Author: Harald Kliems

Community meeting planning; Mifflin diverter; Bcycle hibernation; book club; and more!

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date December 9, 2024

The year is nearing its end and we had the first seriously cold weather recently. So one may think that bike news would be slowing down. But they are not!

Winter Bike Social, and planning for future community meetings

We had a great Winter Bike Social last week. Over 40 people congregated at Working Draft and chatted about how to keep hands warm, goggles condensation-free, and how glorious it can be to ride on freshly fallen snow. Given the success of the event, we may do another one of these later in winter. Thanks to everyone who showed and to Working Draft for hosting us.

Speaking of community meetings: Pretty much every month this year, Madison Bikes organized a community meeting. Topics and format varied: We biked through the Arb with experts on native plants; we talked about how to combine paddling and pedaling; we had city staff report on the latest biking initiatives, etc. We want to keep this going in 2025, and for that purpose we invite the community to a planning meeting next Monday. If you have an idea for an event or would like to help others to implement their ideas, join us at the Central Library in Room 104 on Monday, Dec 16 from 6 to 8 PM. We’ll have some refreshments available.

Transportation Commission: Mifflin St Diverter

It’s the last Transportation Commission meeting of the year, and one of the items on the agenda is the Mifflin St diverter. This diverter was installed at Mifflin and Paterson as an experiment to reduce motor vehicle volumes on the Mifflin St bike boulevard. The city collected car speed and volume data during the experiment, as well as resident feedback through a survey. The results are in and will be presented at the Transportation Commission. If you would like to submit comment on the topic, send an email to transportationcommission@cityofmadison.com or register in support/opposition/to speak here https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule/register

Autumn Ridge Path ribbon cutting

Image: City of Madison

Celebrate Madison’s latest addition to its multi-use path network: The Autumn Ridge Path and overpass appear to be done, and the city is celebrating:

The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting at 2 p.m., Dec. 12, 2024 on Madison’s east side to celebrate the City’s newest multi-use path, Autumn Ridge. The ribbon cutting will be located at 4346 Commercial Avenue

The Autumn Ridge Path will create a shared-use path connection between Milwaukee St. and Commercial Ave (north of Highway 30), including a new bridge over Highway 30. The project will improve safety and accessibility for non-motorized modes of transportation to cross Highway 30, better connecting neighborhoods on either side of the highway. The Autumn Ridge Path expands the greater bike network of the area, as the path connects (via local streets) to the existing overpass over Stoughton Rd (Highway 51) at Portland Pkwy, through the Eastmorland neighborhood to the recently constructed Garver Path, and finally to the Capital City Trail and Downtown Madison-area. Long term plans include extending this path network further to the northeast.

Book Club: Killed by a Traffic Engineer

Madison Bikes is teaming up with the Bike Fed, Machinery Row, and District 11 alder Bill Tishler to host a book club this winter. The book is Wes Marshall’s “Killed by a Traffic Engineer.” Marshall highlights the role of the traffic engineering profession in creating infrastructure that’s not safe for people walking and biking (or even driving), and how a lot of their practice is based on questionable data and models.

The Bicycle Book Club is free, open to the public, and will take place over three Sunday afternoons at Machinery Row Bicycles, located at 601 Williamson St. If you buying the book is a hurdle to participation: Madison Bikes bought a limited number of copies that you can pick up at Machinery Row. Here’s the schedule:

We will plan advocacy efforts around infrastructure improvements that you want to see. We’ll be drafting proposals and emailing elected officials! Bring your hopes and dreams! (and a laptop or notebook)

Sunday, January 26th: 4-6pm

We will discuss the book and our reactions to it while identifying both problematic and well-designed infrastructure in our city.

Sunday, February 2nd: 4-6pm (Virtual option available)

We will discuss the pieces of infrastructure that we identified in the first meeting with engineers to explore the specific street design choices that impact the safety and comfort of people outside vehicles.

Sunday, February 9th: 4-6pm

We will plan advocacy efforts around infrastructure improvements that you want to see. We’ll be drafting proposals and emailing elected officials! Bring your hopes and dreams! (and a laptop or notebook)

BCycle seasonal closure

Heads-up that BCycle is approaching its annual hibernation date. The system will close down on December 15 (and usually the closure will take place over a couple days before that date).

Santa Cycle Rampage

Are you ready for another year of the Madison Santa Cycle Rampage? Join hundreds of other Santas to ride around the city and spread holiday joy. Tickets are $15 for adults; $5 for children. Meet at Breese Stevens starting at 10 AM; roll-out at 11.

