Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter! It seems Winter is finally here and those of us who enjoy fat biking, ice skating, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and more are taking what we can get. I hope you all are doing well in whichever way you choose to fight off the Winter blues.
Tom Lynch Retires; City Seeks New Director of Transportation
After 7 years as Director of Transportation, Tom Lynch is retiring. Over his time as Director, Tom has supported active transportation and improving transportation safety through projects such as Vision Zero, Complete Green Streets, and Transportation Demand Management (just to name a few). He has clearly been a strong ally for cycling and other alternatives to driving, and for that, we say a huge THANK YOU and congratulations!
That also means the city is looking for a new Director of Transportation. The new director will be expected to expand on the work Tom has accomplished and lead our growing city into an even more efficient, safe, and equitable transportation future. Experienced urban planners and transportation professionals need only apply here.
Cycling Friends Unite: GearShift Gathering
This Friday, January 17th from 4-7 pm, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin is hosting a GearShift Gathering where local bike nonprofits will meet to socialize, share updates on bicycling projects, and learn about volunteer opportunities. Visitors are more than welcome to attend and learn about what’s going on in the Madison bike scene and how they can get involved. There will be snacks and door prizes, too! If you plan to attend and you have access to Facebook, please RSVP on the event page.
Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap
Polish up your spare bike parts and get ready to haggle. Bike enthusiasts will not want to miss the annual Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap this Saturday, January 18th from 10 am – 1 pm at the Alliant Energy Center. If you haven’t been to this event before, the exhibition hall with be filled with tables full of used and new bike parts, accessories, and gear, along with a corral of complete bikes available to be test ridden.
The bike swap will take place in the New Holland Pavilion, where parking is available for $8, or ride your bike for free! While you do not need bring anything to “swap,” if you (and 2 friends) have surplus bike parts or gear you want to sell, you can sign up to be a vendor. As of the time of writing this, there are still tables available. You can also bring complete bikes to sell along with a completed Bike Corral form, no table required. The form and all other bike swap info can be found on the website linked at the top of this section.
Be aware that there is a cost if you want to shop early for the best selection:
$10 early bird admission 10am-11am $5 general admission 11am-12pm $0 free admission 12pm-1pm
The swap will be sure to have some great deals, and it supports reusing bikes and parts that still have a lot of life left in them!
That’s all we have for you this week. Hope to see you at an upcoming event and thanks for being part of the Madison Bikes community.
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.
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.
• 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.
Only a few more days are left in 2024. What were some of this year’s high and low lights for biking in Madison and for Madison Bikes? Here’s my personal perspective. As always, I’m sure I’m forgetting some things! And the post is still going to be long enough that Mailchimp may cut it off.
Before we get into it, I want to thank all of you, our readers and supporters. We’re a small organization, with no paid staff. And so we rely on all of you to make biking better in Madison. You are the ones volunteering. Advocating for bikes with your alders, neighbors, or on (gasp!) NextDoor or Facebook. Writing posts for the newsletter. Reading and forwarding the newsletter. Running for our board or elected office. For showing up at our events. And for donating. We really appreciate it.
Madison Bike Week
“Ride with the Pack” got rained out, unfortunately
Every Madison Bike Week is different. All of them are awesome, and 2024 was no exception. We had some worse-than usual luck with the weather, with several events early in the week getting rained out. But overall we once again we had a wonderful mix of familiar and new events. Biking with your dog. A vintage bike ride. A blessing of the bicycles. The return of Bratcakes. An e-bike expo. Infrastructure tours of the south side, east side, and Middleton. And so on. 89 events total, all organized by individuals, government agencies, community groups, or local businesses! Save the date for 2025: Madison (and Wisconsin) Bike Week will take place from June 1-8.
Infrastructure highlights
I continue to be amazed how much new infrastructure has been completed in the last few years. The city has been exceptionally successful in getting state and federal dollars. And we now see the results of this funding materialize on our streets and paths.
