Month: January 2025

Categories
Bike News Newsletter

Bike Fed jobs; book club; botanizing by bike; bike lanes on Midvale

A lot of B’s are in this week’s newsletter title, and not all of them stand for “bike.” There are several public meetings and fun events, and we have a recap of some things that happened last week. Let’s get started.

Midvale Boulevard public meeting

On Thursday at 6:30 PM, the city is holding a public meeting about the resurfacing of Midvale Boulevard from Mineral Point Road to University Ave. Improvements for bike facilities are likely going to be on the menu. Some people have also strongly expressed their support for street parking, which may make some bike improvements difficult or impossible. We’ll see what city staff are going to propose. The meeting is taking place in person at Sequoya Library or online. More information and a sign-up link here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/midvale-boulevard-resurfacing

Bike Fed is hiring

The Wisconsin Bike Fed is hiring for two jobs: An Adult Education Program Manager and a Dane County Education Program Manager. Application deadline for both is February 3. Spread the word if you know a great candidate or apply yourself!

HIRING: Adult Education Program Manager
HIRING: Dane County Education Program Coordinator

West Washington Ave and Southwest Path

As we reported last week, the Transportation Commission discussed the situation at the crossing of the Southwest Path with West Washington Ave last Wednesday. Currently there is a button-activated rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) at the crossing, but the Office of the Commissioner of the Railroads (OCR) has ordered the city to remove the RRFB. City staff presented multiple options for what could replace the RRFB — a full signal, a pedestrian hybrid beacon (formerly known as HAWK signal), or a painted crosswalk without signals — and whether West Wash should go back to 2 lanes in each direction. After a string of crashes this summer, with drivers hitting cyclists in the crossing, the city implemented an experimental lane reduction. The commission provided feedback that staff will now use to develop a proposed solution, to be brought back to another Transportation Commission meeting. Time is tight, as the OCR ordered the city to have a plan submitted by the end of March. The Wisconsin State Journal also covered the discussion, or you can watch the actual meeting on City Channel.

Book club, session 2

Photo from the book club at the Machinery Row bike shop. Four panelists sit at a table, facing an audience of about 30 people.

The “Killed by a Traffic Engineer” book club, co-organized by the Bike Fed, Machinery Row Cycles, and Madison Bikes, and moderated by District 11 alder Bill Tishler launched yesterday. The second session will take place on February 2 from 4-6 PM. Whereas the first session was in person only, this week you can either join at Machinery Row or by Zoom. More details here. If you can’t make it to the book club, you can watch a webinar with the author here.

Botanizing by Bicycle

On Thursday, head to the Harmony Bar & Grill at 6 PM for a presentation by Wild Ones Madison:

Bike Fitchburg monthly meeting

Bike Fitchburg will have their monthly meeting at the Fitchburg Senior Center in the Syene Room on Monday night at 7 PM. “All who live, work, and/or bike in Fitchburg are welcome to join their voices with ours to make our city an easier, safer, more fun, and more equitable place to bike!”

Save the Date: Winter Bike Day is coming!

International Winter Bike Day is on February 14 and we have planned a few fun things. We’ll share more details soon, or you can check out the Facebook event.

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.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

Categories
E-Mail Weekly Update

Book Club, LakeWay Design, W Wash-SW Path Intersection

Winter biking photos are the best, but there’s no snow. Here’s a photo by Harold Kliems from last month to get you back in the mood.

Welcome to the update. Not much snow around which makes some happy and others sad. I’m in the sad group but it is a bit easier to get around by bike. Here’s what’s happening this week.

Madison LakeWay Schematic Design – Public Meeting

This is your chance to learn about the proposed lakeshore and path features along the John Nolen Drive causeway. A virtual meeting, held by Madison Parks, will take place on Thursday, January 23rd, from 6:30-8:00 PM. You can register for the meeting here. Parks and design team representatives will present an overview of the master plan recommendations. The project timeline includes completing the schematic design by early 2025, continuing design development through 2026, and construction anticipated to begin in 2027. Here is a link to the draft of the master plan.