Bike Fed is hiring

The Bike Fed is hiring for a Government Affairs Manager position.

The Wisconsin Bike Fed is seeking a full-time professional to serve as Government Affairs Manager. Ideally located in Madison, WI, the Government Affairs Manager reports to the Executive Director and advocates for the legislative agenda of the Wisconsin Bike Fed. The ideal candidate exercises sound judgment and thrives in diverse work environments. They are also highly organized, outgoing, have excellent written and verbal communication skills, and are comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. The Bike Fed is one of the largest statewide bicycle advocacy organizations in the country. This is a great opportunity for a highly motivated, professional and creative individual to help grow the bicycle advocacy movement.

The posting closes on December 20.

Provide input on WI Outdoor Recreation Plan

The Department of Natural Resources is drafting a statewide outdoor recreation plan and is requesting input by December 15. Let’s make sure the DNR hears from people who bike, hike, and walk through our beautiful Wisconsin outdoors.

Are you an avid cyclist, runner, or hiker? Maybe just a general outdoor enthusiast? The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants to hear from you!
The DNR is seeking input on the draft Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan. The public is encouraged to submit comments using the online public input form on the DNR’s Wisconsin Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan webpage. Comments may also be sent by mail, phone, or email. Submit comments by Dec. 15, 2024 to:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
C/O John Pohlman, DNR Property Planner
101 S. Webster St.
PO Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707
John.Pohlman@wisconsin.gov or 608-264-6263

E-Mail In Depth

The City Referendum and Biking

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date October 22, 2024
1 Comment on The City Referendum and Biking

This is a post by Harald Kliems and Craig Weinhold. The views expressed are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Madison Bikes.

City Budgets and Referendum

The city’s operating budget and its structural deficit have been a hot topic since March, with dire pronouncements of service cuts to pools, libraries, and waste drop-off sites. In July, the common council voted to put a $22 million referendum on the Nov 5 ballot. If passed, the average Madison home (valued at $457,300) would see a property tax increase of about $230/year, or about $20/month.

Since July, the financial landscape has changed slightly due to proactive budget cuts, better than expected investment income, reduced General Obligation borrowing, and a new proposed Infrastructure Special Charge (described below). As of the mayor’s October Executive budget (which will be voted on by the common council in November), just $5.6M in cuts are now proposed if the referendum fails to pass. No additional cuts are expected for 2026. But come 2027, if there’s no change in state funding, we’ll be back in the same situation.

If the referendum passes, the mayor predicts the budget will be good for five years without any additional cuts or hand-wringing, even if state funding does not come through.

Snow on the Southwest Path. One proposed budget cut: Reducing multi-use path snow removal

So, what’s at risk for bicycling?

On first sight, there are only three items to be cut if the referendum fails:

Snow removal from multi-use paths removal will no longer be done with overtime hours (projected savings: a measly $15,000). How this plays out depends on the vagaries of winter weather. Clearing major paths on the weekends and holidays was only started in 2020 through a budget amendment. Before then, weekend snow events often led to persistent bad path conditions.
Metro must reduce service hours to the tune of $500,000, in addition to a one-time $500,000 cut in 2025. The cuts will likely focus on early/late and weekend service. Metro is an important backup option for bikers.
One vacant traffic engineering position will be eliminated. This will slow projects and impact staff morale.

But also at stake are subtle, longer-lasting things:

Optics: Regardless of the referendum’s outcome, the spectre of Madison’s budget problems will now loom over every project and Common Council vote. In general that’s not a bad thing, but “budget” is an easy argument to lob against anything one dislikes. E.g., when two alders last year spoke out against the Autumn Ridge path, they framed their opposition as budget concerns (despite voting for plenty of other expensive projects closer to their districts). Social media flames blaming BRT and bicyclists for every woe on the road are now invoking “budget!” as a primary line of attack.

Morale: The city’s transportation and engineering staff are fantastic. They love this city even though many of them cannot afford to live here. They get lower pay than in the private sector while having to endure all the frustration of working in government and being held to an impossibly high standard by the public. The 2025 budget cuts have created anxiety about salary, benefits, workload, team size, etc. Staff are being asked to do more with less, and that will only get worse. Regardless of how the referendum turns out, some staff may be looking for other options. And fewer staff means less capacity to bring in grants and to plan and deliver projects.