On the east side, the Autumn Ridge Path and overpass form a brand new low-stress link across Highway 30, connecting Sycamore Park and Milwaukee Ave. No longer do you have to contend with drivers through the Thompson Road roundabouts or the cut-through traffic on Swanton Road.
Last year we celebrated the completion of the Broom and West Wilson projects. And in 2025, work started to complete the protected cycle track along East Wilson, from Monona Terrace to the “hairball intersection” of John Nolen, Williamson, and Blair. The project didn’t quite finish in 2024, but some stretches are done already.
On the west side, phase 2 of the multi-use path along Hammersley was completed. Now you can go all the way from the crossing with the SW Path to Brookwood on a separated path.
Mineral Point Road Path
The biggest infrastructure project of the year was the opening of Madison’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) route. There were some negative impacts on biking from that: On about two miles of East Wash, the combines parking/bike lanes disappear during rush hour. But there are also upsides: On the new BRT buses, you can roll your bike on board rather than dealing with a rack on the front of the bus. And as Mineral Point Road was redesigned for BRT buses running in the center lane, the city built a new multi-use path on the north side of the road. There was a lot of controversy about the path: Bikes were pitted against trees (even though the root cause was a decision to keep two car travel lanes on Mineral Point Road). And people had concerns about the safety of a two-way multi-use path along a corridor with many busy driveway crossings. The jury is still out: I have biked on the new path a few times (stay tuned for a video!), and I think overall its somewhat of an improvement over what was there before.
Segoe Road and Sheboygan Ave were both rebuilt this year. Segoe got a curb-protected bike lane from Regent to Sheboygan; and Sheboygan was upgraded from having no bike infrastructure at all to buffered bike lanes. We celebrated the completion of the project with district alder Bill Tishler.
Dane County Park also opened two amazing new paths this year: A new section of boardwalk connects Fish Camp County Park with Lake Kegonsa State Park. And along the shores of Lake Waubesa, a new trail connects Lake Farm and Goodland county parks.
This section is called infrastructure highlights, but there were also two major setbacks: After decades of planning and seeking funding, it looked like we were set for two trail extensions: The Cannonball Path was going to be extended from Fish Hatchery Road to the Wingra Creek Path. And the Cap City trail was finally going to extend past its current terminus on the east side and continue all the way to County Road AB/Buckeye Road. Plans were completed and approved. Funding secured. And then the Office of the Commissioner of the Railroad (OCR) shut it all down. The railroad company didn’t like the new crossings that are required for the two paths, and the OCR agreed with them. It remains to be seen how these projects can move forward in the next year.
Elections and new alliances
Pretty much every year is an election year, and 2024 was no exception. We continued our work of informing voters through candidate questionnaires and debates. This year, the Dane County executive and all county board supervisors were on the ballot.
Long-time executive and champion of many Dane County bike trails Joe Parisi resigned, and Melissa Agard and Dana Pellebon ran to become his successor. As part of the first ever Madison Housing Week, organized by the newly formed Madison Housing Coalition, the two candidates debated their approaches to housing, land use, and transportation.
For the county board election, Madison Bikes teamed up with the Affordable Housing Action Alliance (AHAA), Madison is for People, and Madison Tenant Power (MTP) for on an election questionnaire. We sent questions about making housing more affordable and how the county could better serve the 30-40% of Dane County residents who are non-drivers, and then published the responses on our website ahead of the election.
In 2025, our focus will be on the common council elections.
Area Plans
Speaking of land use and transportation: One key instrument in how our city plans transportation infrastructure, land use, parks, and utilities in the mid and long term is through area plans. The plans cover 13 areas of the city and, once in place, will be updated every 10 years. The first plans to be created and adopted were for the West and Northeast areas. While the Northeast plan was largely uncontroversial, the West area plan was anything but. And biking took a prominent role. One controversy was focused on the Sauk Creek Greenway and whether a bike trail through and across the area should be included in the plan.
