Area plans, Mifflin diverters, Cannonball Path extension; Give it a Whirl

Northeast and West Area Plans at TC

Two area plans were on the agenda for the Transportation Commission last week: The Northeast Area Plan and the West Area Plan.

For the Northeast Area Plan, the recommendations for the bike network largely remained unchanged from what was presented earlier in the year. City staff asked the commission to consider adding some additional bike connections in the context of WisDOT’s Stoughton Road study:

Most notably, as a result of City of Madison comments, WisDOT is considering an off-street path on the east side of Highway 51 between East Washington Avenue and the planned Hiestand Path south of Highway 30. Of particular concern is the grade separated crossing for pedestrians and cyclists on the south side of the Highway 30 interchange. Safe pedestrian and bicycle crossings are a basic part of interchange design.

The commission recommended adoption of the plan with these changes included. Here’s a map of the full bike network plan:

The plan will now go through various other city commissions and come before the Common Council for final adoption on September 10.

The West Area Plan was recommended for approval as well. In terms of biking, two changes from the previous draft were included in the recommendation: The east-west connection through the Sauk Greenway remained part of the recommendation, but with changes to the specific language:

Based on public feedback for the east-west path, this is
how the recommendation changed between the last two public feedback phases: Changed from “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to design West Area Plan July 31 st TC Meeting an All Ages and Abilities shared use path from Brule Circle to Walnut Grove Park through the greenway using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees” to “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to consider the impacts and benefits of adding an All Ages and Abilities shared-use path to make an east-west
connection across the greenway to Walnut Grove Park” and “Any All Ages and Abilities path should be designed using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees and other vegetation, wildlife habitat, and adjacent properties.”

In practical terms, staff explained that they would conduct a corridor study about the east/west connection that would evaluate various options for creating a connection in this area. The north/south path through Sauk Creek was not re-added to the plan.

The other change was about a crossing of the Beltline: The previous version of the plan had proposed a bike/ped connection across the Beltline between Tokay Blvd and Forward Dr (solid blue line). Based on more analysis, that connection was not shifted to the east (blue dashed line) because it was more feasible.

This motion passed, with two no votes, from Alder Harrington McKinney and resident appointee Denise Jess. Next in the process are other city commissions, and on September 10, the Common Council will vote on the plan.

The project was funded and ready to be built this year. But because it involved new railroad crossings, the Cannonball Path extension between Fish Hatchery Road and the Wingra Creek Path needed the approval of the Office of the Commissioner of the Railroads. After many months, the office released their final verdict: The city is not allowed to go forward with the project. You can read the whole analysis here: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERFview/viewdoc.aspx?docid=509679 The city is now evaluating its options, but this is a major setback for the project.

Diverters on Mifflin: Test is coming

There have been many complaints about the E Mifflin Bike Boulevard: The road is wide; traffic volumes are high, and people in car often speed. One way to fix this: Diverters. These are pieces of infrastructure that let through people on bikes but limit access for motor vehicles in one or more directions. E Mifflin already has one diverter, at Blair St. This fall, the city will test another diverter, at Mifflin and Paterson, next to Reynolds Park. Westbound Mifflin at Paterson will get a “Do not enter. Except bikes” sign. The city will collect traffic volume, speed, and resident feedback data before, during, and after the test to inform a final design. The exact timing of the test is not determined yet.

Give it a Whirl Day in September

Do you now any girls interested in mountain biking? They may be interested in the Give it a Whirl Day on September 9.

This program is an all-girls, Give it a Whirl Day held at Quarry Ridge Recreation Area. With over 3 miles of spectacular trails, the park is a mountain bikers paradise! And better yet, it’s a Little Bellas paradise too!

Our Give it a Whirl day aims to get girls of all abilities either introduced to the sport or help them develop an already present interest. Based around having fun, we play lots of games (on and off the bike), explore and ride trails, and incorporate basic bike skills.

We also use the mountain bike experience to help the girls gain confidence, build camaraderie with other girls on bikes, seek out new adventures, and get outdoors! These are learning skills your daughter can take with her throughout life.

It is a great opportunity for girls looking to try out mountain biking as well as for those who are looking to explore some new trails in their area!

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.