From Lake Monona Waterfront Master Plan Draft

Bicycle Book Club

The book: Killed by a Traffic Engineer, by Wes Marshall.
The discussion: Moderated by Alder Bill Tishler
When/where: Machinery Row Bicycles, Sunday, January 26, 4-6pm
Sponsors: Machinery Row Bicycles, Wisconsin Bike Fed, Madison Bikes

Time to start reading if you haven’t already! Hopefully you were able to find a book. As of January 17, Machinery Row reports they have exhausted their second supply of books donated by Madison Bikes. Demand at public libraries is also high, so there appears to be quite a bit of interest.
There will be two unique subsequent sessions. One on Feb 2 at Machinery row with a virtual option, and the other live at Machinery Row on Feb 9.
For more information on the series click on this link: https://www.machineryrowbicycles.com/articles/bicycle-book-club-pg202.htm

Vision Zero Newsletter

The Vision Zero Quarterly Newsletter was released last week. It includes coverage of the Autumn Ridge Path and school zone safety

Community Survey for Southwest Plan Input

The City of Madison’s Planning Division mailed out postcards on Wednesday, January 15 to a randomly-selected group of people living in the Southwest Area as part of the ongoing Area Plan process. The survey closes on February 10. If you did not receive a survey, you can participate in the survey via a public link. A second survey will be sent out in the spring after feedback from the first survey is received. Survey results will be posted on the project web page later this spring.
Here is a link to the Southwest Area Plan Webpage. Check out the Southwest Area Plan interactive commenting map. Cyclists and others have already entered lots of suggestions. You can quickly and easily add your input as well.

Southwest Plan boundaries. City of Madison

– Upcoming Meetings –

Transportation Commission Meeting

The January 22 agenda includes an update on the W Washington at SW Path lane reduction test. Discussion of this item will cover the impacts of interventions such as RRFBs, fully signalizing the intersection, and pedestrian hybrid beacons, as well as the lane reductions. The meeting will be virtual and starts at 5pm. Here is a link to meeting information where you can enter written comments, register to speak at the meeting, and/or view the agenda with attachments.

Area of SW Path-W Wash intersection (City of Madison)

Midvale Resurfacing Project Public Information Meeting

January 30, 6:30pm: Hybrid meeting (live at Sequoya library and via Zoom)
The resurfacing project, from Mineral Point to University Ave, provides opportunities for improved safety updates, such as pedestrian crossings, and possibly bike lanes. This is a chance to provide input. More information in next week’s update.

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.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

  • Tags
Categories
Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Tom Lynch Retires; Bike Gatherings

A group of people ride fat bikes across a frozen Lake Monona
That’s Fatbiking | Photo: Dave Supple

Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter! It seems Winter is finally here and those of us who enjoy fat biking, ice skating, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and more are taking what we can get. I hope you all are doing well in whichever way you choose to fight off the Winter blues.

Tom Lynch Retires; City Seeks New Director of Transportation

After 7 years as Director of Transportation, Tom Lynch is retiring. Over his time as Director, Tom has supported active transportation and improving transportation safety through projects such as Vision Zero, Complete Green Streets, and Transportation Demand Management (just to name a few). He has clearly been a strong ally for cycling and other alternatives to driving, and for that, we say a huge THANK YOU and congratulations!

That also means the city is looking for a new Director of Transportation. The new director will be expected to expand on the work Tom has accomplished and lead our growing city into an even more efficient, safe, and equitable transportation future. Experienced urban planners and transportation professionals need only apply here.

Cycling Friends Unite: GearShift Gathering

This Friday, January 17th from 4-7 pm, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin is hosting a GearShift Gathering where local bike nonprofits will meet to socialize, share updates on bicycling projects, and learn about volunteer opportunities. Visitors are more than welcome to attend and learn about what’s going on in the Madison bike scene and how they can get involved. There will be snacks and door prizes, too! If you plan to attend and you have access to Facebook, please RSVP on the event page.

Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap

Polish up your spare bike parts and get ready to haggle. Bike enthusiasts will not want to miss the annual Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap this Saturday, January 18th from 10 am – 1 pm at the Alliant Energy Center. If you haven’t been to this event before, the exhibition hall with be filled with tables full of used and new bike parts, accessories, and gear, along with a corral of complete bikes available to be test ridden.

