Madison Bike Week is from June 1 through June 8, 2025!
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E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

Hello, Autumn Ridge; April is heating up

aerial view of incomplete bike/pedestrian bridge being built over a multi-lane highway
Does the Autumn Ridge Path’s bike overpass still look like this? There’s only one way to find out.

Ride to the ribbon-cutting

One of Madison’s newest bike paths opened to users during the deep, brumal chill of December. So, on April 16, the city is throwing a vernal celebration for the Autumn Ridge Path, a north-south route anchored by a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 30. The path connects neighborhoods divided by the highway, eases access to another bridge over Highway 51 to tie more of the city’s bike infrastructure together, and opens the door to future path extensions to the northeast.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at 4346 Commercial Ave., the new bridge’s landing spot on the north side of Highway 30. Join Madison Bikes and other path-appreciators for a ride to the Autumn Ridge Path and the event, kicking off at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the BCycle station near Machinery Row Bicycles, 601 Williamson St. The leisurely ride — exclusively on bike paths and relatively quiet streets — will pass the BCycle station at Garver Feed Mill, 3241 Garver Green, around 8:20 a.m., and proceed east and north over the venerable Highway 51 bridge, through Hiestand Park and adjacent greenway, and across the new Autumn Ridge span.

Get a good look at the new route before planning your estival jaunts across the city.

More upcoming April Madison Bikes events

• April 23, Driving Federal Bike Safety Legislation: a meeting at Machinery Row to provide the newly motivated and the long-time advocates and everyone in between with updates on bike-related legislation and ways to take action on behalf of bike safety.

• April 27, Two Wheels, Many Stories: a mini-documentary screening and talk at the UW Arboretum with Julia Bourdet, French artist and author who traveled across the United States by bicycle and train, interviewing climate activists and collecting material for her upcoming graphic novel.

Ride the Drive set for 2025

One more, longer-term save-the-date: Madison has picked Aug. 10 for this year’s Ride the Drive event, planning for biking on more than 2 miles of closed streets connecting three hub parks.

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!

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Bike News Newsletter

Candidate questions, Safe Streets answers, heat wave

New candidate questionnaire

No foolin’, spring elections are April 1. Madison Bikes has partnered with Madison is for People, Madison Area Community Land Trust, Affordable Housing Action Alliance and Strong Towns Madison on a questionnaire for Madison Common Council candidates covering transportation, housing and sustainability.

Get to know your future representatives and let them know more about you and your concerns by reading and sharing the spring candidate questionnaire when answers are posted starting March 5. Until then, you can help spread the word by asking the candidates in your district if they’ve participated in the questionnaire.

Where are we all going so fast?

What do you know about Vision Zero? How about Safe Streets Madison? For a — begging your pardon — crash course on traffic safety in Madison, look no further than this recent presentation by Yang Tao, the city’s Director of Traffic Engineering. His talk, “Prioritizing Traffic Safety for all Road Users,” was a lunch-and-learn for an audience in City Council District 7, but there’s plenty to glean about the city-wide approach to improving access and eliminating traffic fatalities.

Sneak preview: Mud season

A drastic swing in daytime temperatures will take Madison straight from the deep freeze to a bit of pseudo-spring this week. The high highs will make quick work of the snow, exposing a thick layer of grime on many bike routes.

The good news is … water is liquid at these temperatures. So, while you hang up the balaclava and that extra layer or two you’ve been wearing, considering helping your bike shed some accumulated layers of salt and fresh spatters of sand and mud with a quick shower. Just don’t forget to treat that chain (if you have one) to its own post-shower dose of lubricant to keep it loose and happy.

And enjoy some sun!

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!

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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!

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Huddle up for warmth, community, info

Here comes the snow

Whoever said, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes,” was not a year-round bicyclist. In the winter, small and medium and big weather issues can pile up atop the usual logistical challenges of two-wheeled travel to make the whole thing feel … bad.
The good news is, people who bike through the winter do not exactly mind talking about biking through the winter. And if you’re curious about pedaling in a fourth season, committed to making it work this year, or looking to join the choir to belt out a few carbide-studded bars of winter favorites, mark your calendar for one of these events featuring experienced guides, hot tips and some warming beverages:

Winter Biking Workshop
Thursday, Nov. 21, 6 to 7 p.m., at Cool Bikes North, 1861 Northport Drive
Assisting people who may be new to winter riding with guest presenters talking about the clothes, gear and bikes that can get you “through the winter in relative comfort and safety,” followed by Q&A. Free, but registration is requested.