Community and Culture: It’s hard to predict which and how many Madison events, activities, and experiences will be impacted by the budget cuts. E.g., the Shifting Gears Bike Path Dance Festival is one of about fifty organizations that would lose grants from the Madison Arts Commission. Would they soldier on? Will a stretched Madison Parks department still host Ride the Drive? Will Make Music Madison be more subdued? Public art? These may not affect bicycling per se, but they certainly are part of what makes bicycling in Madison special and joyful.

“Infrastructure Special Charge”

One way to make up for the missing tax dollars if the referendum fails is an “infrastructure special charge.” The revenue from this charge would be used to cover street repair and maintenance, lighting, signage, signals, pavement markings, and bike & ped facilities. The charge will be based on how many car trips a property is assumed to generate, which, in turn, is estimated by the number of parking spaces. A single-family home will see about $6.35 in monthly charge on their municipal service bill, right next to their water, sewer, and urban forestry charges. The city hopes to raise $10M annually from this charge.

It’s a novel use of special charges that have historically been used for sidewalks, though the City started using them for Urban Forestry and Recycling in 2023. This is an innovative strategy, but it’s bound to draw howls of protest and a likely legal fight. Other communities that have tried instituting similar transportation fees have been dragged to court.

How the Operating and Capital Budgets relate

The current budget woes affect the operating budget that covers recurring expenses like staff and loan payments. Of the proposed $417M operating budget, 62% goes to salaries and benefits for the City’s 3,000+ employees.

The capital budget, on the other hand, is primarily about big one-time costs like new roads, paths, buildings, or bus fleets. The construction of new bike infrastructure largely falls to the capital budget.

The two budgets intertwine in both direct and indirect ways:

Capital projects require loans, and the repayment of those loans often comes from the operating budget. This is called general obligation or GO borrowing (aka “debt service”), and it’s the second largest item in the budget ($68M, about 16% of the budget).

For example, the 2024 capital budget has $273M in projects, of which about ⅓ ($87M) is funded with GO borrowing. That means the $4.8M “Bike Path” expense on page 388 might require about $1.6M in borrowing. Assuming a worst-case, 10-year, 7% loan for $1.6M, the debt service would come to about $230K per year against the operating budget. That’s small, but not negligible.
Once built, all infrastructure requires maintenance and upkeep. Consider the new Segoe protected bike lanes between Regent St and University Ave: They are too narrow for regular-size street sweepers and snow plows, so city staff will need to transport specialized equipment there, and they’ll need staff trained to operate it.
Speaking of snow removal, property owners are responsible for their sidewalks, but the city is generally responsible for the paths. In fact, free snow removal is a carrot dangled in front of homeowners to get them to agree to paths (e.g., the new Hammersley Rd path). So every new path implies additional snow removal costs for the city.

The Future

The Nov 5 election will likely not flip the state legislature to Democratic control, but it will shake the Republicans’ hold on power. With more seats at the table (and hopefully stepped up city lobbying), Madison should see increased state funding in the coming years.

On the whole, the city’s first-ever $22M referendum is modest and responsible, gives five years of financial clarity, and has a trivial impact on property taxes ($20/month!). It also comes on the heels of significant cuts and belt-tightening across the city. In contrast, MMSD has been using referendums as a business-as-usual strategy, with seven of them in the past 25 years.

No matter how the referendum turns out, Madison needs its bike community to continue showing up in support of smart transportation. Keep celebrating changes, large, and small, that have improved your daily rides. And involve your alder, your neighbor, your coworker, and others in that celebration. Stay engaged with the Southwest and Southeast area plans that kick off in the next two months. Show up to the budget hearings at the common council (Nov 12-14). And, as you do speak up, keep the budget optics in mind.

Be informed

To help inform you about the financial context and impact of the property taxes, we have built two web tools. Harald created a website that shows how the assessed value, different kinds of property taxes, and the consumer price index have developed over the past few years. Craig’s tool is looking into the future: How much are the city referendum and the two MMSD referendums going to increase your (or your landlord’s) property taxes?

E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

New bridge; Sauk and John Nolen meetings; Jump Jam

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date October 21, 2024

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.

Segoe ribbon cutting with Alder Tishler and a young 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.

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Bicycle Film Festival, Oct 3: Get your tickets now!

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date September 25, 2024
1 Comment on Bicycle Film Festival, Oct 3: Get your tickets now!

Tickets are moving fast for the first Bicycle Film Festival in Madison! Get yours today! https://barrymorelive.com/event/bicycle-film-festival-madison/

Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Madison October 3, 6:30 pm at the Barrymore Theatre.