Public meetings turned into shouting matches, NextDoor and certainly editorial sections were abuzz, and we did what we could to provide accurate information. In the end, the north-south path along the creek was not included in the plan. But an east-west connection was, as well as safe and protected bike infrastructure on roads parallel to Sauk Creek.
Now that the Northeast and West plans have been adopted by the Common Council, the process for the Southeast and Southwest plans has started. We’ll continue our coverage in the new year.
Community meetings
Winter Bike Social
One innovation for Madison Bikes in 2024 were monthly community meetings. We have hosted many events in the past, but this year we took a more deliberate and inclusive approach: In December of last year, our board members and anyone who was interested met up at the library over pizza and brainstormed ideas for events in 2024.
Touring the Arboretum
This resulted in an awesome spread of topics and events: Of course there was Winter Bike Day, where we handed out donuts and coffee on a freezing February morning. Renee Callaway from the city’s traffic engineering department gave a presentation about “Vision Zero and Active Transportation Planning.” BCycle Madison gave us a tour of their facility. We washed bikes with our friends from Freewheel to celebrate the end of winter. Bike lawyer and Madison Bikes supporter Clay Griessmeyer talked about what to do if you’re involved in a bike crash. An Ecological Restoration Specialist, Eric Grycan, led a bike ride through the Arboretum. Local author and silent sports disciple Timothy Bauer gave a talk about how to combine pedaling and paddling. And we wrapped things up with a Winter Bike Social.
BCycle Madison facility
Our planning meeting for 2025 took place two weeks and resulted in lots of great ideas. Stay tuned! If you have an event that you’d like to organize with us, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Remembering Joseph Solomon
On March 15, Joseph Solomon was biking home from work near East Towne Mall. A turning driver hit and killed Joseph. Fatalities like these like these are tragic, and it’s important to remember those who were killed while biking in our city. And do everything we can to prevent these tragedies in the future.
In the wake of the fatal crash, the city rapidly redesigned the road where the crash happened. They used paint and delineators to rapidly and cheaply implement a “road diet,” or lane reduction: Lien Road was converted from a 4-lane undivided road to two-lane road with a center turn lane and a bike lane separated by flex posts.
Bicycle Film Festival
Madison is known a biking city. And yet, the Bicycle Film Festival has never made a stop here. Until 2024: In October, we brought the festival to the Barrymore Theater. It was a great success, with over 250 attendees. And yes, we’re going to do it again in 2025!
A bicyclist rides down the Yahara River Path in Winter
Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter. It’s a light week in bike advocacy news with the holiday, but there is some highway news we think you should know about.
Stoughton Road Redesign
The second public involvement meeting for the Stoughton Road redesign project was last week, and WisDOT is looking for more feedback on the design alternatives. The project scope includes US51 (Stoughton Road) from just South of Highway 30 to just South of the Beltline. That corridor of Stoughton Road is notoriously dangerous, with record numbers of crashes including 8 bicycle/pedestrian injury crashes and 2 fatal vehicle on pedestrian crashes. 83% of all crashes in this corridor are at intersections, with both Buckeye and Broadway being ranked in the 10 worst intersections for crashes in Madison. In addition to the poor safety record, WisDOT has observed concerning and inefficient traffic conditions at most existing intersections and anticipates 1/2 mile backups by 2050 if no changes are introduced.
For the redesign, the materials included 6 options (including the “no change” option). Alternatives included expanding intersections or removing frontage roads and providing direct access to businesses. Some of them propose reducing speed limits to 35mph and adding safe bike and pedestrian infrastructure. You can see all the design options in detail on the project site, or check out the one-page summary here.