Madison Bikes Winter Bike Social
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Working Draft Beer Company, 1129 E. Wilson St.
An evening of fun and camaraderie for winter riding newbies, seasoned all-season pros and everything in-between. The Winter Bike Social is an opportunity to exchange knowledge about winter biking techniques, gear and fun. Check out what others are using to stay warm and safe on their rides, and maybe even get some new ideas for your own setup. Bring your bike and favorite piece(s) of winter gear.

Spread some good tidings

If you’re into doing good from the saddle, the holidays are a great time to volunteer and enjoy a ride. Consider adding Cranksgiving Madison — the Nov. 24 rally-style benefit for the Goodman Community Center’s Fritz Food Pantry — and/or Madison’s Santa Cycle Rampage — a costumed slow-roll ride raising funds for Dane County youth education programs on Dec. 14 — to your seasonal celebrations.

Meetings

This week in deliberating, the Madison Transportation Commission will meet virtually on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. Their agenda includes a handful of bicycle-relevant items, including:

Southwest Area Plan Open House

Tomorrow, Nov. 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Akira Toki Middle School, 5606 Russett Road, representatives of city departments like Planning, Engineering, Transportation and Parks will gather to discuss what’s taking shape in the early stages of the city’s plan for its Southwest Area, which extends south of the belt line between Fitchburg on the east and South High Point Road on the west. Residents, community organizations, businesses and other stakeholders are invited to share feedback.

Spotlighting some doers

Let’s close with a little bit of good-news catch-up, shall we? Please enjoy this Wisconsin State Journal story about the East High School Bike Repair Club, advised by past Madison Bikes board member Emily Sonneman.

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.

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Bike News E-Mail Weekly Update

Film fest, Week Without Driving, lock ’em up

Out from behind the wheel

For those who are too young or too old to drive or disabled or unable to afford driving, even short trips around a car-focused community can be complicated, time-consuming and dangerous.

Week Without Driving, which begins today and runs through Oct. 6, is an annual opportunity to consider the challenges faced daily by people — more than 40% of Madison, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation — who cannot drive or choose not to drive.

Organizers America Walks and Disability Rights Washington say hundreds of public officials in 30 states participated in the week in 2023. Last week, Madison’s city council declared this to be Week Without Driving in Madison and encouraged all elected officials, staff
members, and Madison drivers to take part
, noting that “having a variety of transportation options is crucial so that both people and businesses can have a transportation mode that works best for them when considering convenience, time, health, safety, cost, and
other factors.”

If you’re reading this, you’re probably also open to at least one alternative mode of transportation. But this is a good week to think hard about how you would get where you’re going without a car. How would that change your daily life? How should our community change to accommodate people for whom going car-free isn’t a thought exercise?

Roll that beautiful bike footage

Bicycle Film Festival poster with stylized bike shape on purple background

There’s still room for you at Bicycle Film Festival Madison, an evening of short films on bicycling themes and a fundraiser for yours (Madison Bikes) truly, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Ave.

The films — about bicycles supporting communities, families, identities, fading histories and more — include documentaries, narrative stories and animation from award-winning filmmakers.

More info and festival tickets here.

Meet up for pre-show camaraderie at 4:30 p.m. at Working Draft Beer Company, 1129 E. Wilson St. The Walking Jerk food truck will be on site to complement the beer and alcohol-free beverage options.

Stop the steals!

Annotated photo of parts of a black bicycle securely locked with a chain and a U-lock through a bike rack, the front wheel and the frame and a pedal
Solid! Photo from UW–Madison guide to bike security.

There may be no guaranteed way to prevent bike theft, according to UW–Madison Transportation Services, but there are ways to improve the odds that your ride will be right where you left it when you come back.

Are your lock skills getting rusty? Check out the university’s illustrated guide to theft prevention, which puts the use of various combinations of locks and other hardware on a scale from less to more secure and suggests other ways to keep your bicycle and gear in your own hands.

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.