The bike swap will take place in the New Holland Pavilion, where parking is available for $8, or ride your bike for free! While you do not need bring anything to “swap,” if you (and 2 friends) have surplus bike parts or gear you want to sell, you can sign up to be a vendor. As of the time of writing this, there are still tables available. You can also bring complete bikes to sell along with a completed Bike Corral form, no table required. The form and all other bike swap info can be found on the website linked at the top of this section.

Be aware that there is a cost if you want to shop early for the best selection:

$10 early bird admission 10am-11am
$5 general admission 11am-12pm
$0 free admission 12pm-1pm

The swap will be sure to have some great deals, and it supports reusing bikes and parts that still have a lot of life left in them!

That’s all we have for you this week. Hope to see you at an upcoming event and thanks for being part of the Madison Bikes community.

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.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

Categories
Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

New city bike admin, book club

A solitary biker on a snowy path. (Photo by Craig Weinhold.)

We’re not yet a week into 2025, so there’s still time to look back at 2024.

In fact, since less-than-ideal weather was a minor theme in the year-in-review Harald Kliems posted a few days ago, it’s a great time to leave that bike parked and read the highlights — new overpasses! new paths! new plans! — or leave the reading for later and ride through some extra-brisk January air.

City names bike administrator

Kevin Luecke will be Madison’s next pedestrian bicycle administrator.

Luecke is a graduate of UW–Madison’s Urban and Regional Planning master’s program and recently director of the Madison office of Toole Design, a national firm that works on bicycle, pedestrian and transit design projects. He will soon manage the Traffic Engineering Division’s Pedestrian Bicycle Section, with staff responsible for pedestrian and bicycle concerns, projects and outreach, playing a role related initiatives like Vision Zero, school traffic safety and Complete Green Streets.

Turning pedals pages

If you’re leaning toward reading over riding, there’s a series of events for that starting in just a few weeks: the Bicycle Book Club, presented by Machinery Row Bicycles, Wisconsin Bike Fed and Madison Bikes.

The club will meet on three consecutive Sundays, starting Jan. 26, to share “Killed by a Traffic Engineer,” by Wes Mashall, which examines the science (or the lack thereof) behind the way streets are engineered. Moderated by Bill Tishler, who represents District 11 on Madison’s City Council, the group will discuss the book and also features of Madison streets that represent problematic or well-designed infrastructure.

The Jan. 26 meeting of the book club is from 4 to 6 p.m. at Machinery Row, 601 Williamson St. — with a focus on book introduction and making a list of those relevant spots in Madison The shop has had a limited number of free copies of the book available to those who would like to borrow one (with the hope it will be returned for donation to the Madison Public Library). Later meetings will expand discussion of Madison’s streets, bring in engineers to talk about street design and plan advocacy efforts.

If you’d like to stay up to date on the book club, contact lauren@machineryrowbicycles.com to be added to the Bicycle Book Club email list.

Infrastructure design in 2025

From theory to practice …

The Wisconsin State Journal recently featured a rundown of highway projects planned for the Madison area in 2025. Of note, courtesy Craig Weinhold:

Military Ridge Trail 2025 detour map

• Work on Highway 18/151 west of Verona will close Military Ridge Trail from March to May — with the stipulation that the trail must reopen by Memorial Day.

• Highway 51 in McFarland will finally get sidewalks, along with a new set of roundabouts at Sigglekow Rd. Unfortunately, there are no bike lanes planned, though circumnavigating Lake Waubesa will get easier with a new Yahara River bridge at Babcock County Park planned for 2028.

• A rebuild of Highway 51 in Stoughton will begin this summer with the section east of the opera house, 381 E. Main St. in Stoughton. The plan calls for bike lanes in the downtown area where street parking is common and wide 5-foot shoulders in other areas.

Local meetings

The Madison Transportation Commission meets Wednesday at 5 p.m., with few bike-related agenda items, though an update to the Safe Routes to School Planning Project is on the list.

Stay warm!

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.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!