all about and help out the biking community.

Wednesday

The Madison Area Transportation Planning Board (MPO) meets at 6:30 pm at the Water Utility Building at 119 E. Olin Ave. There isn’t anything specifically about bicycling on the agenda, but they will be discussing a couple of items that could affect biking. One item is plans for Hwy M between Hwys Q and 113 –⁠ across the top of Lake Mendota. They will also be discussing the Transportation Improvement Plan –⁠ the five-year plan for transportation for the region. Documents on these items are not available as of this writing, but they should be uploaded here before the meeting.

Send us your events

Reminder that we have a Community Bike Calendar on our website. If you would like to add something, send it to us. We can’t guarantee it will be featured in the weekly update, but at least it will be available for people to see.

What are we talking about on online?

The photo at the top of the post was prompted by a discussion on a different Facebook group about bad bicycle parking. I have an entire file on my computer labeled “Bike Parking Fail.” What made me think of this is that there was a long discussion on our Facebook group about signs outside Monroe St businesses asking bicyclists to please walk their bikes (on the sidewalk.) When Monroe St was being reconstructed, we pointed out the need for safe and comfortable bike facilities ON the street where destinations are located (as opposed to the SW Path, which does not connect directly to Monroe)– one way to keep bicyclists from using the sidewalk. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, so people coming from and going to businesses sometimes bike on the sidewalk.

There was also a very long discussion about passing pedestrians on shared paths. I hear a lot of grumbling from pedestrians about being passed too closely or by bicyclists going too fast. As our paths get more popular and more people use them for transportation, we all have to remember that the paths are shared, not just for bicyclists. And maybe we need more space so there will be fewer conflicts. After all, that’s what happens when highways get crowded — they get expanded.

One of our regular FB contributors had a nasty experience with the driver van belonging to a local business while riding on the Mifflin bike boulevard. When he stopped there to complain, it turns out the driver was also the manager and co-owner. This business is in a very bike/ped friendly neighborhood and frequently has full bike racks out front. If we can’t rely on these folks to be our allies and treat us well, what’s the world coming to?