Personally, I would love to see a number of changes to Stoughton Road to improve safety and access for users outside motor vehicles, including reduced speed limits, increasing the number of safe crossings, and reducing the total width of the roadway to allow for more green space. Studies have shown that increasing the number of lanes and adding extra capacity for motor vehicles does not have a positive impact on the amount of traffic, but instead encourages more people to drive resulting in the same or worse traffic congestion as before the expansion. The only reliable way to reduce traffic congestion is to provide viable alternatives to driving. What can you do to help with that mission and make biking better in Madison? It only takes a few minutes to fill out the survey and let WisDOT know you care about bike, pedestrian, and transit access.
Come Chat Winter Biking With Us
Looking ahead to next week: on Tuesday, December 3rd Madison Bikes is hosting a Winter Bike Social at Working Draft, from 5:30-7:30. We’ll be enjoying warm drinks and chatting about all things biking, including how to have a successful ride in cold and wet weather. Stop by any time and bring your bike and your favorite piece of Winter bike gear!
That’s all we have for you this week. Thanks for being part of the Madison Bikes community.
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:
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.
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.
Revolution Cycles Hosting a Fall Bike-to-Work Commuter Station on 9/27
Welcome to this week’s newsletter! It was wonderful to see all of you who came out for the Bicycle Film Festival at the Barrymore last week. What an inspiring series of films and an awesome event! Here’s what you need to know about this week:
Campus Path Closed
Heads up to commuters and other path users near Campus Drive and the Vet School: the multi-use path will be closed from Monday-Friday (Oct. 7-11) for repairs. Those traveling through will want to take the detour to the North on Walnut St. and Observatory Dr. instead.
Donate Your Old Bikes
Saturday, Oct. 12th from 10am-2pm, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin is hosting a bicycle donation drive at their shop at 354 Coyier Lane, Madison, WI 53713. Bikes of all types and sizes will be accepted. Donation bikes should be gently used, although they will also help recycle bikes that are beyond repair with a small monetary donation. Check out the website, https://bikesforkidswi.org/2024-bike-donation-drives-oct-12-nov-23/, for more info and other donation options!
New Opportunities in Bikeshare
On October 1st, Bicycle Transit Systems (BTS) acquired BCycle from Trek. Prior to the acquisition, BTS ran the bikeshare operations (using BCycle bikes and software) in Philadelphia, LA, and Las Vegas. All of the employees of BCycle, including myself, were offered roles at BTS to continue to run and support the BCycle systems across the country. With more of BCycle unified under the BTS umbrella, the organization will be able to focus solely on bikeshare and product development to deliver the best possible bike rental process.
Among the changes, Helen Bradley was promoted to Director of Business Development for BTS, so Madison BCycle is looking for a new General Manager! If you love bikes and transportation, are a leader, problem solver, and have business aptitude, you are encouraged to apply. Check out the responsibilities and requirements and apply here.
Flock to State Ending & Feedback
Have you gotten a chance to enjoy the pedestrian mall on State Street this Summer? If you hadn’t heard, the city further restricted traffic on State Street by limiting the times that non-emergency vehicles can use the street, calling it “Flock to State.” While the street has be closed to private vehicles since 1974, in May the city decided to run a pedestrian mall experiment, where from Gorham to Hawthorne, State Street did not allow any non-emergency vehicles from 3pm to 4am on weekdays and 10am to 4am on weekends.
In addition to the traffic limitations, there were also events planned around that area of State Street such as the #MadisonIsMusic Concert Series in September, Science on the Square (upcoming on October 17th), and of course the Madison Night Market. The pedestrian mall is ending on October 30th, and the city wants your feedback on the experiment to determine the next steps. If you enjoyed having this space further dedicated to and prioritizing pedestrians, please consider filling out the super short survey and telling the city what you liked and didn’t like about it!