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E-Mail Weekly Update

Drive ridden. Housing Week around the corner.

Back in a big way

Ride the Drive returned Sunday to some of Madison’s busiest streets, clearing the lanes to give more than 10,000 cyclists and pedestrians an opportunity to experience open streets and move at a more human pace through spaces typically dominated by car traffic.

Madison Bikes at Ride the Drive. Photo courtesy Robbie Webber.

The 4-mile route mostly along Monona Bay and Lake Monona was anchored in six park “hubs” that played host to bike-related and Madison Parks activities like ice cream, games, movies, paddling, coffee, playgrounds, clean energy and environmental outreach, garden walks, bike checks and safety info, music, tacos, books, cool water and more — almost anything you’d want to bike to or watch a kid do. And it happened in partnership with a raft of local businesses and organizations like Public Health Madison & Dane County, Madison School & Community Recreation, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, transit and utility agencies, arts groups, fraternal organizations, and nonprofits dedicated to biking, active outdoor recreation, reading, cancer research, social justice and more.

That is to say … it was kind of a big deal for an event balanced on skinny tires and walking shoes. Large thanks go out to hundreds of volunteers who kept a safe route, as well as to Madison Parks for organizing a fun day with such broad appeal.

Did you have a good time? Did you miss RTD this year, but hope it has a future despite uncertain city finances? Wouldn’t hurt to let Madison Parks know how you feel.

People parking bicycles on grass around bushes and trees.
Parking in the park between Riding on the Drive. Photo courtesy Robbie Webber.

Housing (next) Week

Aug. 17 to 22 is Housing Week in Madison, putting a focus on the way population growth and development priorities are constricting access to homes for so many people in Madison and Dane County.

Housing Week logo

Presented by the Madison Housing Coalition — which includes Madison Bikes and many other groups working toward safe and livable cities — Housing Week offers and event or two each day covering aspects of problems in the Madison area and potential solutions.

Some highlights:

• Aug. 17, 3 p.m.: Missing Middle Walking Tour. Starting from Lapham Elementary, 1045 E. Dayton St., a 60-minute walk exploring “missing middle” (housing that falls between single-family and higher-density apartment buildings) in the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood.

Aug. 21, noon: Complete Neighborhoods, with the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission. Commission members address the importance of planning for a mix of housing in new and existing neighborhoods. On Zoom.

• Aug. 22, 6 p.m.: Dane County executive debate on housing issues, with general election candidates and Jason Joyce of Isthmus, at The Tinsmith, 828 E. Main St.

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.

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Bike News E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

New trails, lanes on the drawing board

Making happier trails to the west

Friends of the Great Sauk State Trail has posted a draft master plan for the trail, describing work in Sauk County to lay out extensions linking the Sauk Prairie segment of the trail to Devil’s Lake State Park and following the Baraboo River to the 400 State Trail near Reedsburg.

Maps, photos and more are now available on the Friends’ website.

Draft routes for the Great Sauk State Trail. Image from Friends of the Great Sauk State Trail.

Guide the Ride

Madison Parks is looking for volunteers for this year’s Ride the Drive, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 11.

“We’re seeking roughly 250 enthusiastic volunteers to help make this year’s Ride the Drive a success. It’s a fantastic way to support our healthy community and connect with your neighbors,” said John Weichelt, Parks Volunteer Coordinator.

Times are flexible, and roles are plentiful. More information here.

New bike lanes on Sheboygan Road. Photo courtesy Harald Kliems.

Today in new paint

Buffered bike lanes have been added on Sheboygan Avenue while construction progresses on that street and Segoe Road. Access is still limited while work continues, though.

The week ahead

Madison’s Transportation Commission meets virtually at 5 p.m. Wednesday with a few biking items on their agenda, including:

  • The Badger Rusk Shared-Use path, a 0.4-mile connector tying together existing paths on West Badger Road and North Rusk Avenue to be added while the city rebuilds West Badger Road east of the pedestrian bridge over the beltline.
  • An application for $2 million in federal grant funding intended to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities along Park Street.
  • Funding for new stop sign paddles and bicycle traffic counters.

Municipal government: Catch the fever!