Join us for a pre-show party at Working Draft Beer Company starting at 4:30. There will be non-alcoholic beverage and vegan food options available.

Bicycle Film Festival has been celebrating bicycles through art, film and music over the last 24 years. BFF spans the world in over 100 cities worldwide to an audience of over one million people. We’re excited to bring the festival to Madison for the first time!

BFF Madison presents a new short film program. These stories will appeal to a wide audience from film connoisseurs to avid cyclists and everyone in between. Curated documentaries, narratives, animations, award-winning directors, and emerging talents – all share equal billing. For lovers of gravel, road cycling, mountain biking, and bike packing, and the advocates who are pushing the bike movement forward in their communities.

This program will take you on a journey around the world featuring:

Kailey Kornhauser and fellow “fat cyclist” Marley Blonsky are on a mission to change the idea that people with larger bodies can’t ride bikes
A family gives up everything to be together in their motorhome, traveling from bike park to bike park across Europe
The 1900 mile bicycle journey by Erick Cedeno (Bicycle Nomad) retracing the original route of the Buffalo Soldiers
A charismatic Ghanaian immigrant in Amsterdam teaches refugee adult women how to ride bikes
Cycle sport as relief from genocide (Oscar nominated director)
A Diné mountain biker hosts the first ever Enduro race in the Navajo Nation
And more…

Check out the trailer here!!: Bicycle Film Festival Madison – Trailer on Vimeo

Get your tickets here: https://barrymorelive.com/event/bicycle-film-festival-madison/

Bike News E-Mail Weekly Update

Olin-Turville detour, Area Plans, UBRC classes, West Wash experiment

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date September 9, 2024
1 Comment on Olin-Turville detour, Area Plans, UBRC classes, West Wash experiment

Making the SW Path crossing safer

Last week we reported on the city’s plan to improve safety at the crossing of the Southwest Path and West Washington Ave. After a string of crashes where drivers failed to stop for people in the crosswalk, the city temporarily narrowed the roadway to a single lane in each direction with construction barrels. Chris McCahill posted a before/after video to our Facebook group. If you have feedback on the experiment, send an email to traffic@cityofmadison.com.

Area plans at Common Council

The Common Council will meet on Tuesday. Two big items on the agenda will be the adoption of the West Area and the Northeast Area Plans. We have reported on these plans as they wound their ways through public and city meetings over the past months, but now it’s upon the council to make a final decision. You can register to speak or in support/opposition here. The NE Area Plan is item 16; the West Area Plan is item 17.

University Bicycle Resource Center class schedule

The fall term is in full swing, and the University Bicycle Resource Center published its schedule of classes for the semester. As always, all classes are free and open to the UW community. No registration, first come, first serve. The first workshop will be on September 17.

Olin Turville Detour

Today is the start of a detour around Olin-Turville Court and Lakeside Street. The road is in bad condition and so the city is repaving it. Because this is a crucial bike connection with no alternative, there will be a high-quality detour: One lane of John Nolen Drive, between Olin Ave and Lakeside St, will be converted to a two-way bike lane protected by concrete barriers. John Nolen Drive narrows to two lanes north of Lakeside anyway. And so the city is also using this as an opportunity to test if this block could be narrowed to two general travel lanes permanently. After all, John Nolen Drive is part of the city’s high injury network, with a high proportion of serious and fatal crashes.

The construction is divided in half, with the southern part of the road to be completed first. Access to the Wingra Creek Path and the boat launch will be maintained throughout the project, although some bikers will need to circle back to reach their destinations. Follow the signage.

Young girls “give it a whirl”

A quick reminder for young girls who are or want to be mountain bikers: Tonight (Monday) they can “give it a whirl” at Quarry Park. Little Bellas, “an organization that teaches young girls to ride mountain bikes,” will host a two-hour workshop that “will introduce girls ages 7-13 to mountain biking in a fun, safe, and supportive environment.” Registration is free and the event starts at 3:30pm.

Join the Smart Trips Challenge

We mentioned it last week, but it’s not too late to the Smart Trips challenge. So far, 104 people are signed, and I think there are much more of you out there who bike, walk, or bus and would like to win cool prizes!

RoundTrip Madison is hosting the Smart Trips Challenge throughout September to encourage walking, bicycling, public transit, and carpooling for everyday trips including work, school, and errands. The first 25 participants to log an eligible trip will receive a $10 gift card to Ian’s Pizza. The challenge will also offer weekly and grand prize drawings, along with a special Metro Transit swag drawing for participants choosing transit throughout the month.