Mifflin Diverter Project
Looking ahead to next week, the Mifflin Diverter will be installed on Monday, October 14th. The test will add a motor vehicle traffic diverter to the Westbound lane of E Mifflin just past Breese Stevens Field. Vehicles traveling West on E Mifflin will have to turn onto N Paterson, but bicycle and pedestrian routes will remain unaffected. The project is focused on improvements to the bike boulevard on E Mifflin, a critical bicycle traffic artery North of E Washington. Traffic Engineering has been gathering data about traffic volumes before the install, and they will continue to do so throughout the coming months when the diverter is in place. They will also be looking for public feedback, so if you ever bike along this route, be sure to send them a note!
That’s all we have for you this week. Now go ride your bike!
Do you have your tickets yet? 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 NA 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
Madison’s first ever Bus Rapid Transit route, the Rapid Route A, started its first full week of service on Sunday, 9/22. The route stretches roughly from East Towne Mall area to Junction Road at Watts Road on the Far West Side.
For those of you inclined to bring a bike on the bus, bike racks are now located inside the bus accessible using the rear doors of each sixty foot bus.
Learn (with me in the video) how to travel with a bike on Metro Transit’s new 60 foot, articulated buses being used on Routes A, B, and F here.
Public Evaluation of Regent Street
Regent Street – Madison Bikes
Regent Street will be up for reconstruction soon. Documenting its current condition and its shortcomings for people walking and biking is an important first step. Madison Bikes seeks your feedback to share with the City of Madison for when that reconstruction eventually takes place.
We will conduct a casual audit of Regent Street meeting in front of Budget Bicycles (1124 Regent St. location) at 5:30 p.m., followed by a social hour at Camp Cantina at 6:30 p.m.
We will have printed bike audit tool-kits available for everyone and we will provide guidance on how to use it. At the social hour, we can discuss how to best use the observations to advocate for improvements.
Join Cap City Cyclists Madison for their “Mad Town Monday” ride on Monday, 9/23. As always, the group meets at Orton Park, at 6 p.m. – party pacing at about a 12 mph pace for the 15 mile route. A bike light, helmet and a flat kit are highly recommended.
West Waubesa Trail open
Dane County Parks opened another beautiful trail. The West Waubesa Trail connects Lake Farm County Park to Goodman County Park and provides a safer alternative to biking on Lake Farm Road. Our board member Harald made a short video about the trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmC3ofG6Xjc
Shorewood Detour Sep 30
Beginning next Monday Sep 30, the path behind the Shorewood Hills pool will close. (sewer construction has had several false starts since August, but they’re confident that Sept 30 is the date). This is a major disruption to the University Avenue path, breaking connectivity between Locust Drive and University Station.
The detour for the next few months will be on Harvard Drive through Shorewood Hills. Once winter sets in, they hope to have a shorter detour using the path on the north side of the pool. The work should be complete in the spring.
Bicyclists cruise down John Nolen Drive at Ride The Drive
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. Here’s what you should know about in the Madison biking-for-transportation world this week.
Housing Week is Here
It’s Madison Housing Week! As the population in Madison continues to rise, Madison Housing Coalition is thinking about what can be done to increase access to housing for those who want to work and live here. Going on now, from August 17th-22nd, is a series of events to learn, discuss, and advocate for solutions to the housing shortage. Some events you may want to check out are:
Housing on Tap on Monday, August 19th from 5:30pm – 7:00pm at Vintage Brewing Company
Housing Environmentalism on Wednesday, August 21st from 6:00pm – 7:30pm at the Central Library, room 301
Dane County Exec Debate & Social on Thursday August 22nd from 6:00pm – 9:45pm at The Tinsmith
To see the full list of events, their details, and to RSVP, check out the site at madisonhousingweek.com.
