Last week
After the Council approved option # 2 for Winnebago St, on Tuesday, May1 — a big win for safety because the option provided more buffer between the bike lanes and motor vehicle traffic – the Mayor then decided to veto the Council’s action. You can read his veto letter here.
We anticipate that the Council will try to overturn the veto this coming week. See Tuesday’s upcoming events for more information.
On Saturday, Robbie and Harald presented work at the Wisconsin Bike Summit in Madison. Other board members, volunteers, and friends of Madison Bikes also attended.
This Week
On Monday, the Madison Bikes Board will meet at 6 pm at the Central Library. Everyone is welcome to attend.
This Tuesday, we anticipate the Madison Common Council will try to overturn the Mayor’s veto of the vote to build option # 2 on Winnebago. The original vote was 11-6, with one alder absent, one abstaining, and one who was chairing the meeting. 14 votes are needed to overturn the veto, and one person who voted in the minority has already said he will vote to overturn.
Everyone can hep by contacting your alder to ask that they uphold the action passed by the majority. There was a robust public outreach process and many committee meetings that came before the Council vote, so it is disappointing that the Mayor wants to undo all that work.
The meeting starts at 6:30 pm in Room 201 of the City-County Building. You can register to speak, watch in person, or watch the meeting on Madison City Channel. It’s a great lesson in local democracy, and you might become a better advocate or more informed citizen.
On Wednesday, the Madison Bikes Advocacy Committee will meet at 6:00 pm at Bendy Works, 106 E Doty St, 2nd floor. If you’d like to help us out with our work on advocacy issues, feel free to stop by.
Friday, Sun Prairie’s advocacy group will be holding a bike commuter station at Canery Row from 6:00-8:30 am. So if you happen to be out that way, stop by to say hello.
We can expect to see quite a few weekend events, as the warm weather is finally here.
Saturday, there are two events. First, from 9:00-noon, Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham St is holding a bike rodeo. There is a long list of activities for all ages and abilities. Get a tune up, try out an electric bike, get some safety training for kids, enter the raffle, and learn how to fix a flat.
Then from 1:00-4:00 join others visiting galleries and art exhibitions by bike for Bike the Arts. The fun starts at the Bubbler at the Central Library and then moves on to other locations. A full list of locations and times can be found here.
Sunday, there is a ride for women to check out mountain biking, or just join others. All levels of expertise welcome, whether this is your first time or know the trails very well. Head over to the Bell Joy Ride on the John Muir Trails the Southern Kettle Morraine, N9097 County Road H, Elkhorn.
You can always get the info on these events by checking out the Madison Bikes Community Calendar. Have an event that you’d like to put on our calendar? Send it out way.
In case you missed it
Here’s what we were talking about on our Facebook group:
Baltazar is asking people to vote on the name for the community latino bike group that is formalizing their organization.
There was a spirited discussion about the Mayor’s veto of the Council vote on Winnebago.
Grant posted the results of a survey on what people want in Monona to improve walking and biking.
Does banning hand-held cell phone use actually improve safety?