Congrats, Baltazar!

Finally, we’d like to congratulate our former board member Baltazar De Anda Santana for completing the Ironman yesterday, in a little over 15 hours. Madison 365 featured an article about what motivates Baltazar to participate:

“The biggest reason I do this is for representation in the sport,” De Anda Santana tells Madison365. “One thing I always wonder is, ‘How come there aren’t more of us here?’ I didn’t see many people out there who looked like me who were running, biking and swimming.

For the last 5 years or so, he has been competing in Ironman competitions because he wants to be healthy and he wants to test himself but there is another important reason why he is dedicating a good portion of his life to biking, running, and cycling.

Triathlon competitors are overall very white, mostly male, and generally pretty well-off financially. When he first started a few years back, he only knew of two Latinos who had completed the Ironman in Madison. De Anda Santana says that he will be participating in this weekend’s Ironman for his Latinx, gay, and undocumented families here in Madison and beyond. He says that his goal is to finish the Ironman in between 16.5 and 17 hours.

Weekly Update

Area plans, Mifflin diverters, Cannonball Path extension; Give it a Whirl

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date August 5, 2024
2 Comments on Area plans, Mifflin diverters, Cannonball Path extension; Give it a Whirl

Northeast and West Area Plans at TC

Two area plans were on the agenda for the Transportation Commission last week: The Northeast Area Plan and the West Area Plan.

For the Northeast Area Plan, the recommendations for the bike network largely remained unchanged from what was presented earlier in the year. City staff asked the commission to consider adding some additional bike connections in the context of WisDOT’s Stoughton Road study:

Most notably, as a result of City of Madison comments, WisDOT is considering an off-street path on the east side of Highway 51 between East Washington Avenue and the planned Hiestand Path south of Highway 30. Of particular concern is the grade separated crossing for pedestrians and cyclists on the south side of the Highway 30 interchange. Safe pedestrian and bicycle crossings are a basic part of interchange design.

The commission recommended adoption of the plan with these changes included. Here’s a map of the full bike network plan:

The plan will now go through various other city commissions and come before the Common Council for final adoption on September 10.

The West Area Plan was recommended for approval as well. In terms of biking, two changes from the previous draft were included in the recommendation: The east-west connection through the Sauk Greenway remained part of the recommendation, but with changes to the specific language:

Based on public feedback for the east-west path, this is
how the recommendation changed between the last two public feedback phases: Changed from “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to design West Area Plan July 31 st TC Meeting an All Ages and Abilities shared use path from Brule Circle to Walnut Grove Park through the greenway using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees” to “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to consider the impacts and benefits of adding an All Ages and Abilities shared-use path to make an east-west
connection across the greenway to Walnut Grove Park” and “Any All Ages and Abilities path should be designed using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees and other vegetation, wildlife habitat, and adjacent properties.”

In practical terms, staff explained that they would conduct a corridor study about the east/west connection that would evaluate various options for creating a connection in this area. The north/south path through Sauk Creek was not re-added to the plan.

The other change was about a crossing of the Beltline: The previous version of the plan had proposed a bike/ped connection across the Beltline between Tokay Blvd and Forward Dr (solid blue line). Based on more analysis, that connection was not shifted to the east (blue dashed line) because it was more feasible.

This motion passed, with two no votes, from Alder Harrington McKinney and resident appointee Denise Jess. Next in the process are other city commissions, and on September 10, the Common Council will vote on the plan.

Railroad Commissioner kills Cannonball Path extension

The project was funded and ready to be built this year. But because it involved new railroad crossings, the Cannonball Path extension between Fish Hatchery Road and the Wingra Creek Path needed the approval of the Office of the Commissioner of the Railroads. After many months, the office released their final verdict: The city is not allowed to go forward with the project. You can read the whole analysis here: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERFview/viewdoc.aspx?docid=509679 The city is now evaluating its options, but this is a major setback for the project.

Diverters on Mifflin: Test is coming

There have been many complaints about the E Mifflin Bike Boulevard: The road is wide; traffic volumes are high, and people in car often speed. One way to fix this: Diverters. These are pieces of infrastructure that let through people on bikes but limit access for motor vehicles in one or more directions. E Mifflin already has one diverter, at Blair St. This fall, the city will test another diverter, at Mifflin and Paterson, next to Reynolds Park. Westbound Mifflin at Paterson will get a “Do not enter. Except bikes” sign. The city will collect traffic volume, speed, and resident feedback data before, during, and after the test to inform a final design. The exact timing of the test is not determined yet.

