Last week we had a very nice celebration of the new protected and buffered bike lanes on Sheboygan and Segoe. There was hot cider, donuts, district 11 alder Bill Tishler, many city staff — and a low-budget ribbon cutting involving caution tape, very small scissors, and a small volunteer helper.
Beth Skogen Photography – www.bethskogen.com
Alder Bill Tishler spoke about how he initially conceived this as a project to make crossing Segoe easier for pedestrians — narrowing the crossings and removing unneeded lanes, since Midvale and Whitney are both close by. He grew up in the area, and he’s watched generations of families struggling to cross.
“When this area of Madison was designed 70 years ago, it was built around the automobile. The wide street layout and abundance of surface parking lots reflected that this neighborhood was designed primarily for cars. This is no longer true.
As Madison’s population grows, we are at a pivotal moment in rethinking how people move around the city. The redesign of North Segoe, with its buffered bike lanes, bus transit stops, and audible crosswalks, signals a shift in priorities—cars are no longer the sole focus.
People need safe, accessible ways to get around, whether they’re walking, biking, or using public transit.”
Thanks to everyone who stopped by! We’ll certainly celebrate again when other great infrastructures are completed.
Autumn Ridge Overpass
Speaking of great infrastructure: This week the bridge girders for the Autumn Ridge Path across Highway 30 will be installed. Commercial Ave will close at 8pm, Hwy 30 at midnight, and the bridge will be placed sometime in the wee hours. Events like this are always quite the spectacle. Our board member Robbie plans to set up her camper van in the area to watch. If you’re also out there, please shared your photos and videos of the work. Having the bridge elements in place is major progress, but it’ll still be a several months before the path will be open.
Sauk Creek Greenway
On Monday night, a public input meeting on the Sauk Creek Greenway will take place. This meeting will focus on “draft improvements for the channel, maintenance access, and restoration.” The east-west bike path that was included in the West Area Plan is also on the agenda, but what the city writes doesn’t sound very promising:
“Staff will provide some initial ideas on the West Area Plan’s East-West multi-use path connection. Preliminary review of concepts show construction of a path would not align enough with the stormwater improvements to be built together and path plans are not being developed further at this time.” (emphasis in original)
John Nolen Drive: Will we get an underpass?
Another opportunity for public input is on Wednesday. The city’s engineering consultant produced a feasibility study about the proposed underpass of John Nolen Drive at North Shore. The underpass was being proposed as a safe alternative to the reconstructed at-grade intersection with its slip lanes. I haven’t read the full 140-page report, but looking at the cost for the two proposed designs does not make me optimistic: Even the cheaper alternatives is estimated to cost over $40 million. That is serious money for a single underpass. For comparison, the Autumn Ridge Path project will cost about $4.5 million. Join the public meeting on Wednesday, 6:30 PM.
Jump Jam and Crossfire
On the weekend you can recover from attending all the public input meetings by going to the Quarry Park Jump Jam or the Crossfire cyclocross race in Sun Prairie.
The Jump Jam on the Quarry Park MTB trails involves, well, people on bikes jumping! It’s great fun to watch. Sunday, starting at noon.
If you’re more into riding or watching cyclocross, head to Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie on Sunday. The Crossfire race usually involves serious cyclocross racing and not-so-serious Halloween costumes. The festivities start at 8am.
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.