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:
• 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.