One of the possible diverter designs. Source: City of Madison

Give it a Whirl Day in September

Do you now any girls interested in mountain biking? They may be interested in the Give it a Whirl Day on September 9.

This program is an all-girls, Give it a Whirl Day held at Quarry Ridge Recreation Area. With over 3 miles of spectacular trails, the park is a mountain bikers paradise! And better yet, it’s a Little Bellas paradise too!

Our Give it a Whirl day aims to get girls of all abilities either introduced to the sport or help them develop an already present interest. Based around having fun, we play lots of games (on and off the bike), explore and ride trails, and incorporate basic bike skills.

We also use the mountain bike experience to help the girls gain confidence, build camaraderie with other girls on bikes, seek out new adventures, and get outdoors! These are learning skills your daughter can take with her throughout life.

It is a great opportunity for girls looking to try out mountain biking as well as for those who are looking to explore some new trails in their area!

Weekly Update

This is the last newsletter…

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date May 27, 2024

… before Madison Bike Week 2024 starts! Yesterday, our VP Christo and I took our respective bike trailers and distributed 40 yard signs advertising Madison Bike Week around the city. And maybe you’ve seen one of our Bike Week ads on a Metro bus. Anyways, I’ll return to Bike Week below, as there a few other things going before we get rolling on Saturday.

Good and not so good bike infrastructure news

Let’s start with the good news: Olin-Turville Court will soon no longer be bumpy. Currently the pavement on this busy bike connector has a pavement rating of 3 out of 10. For that reason, the city will repave the road this fall. Other than repaving, there won’t be major changes to the road’s layout. Except that the city will add a bike ramp on the southern end of the road! There’s a very clear desire path here, and soon it will be paved. Hooray!

Existing desire path (Image: Google StreetView)

You may be wondering what happens to biking and walking access during the construction. More good news: The city plans to repurpose one of the lanes on John Nolen Drive and create a temporary jersey-barrier-protected two-way multi-use path. Phew, that’s a lot of hyphens.

Now to the less good news: Two large bike infrastructure projects are experiencing delays. The Tancho Drive Path on the Northeast Side won’t be constructed this year as planned. Apparently the city discovered some grade and alignment issues with the already approved plans. Also running behind is the Autum Ridge Path and overpass. Because of manufacturing delays, the overpass itself will only go in January 2025.

West Area Plan meetings on Sauk Creek Greenway and housing/land use

The city is holding a final(?) set of public meetings to discuss the latest round of revisions to the West Area Plan. In case you missed it, in early May, the city released a new draft plan that had several changes from the previous draft, including the removal of a N/S bike connection through the Sauk Creek Greenway. Many of those changes were controversial, and so there is another set of virtual and in-person meetings to gather more feedback. Next week the virtual meetings are taking place. The first one is on land use, zoning, and housing on Tuesday, May 28 (registration link), followed by a meeting on transportation and the Sauk Creek Greenway on Thursday, May 30 (registration link). If you need a refresher on what’s happening with the Sauk Creek Greenway, read Craig’s in-depth post on the topic. The in-person meetings will take place during Bike Week.

In addition to meetings you can also provide written feedback on the plan here.

Transportation Commission: East Madison Bikeways and Stoughton Road

On the Transportation Commission’s agenda on Wednesday are a few bike-relevant items. City staff will be presenting an update on the “East Madison Bikeways Enhancement Projects.” You may remember that as part of the East-West BRT project, 24/7 bike lanes were removed along some stretches of E Washington Ave. This was because BRT needed a dedicated bus lane and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) refused to let the city reduce the number of general travel lanes. To make up for this, the city promised improvements to parallel routes to E Wash, such as the Mifflin and Main St bike boulevards or Hoard St. Here’s an overview map of the improvements:

Also at the Transportation Commission is a city letter to WisDOT about their planning for Stoughton Road. The city analyzed WisDOT’s proposals for their impact on safety, whether they are compatible with walking and biking, and their impact on development and future Amtrak service. Some of WisDOT’s proposals would preclude all-ages and all-abilities bike facilities and cause the loss of significant tax revenue to the city by taking properties off of the tax roll. Here is the presentation and the city’s proposed letter.

You can submit comments to the Transportation Commission by email to transportationcommission@cityofmadison.com or register to the meeting here.

Madison Bike Week

Okay, finally we’re getting to Madison Bike Week. I’m one of the people who gets an email notification whenever a new Bike Week event is being submitted. And let’s just say: I got a lot of emails! We have over 70 events on the calendar, and while the event submission deadline is technically over, I’m sure we’ll get some more submissions this week.