Save the date: Paddle and Pedal

Save the date for our July Community Event “Paddle and Pedal.” On July 22, join us at the Central Library for this great talk:

Going for a bike ride doesn’t have to be a loop around the lakes or farmland out in the countryside. Wisconsin has oodles of dedicated trails throughout the state — most of which cross over or even run alongside beautiful rivers. You’ve probably seen some of them, but have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually be on them? Local author and silent sports disciple Timothy Bauer will offer a fun and informative presentation on combining pedaling and paddling, along with helpful basics, tricks, and considerations to get things started. All are welcome, no experience necessary. We’ll have some drink and snacks available.

No RSVP required, but if you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP there to help us plan the snack situation. https://www.facebook.com/events/383927380855080/

Remember Bike Week? Remember Bike Week:

Assuming many bike-curious Madison residents caught a bit of two-wheeled fever during Madison Bike Week, there is still time to reflect on the experience and make the 2025 version even more virulent. Take the survey here to weigh in.

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.

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Here comes Bike Week

The Madison Bike Week calendar is filling up with great events stretching from June 1 to June 8. It’s time to double-check your own calendar to make sure a few of them are there — and maybe triple-check whether you’ve got something to add to the events.

A few to consider:

COOKIES. Do you already miss Girl Scout Cookies season? Here’s your chance for another thin mint, and for free (courtesy Girl Scout Troop 8267) on the Cap City Path at Jackson Street from 1 to 3 p.m. on June 1.

Explore another silent sport. Join Badger Rowing at their Porter Boathouse, 680 Babcock Drive, for a bagel-and-coffee refuel stop on the Lakeshore Path from 3 to 5 p.m. on June 4. Take a tour of the boathouse and try out some dry-land training under the supervision of people who use their arms — Can you imagine? — to get around.

Party at the Pump Track. Kick off the first day of summer vacation with Wisconsin Bike Fed and DreamBikes at the Aldo Leopold Park Pump Track, 2906 Traceway Drive, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 7. If you and yours have never tried — sounds like “shredded” is the appropriate terminology — a pump track, this is a great chance for beginners to get a few pointers or experienced riders to learn some new moves.

If you’d like to host an event like these, picture yourself on the calendar and check out the Madison Beer Week FAQ for registration info.

Southwest Bike Path closure

If you’re a regular on the Southwest Bike Path, you’ll have to skip a section near the UW–Madison campus this week. Construction crews will be removing a tower crane at 750 Regent St. That requires closing the bike path from East Campus Mall to West Washington Avenue. A posted detour will steer bicyclists around the closure via West Dayton Street.

It’s a pretty quiet week, otherwise. Other than a few showers in the forecast, a great time to get out for a ride!

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.

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Bike News Newsletter Weekly Update

Bicyclist killed in crash, West Area Plan, BCycle tour

The worst possible news on Friday: Around 6:20 p.m., according to the Madison Police Department, a 35-year-old man riding a bicycle was hit and killed by a driver on Lein Road near Parkside Drive. His name has not yet been released. The incident report says police impounded the vehicle believed to be involved and located its owner, but are still investigating.

The West Area Plan … area. (City of Madison map)

Comment on city planning

The public comment period for Madison’s West Area Plan — addressing future growth and development in the area enclosed by North and South Midvale boulevards, the beltline and Middleton — will be extended, according to the Department of Planning, Community & Economic Development, though a new end date has not been announced. Public input was to close on March 20, but a notably noisy public meeting on March 12 apparently signaled the need for more time for feedback.

While the recent meeting went off the rails over potential zoning changes, the plan addresses bicyclist and pedestrian safety that may benefit from continued supportive comments: new bike lanes and underpass improvements on several school routes, traffic-calming through street design and road narrowing on some of the area’s diciest thoroughfares, and the Sauk Creek Greenway shared-use path that has piqued the same sort of reactionary ire that packed the recent public meeting.

There are some pleasant things to share!

If you didn’t catch Madison resident Daniel Eckberg’s Isthmus essay on how much walkable and bikeable neighborhoods enrich the lives of the people who call it home, give it a quick read.

On foot or two wheels, “It’s amazing how much more you notice at that pace, how many hole-in-the-wall spots you find, how many hidden paths you uncover,” Eckberg writes.

