Whitney Way
Late last week, work finally began on adding the long-discussed buffered bike lane improvements to Whitney Way. These changes extend from Old Middleton Rd to Tokay Blvd, which the city has identified as an important cycling transportation corridor to improve, connecting the Westgate and Odana Rd areas (and points south of that) with the Old Middleton Rd area (and points north and west). The project has undergone several public meetings, neighborhood meetings, council votes, it’s been tied to BRT and then severed from BRT and now here we are — it’s really happening!
Tom Lynch, Director of Transportation for the City of Madison, has often said that “paint is cheap” so you can see where it’s being used liberally attempting to separate bikes from cars.
Work continues Monday morning, as you can see with from these fresh pics.
Not limited to the buffered bike lanes, new pedestrian striping and new green box indicators at the high-traffic intersections will help drivers and cyclists understand how traffic is intended to flow.
Casual observations this morning show a bit of confusion on the part of drivers, probably wondering where their usual right turn lane has gone. It will take some time for all of the work to be completed, and, as we are creatures of habit, it will take even more time for traffic to adjust.
Additional components to the larger project include the removal of parking from Whitney Way and reducing the speed to 25mph north of Mineral Point Rd and 30mph south of there. It’s unclear if that’s happening as part of this particular set of work or a future effort. Eventually, dedicated BRT lanes and stations will be routed through most of this corridor, which will mean even more paint and construction projects too!
This Week
On Monday at 6:00pm, check out the monthly Madison Bikes Community Meeting via Zoom. Topics for discussion are still being worked out, but might include some combination of a brief Bike Week debrief and/or this year’s Winter Bike Fashion Show or who knows what else? After a summer of being focused on Bike Week, it will be nice to look forward to new projects and events.
On Monday at 6:30pm, Bike Fitchburg is having their monthly Board meeting at the Fitchburg Public Library. Over the weekend they held their Pick Me Up At the Border fundraiser/ride to the Illinois border, and during bike week they put on a great Bike Rodeo event for the community.
On Tuesday at 4:30pm, log in to the Forward in Energy Forum to “learn about initiatives in Wisconsin and around the world that are focused on making transportation equitable, clean, and safe.” Panelists from the Bike Fed, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and the State Smart Transportation Initiative will be led by moderator and associate professor of planning and landscape architecture Carolyn McAndrews, from UW-Madison. Join via Zoom, registration required.
Next Week
On Monday, October 4, the Madison Transportation Policy and Planning Board (TPPB) will meet and on Wednesday, October 6, the Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will meet.
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. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.