With this many events, trying to point out highlights or providing an overview is almost impossible. Instead, I encourage you to check out the full calendar of events and start planning. A little tip: The default view of the calendar on our website is sorted by day and location, rather than by day and time. So it’s easy to miss some morning events. You can click on “simple” instead to get a chronological view. You can also use the Sched app to plan our your event schedule.

I do want to highlight a few events that we are hosting or co-hosting ourselves:

Make sure to join us for the Ride with the Mayor on Monday morning at 8am. There will be west side and northeast side feeder rides.
Join our board member Pratik on Tuesday on a ride to Capital Brewery in Middleton to pick up a beer donation for our Bike Week Party
Also on Tuesday, we’re once again co-hosting an afternoon bike station with root beer floats (including vegan ones) with Fire Station #9 on the west side
More beer fetching is going on on Thursday. Join me on a ride to the Hop Garden in Paoli to pick up a keg of beer.
And of course on Friday it’s Bike Week Party time! As per usual: Brittingham Park. Free food and beverages. Tabling by other orgs. Tunes by DJ KA-BOOM!BOX

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E-Mail Weekly Update

Bike signals; Teaching Safe Bicycling; bike club season starting; trees and bikes

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date April 7, 2024

Aftermath of last week’s snow on the University Bay Dr overpass

Is this the week that spring is going to start in earnest? Is it time to take off the studded tires? I dare not make any predictions, especially for a week that starts with a solar eclipse. But it seems several bike clubs and riding groups are starting their season. Read more below.

A new kind of traffic signal

On the far west side of time, at Junction and Watts, Madison premiered its first 4″ bike signal. While we have full-size bike signals in several places around town, these signals are right-sized for being on the near side of the intersection. Check out traffic engineer Jerry Schippa’s video of the signal:

Of trees and bikes

Once again, a supposed conflict between bike infrastructure and trees has made the news. This time the contention is about removing trees for the Autumn Ridge bike path and overpass. This path, long in the making, will greatly improve connectivity between the neighborhoods around Sycamore Park and destinations south of the highway. Madison Bikes submitted a letter of support for the city’s application for funding for that project.

Is removing down some trees a reasonable trade-off for this new bike (and pedestrian!) connection? I personally sure think so. It’s important to keep in mind why we need this overpass in the first place: Highway 30, a limited access highway cuts the neighborhood in half, and the only existing connection across the highway is Thompson Road, with its dangerous multi-lane roundabouts and speeding drivers. I would love to see Highway 30 converted into an urban street, lined with beautiful trees. But that’s not the alternative available to us. Also keep all of this mind, as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is planning on expanding the Interstate as well as Stoughton Road through our city.

Our board member Craig Weinhold was quoted in the segment:

But bicyclist Craig Weinhold said any disruption for bicycle travel is often treated in an out-of-proportion fashion.

“My concern is the demonizing of cyclists and the City over any bike path proposal,” Weinhold said. “Hiestand Park is just the latest example.”

Teaching Safe Bicycling

On Sunday, the Wisconsin Bike Fed will “train the trainer” on Teaching Safe Bicycling. This 6-hour-long clinic at the Goodman Center will teach adults on how to teach safe biking techniques to kids. Registration is required and free! More details here.

Group rides kicking off!

A whole number of group rides and clubs are kicking off their riding season this week.

On Monday evening, Cap City Cyclists has their first Mad Town Mondays ride scheduled. This is somewhat of a successor to the Monday 40 rides, and the ride will make a good ol’ Lake Loop, ending at the Harmony. More details on Instagram.

If you want a faster, women-led ride, Women on Wheels is a new group, “inclusive to all genders looking for non-competitive and safety-focused tempo rides.” Their season opener is on Tuesday, and you can find more information on their Facebook group.

Also on Tuesday, the BIPOC Cycling Club Madison will have their first ride of the season. Their mission is to “be a safe and welcoming space for BIPOC individuals to ride together, and to build an inclusive community around the joy of cycling.” More info on their Instagram account.

The Madison Queer Bike Ride is a year-round opportunity, and this Wednesday it’s time for another ride. I haven’t seen their route announced yet — check their Instagram page for details.

Bombay Bicycle Club will host their season opener on Sunday. The ride goes down south to Firefly Coffee House in Oregon, and apparently coffee is provided by the club. 10 am departure at the Cap City Trail parking lot near Lake Farm County Park. Facebook event.