If you have the choice, he figures, you ought to consider choosing a neighborhood friendly to walking and biking. Good advice! And enough — shouldn’t it be? — to spur us to make more of Madison just that kind of accessible for people who don’t have a choice.

BCycles at Tenney Park station. (Chris Barncard)

The bikes are back in town

If you were about town over the weekend, braving almost seasonably (for a change) brisk temperatures and wind, you may have noticed the return of bikes to many BCycle stations around Madison.

This Thursday, March 21, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., you can get a closer look at BCycle operations — covering topics like battery charging and bike safety — on a Madison Bikes tour of the bikeshare’s Madison facility, 312 N. 3rdSt. You can even join a group ride to BCycle, gathering at Law Park, 410 S. Blair St., at 4:30 p.m.

See you there!

Other items on the calendar:

March 18, 5:30 p.m.: Tancho Drive Public Path Information Meeting (via Zoom)

March 25, 6 p.m.: Madison Bikes Community Meeting “Vision Zero & Active Transportation Planning” with Renee Callaway, Madison Public Library Central Branch, 201 W. Mifflin St.

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.

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Weekly Update

Snow time like the present (for a bike ride)

A lone, smiling bicyclist rides from right to left along a snow-covered bike path lined by leafless trees and light poles
It’s just pretty out there, some of the time. (photo by Harald Kliems)

Nothing cuts the chill of winter quite like camaraderie. And a hot drink. And a fireplace. And getting the blood pumping by turning some pedals outdoors. And … you know, there are lots of ways to warm up your winter, especially if you’re willing to experiencing it on your bicycle.

Bring your bar mitts full of winter cycling joy and agony to a pair of Madison Bikes events on Feb. 9 to celebrate International Winter Bike Day:

  • Hot coffee and doughnuts — donated by Cafe Domestique — just off the Capital City Trail from 7 to 9 a.m. in the Monona Terrace parking lot near the bike elevator
  • A warm fire and happy hour hangout for winter biking commiserating from 4 to 6 p.m. at Working Draft Beer Company, 1129 E. Wilson St.
A group of bicyclists dressed for winter gathered on the snowy bike path, with Monona Terrace in the background
Winter Bike Day 2023 (photo courtesy Harald Kliems)

Bike Fitchburg will celebrate the slippery season earlier in the week, with bagels and coffee and light bike mechanical service at a commuter station from 7 to 9 a.m. at Velo UnderRound, the junction of the Capital City Trail, Badger and Military Ridge state trails and Cannonball and Southwest Commuter paths.

This Week

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Transportation Commission will meet virtually at 5 p.m. Their full agenda includes a long list of high-profile projects looming in the city’s near future, including adoption of the the Lake Monona Waterfront Master Plan — with its underpass routing cyclists and pedestrians beneath John Nolen Drive — and a presentation on the pilot project that would turn about three blocks of State Street into a pedestrian mall.

Map of I-39/90/94, with several corrsings and potential crossings highlighted because the city wants to impress the importance of bike and ped infrastructure improvements at those sites upon DOT planners.
Many I-39/90/94 crossings

The Commission will also take up the state Department of Transportation’s planned study and reconstruction of Interstate 39/90/94 through the city’s east side, considering an endorsement of prioritizing safe connections for pedestrians and bicyclists across the rebuilt highway.

There are 17 crossings and potential new crossings of I-39/90/94 as it passes Madison, and the mayor and a group of city council members have proposed a list prioritizing the city’s concerns. Topping the charts are Milwaukee Street’s narrow and entirely sidewalk-less overpasses and a long-anticipated connection linking the Capital City and Glacial Drumlin state trails south of East Buckeye Road.

But wait, there’s more. The commission will peruse the annual report on Vision Zero Madison, the initiative to eliminate all fatal and serious injury crashes on city streets by 2035 (which just released its first quarterly newsletter of 2024), and the Northeast Area plan, which points out 10 sites for intersection improvements and planned infrastructure to address a “fragmented” bike network.

If you’re into paving, there are a pair of 2024 resurfacing projects ready for public information meetings:

Jan. 30, 5:30 p.m.: North Franklin and Stevens streets

Jan. 31, 6:30 p.m.: West Washington and Henry streets

Take this week with a conservative application of salt, and wheel into the next ready to celebrate cycling in the snow.

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 pag