Not quite kicking off the season yet is the new Capital Bike Club e-bike group. Save the date for their April 20 open house in Middleton

Madison Bike Week is coming

If you attended the Dream Bikes parking lot sale on Saturday, you may have seen one of our flyers for Madison Bike Week! We’re just about to roll out our promotion campaign, and let’s just say that we’ll have awesome promo materials this year. Now is also a good time to start thinking about what events you want to host during Madison Bike Week, June 1-8. Event registration (as always: free!) is open.

CORP fundraiser

Our mountain biking friends from CORP are hosting their “Love your trails” spring fundraiser at Machinery Row on Saturday. Tickets are $20/$25 (advance/door) and will include food and beverages. Facebook event.

E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

Bike records, a fat bike race, and “Biking and the Law”

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date February 19, 2024

It’s been unseasonably warm. And that shows when you pay attention to the bike counters. When riding past the two counters, on the Southwest Path and the Cap City Trail, I had noticed that counts seemed high. And so I looked at the weekly count data for the week starting on February 5. And indeed: These were the highest numbers since the counters were installed!

The forecast for this week looks even warmer, and so we’ll see if we get another record. Have you been riding more? And if you’re not an all-season rider, have you considered getting back on the bike sooner this year?

Fat bike race in Middleton

Speaking of warm temperatures: On Saturday, the final race of the Hugh Jass Fat Bike Series is supposed to take place at Blackhawk Ski Club in Middleton. Make sure to check the Facebook event, as the warm weather may make for difficult trail conditions.

Preview: Biking and the Law

Not this week, but on Monday, February 26, we are holding our first Community Meeting of 2024. Local attorney Clayton Griessmeyer, who specializes in biking and the law, will talk to us about both your rights as a bicyclist and what you should know if you get into a crash. The event will be in person at the Madison Central Library, Room 104 at 6 pm.

Clayton will talk about:

Laws that are designed to protect people on bicycles and pedestrians
Things to keep in mind while biking
Specific examples of crashes
How insurance companies and their lawyers try to cheat people out of justice
Overview of a case from start to finish with pointers for people who get hurt while biking
Q+A

We’re very excited about our Community Events this year! Upcoming meetings will include a visit to the BCycle shop, a preview of the city’s bike network planning efforts, and much more! Do you have an idea for a community and/or want to organize one? Shoot us an email: info@madisonbikes.org

E-Mail Newsletter Weekly Update

Queer Valentine’s ride; Freewheel volunteer meeting; Madison Bike Week

Post author By Harald Kliems
Post date February 12, 2024

Madison Bikes, 2024 Beth Skogen Photography – www.bethskogen.com

Last Friday, we celebrated International Winter Bike Day. Part of the Madison Bikes mission is to advocate for biking as a year-round activity and means of transportation. And over the years, we’ve had all kinds of weather on that day — polar vortex temperatures, big snowfalls, freezing rain, … This year the weather was unseasonably warm and pleasant. Together with the City of Madison, we set up shop on the Cap City trail in front of Monona Terrace and handed out donuts, coffee (thanks to Cafe Domestique for sponsoring that!), and stickers. And in the evening, we filled up the bike racks at Working Draft for a happy hour. Thanks to everyone who attended!

Valentine’s Day: No TC, but the Madison Queer Bike Ride

On Wednesday, it’s Valentine’s Day. The Transportation Commission meeting for that day is canceled. But you can join the Madison Queer Bike Ride for a Valentine’s edition of their monthly ride:

It’s the Valentine’s Day edition of the Queer Bike Ride. Let’s skip the restaurant dinner and bike around.
10 mile loop through West Campus, Shorewood Hills and Eagle Heights
Warm up and hang out at Der Rathskeller (Memorial Union) near the end of the loop
Meet at Law Park beach @ 6pm
Bring your bike lights. Bring your valentines.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3D_MfQP3Ot/

Freewheel Volunteer Meeting

Freewheel will be hosting their monthly volunteer meeting on Thursday at 6pm via Zoom. As they’re working on re-establishing a DIY community bike shop in Madison, they’re looking for volunteers and planning for various events. Sign up for the call here.

Madison Bike Week: June 1-8

Save the date: Madison Bike Week is coming, and it’ll be June 1-8 today, coinciding with the Bike Fed’s Wisconsin Bike Week. We have lots of plans and ideas, and we’re excited to see what the community will come up with this year. Stay tuned for more information, and start thinking about what you will organize for Madison Bike Week.