Madison Bikes Board Elections
Madison Bikes board elections are coming up this Fall, and we want to know if you are interested. Have you volunteered with Madison Bikes in the past and want to take your involvement to the next level? Are you interested in helping promote bike advocacy and put on awesome community events? Would you be interested in writing this newsletter? While you don’t need to be on the board to do any of those things, we always welcome and encourage anyone to let us know if they’d like to join. What is it like to be on the board? Well, that’s up to you. Some members focus mostly on planning events, some specialize in the website and social media, and some focus on educating the community on important bike advocacy issues. We all meet to discuss these topics with the goal of making Madison a better place to comfortably ride a bike. If that sounds like your jam, board elections are coming up soon and we would love if you reached out to us at info@madisonbikes.org.
Cannonball Extension Disappointment
In July, Wisconsin’s Commissioner of Railroads rejected a proposed extension to connect the Cannonball Path and Wingra Creek bike paths. On Friday, August 16th, Madison officials decided not to appeal the decision. The proposed route would have crossed Fish Hatchery Road and the Wisconsin and Southern railroad tracks, but was deemed unsafe by Commissioner Don Vruwink, who cited risks such as train derailment and potential bike accidents. The issue with the decision is that it overlooks the dangers of biking on the heavily trafficked Fish Hatchery Road. Despite the frustration of yet another bike infrastructure conflict with the railroad, the city is planning to explore alternatives, such as expanding sidewalks, to address the lack of safe connection from the Cannonball to Wingra Creek.
The approximate location of the path extension that was rejected by the Railroad Commission
West Washington Crash
A cyclist was struck by a driver on West Washington on Saturday, August 17th at the Southwest path crossing. Not much is known about the crash at this time other than the motorist stayed at the scene and the bicyclist was taken to the hospital and is alive.
This intersection is notoriously dangerous and has seen several crashes involving drivers and cyclists this year alone. Despite having a Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon (RRFB) there are multiple potential reasons for the level of danger at this intersection. Path users have to cross 4 motor traffic lanes to get across W. Washington, with a refuge island in the middle. In addition to the issue of crossing multiple lanes at once, often times the driver in the first lane will stop to yield for a pedestrian or cyclist and the driver in the next lane will not. Speeding and driver inattentiveness can also play roles in making this area more dangerous.
What could be done to reduce the risk? Some have suggested a pedestrian bridge. While that would help avoid conflict, it is still a car-centric design. It would be very costly and likely require cyclists to make a significant climb to clear the minimum height of a bridge. Pedestrians would also have to travel a much longer distance to get across, and would likely opt to cross the road directly instead. Another option would be to implement a road diet by narrowing it to one lane in each direction or create other traffic calming measures such as making the path a raised crossing. Personally I would love to see one or both of those changes implemented, as they would be much more cost-effective and have been proven to slow down drivers and make crossing the road safer, often without reducing traffic volumes. What kinds of changes would you like to see?
That it for this newsletter. Stay safe and thanks for being a part of the Madison Bikes community.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter! Summer is in full swing and it’s a great time to ride your bike to get where you need to go, or just ride for fun.
It’s a light week in terms of biking advocacy. Here’s what you should know.
Volunteer Opportunity: Ride the Drive
As we mentioned last week, Parks is looking for volunteers to help with Ride the Drive on August 11th. They need help with things from setup to photography to intersection guides and more. If you aren’t familiar, Ride the Drive is a form of Open Streets celebration where select major streets around town are closed to cars and open to walking or rolling. Vendors will be set up along the route for food and drinks and other exciting things. Volunteers will also get a free Ride the Drive T-shirt. You can read more about the various roles and sign up to help here.
The map of streets and hub locations for Ride the Drive
Machinery Row Rides
Are you interested in riding 100 miles? It sounds like a huge amount, but you may be capable of more than you think! Machinery Row is hosting a series of Century Training Club rides designed to help you train for a century ride by the end of the Summer. It’s not too late to join and get in some longer rides and make some cool new friends! They meet at Machinery Row every Sunday at 8 AM through September 1st. Join soon, since the longer you wait the longer the rides will be!
Riders line up to begin a Century Training Club ride
Are you an e-biker and want to meet other fellow electric bike enjoyers? Consider joining Machinery Row’s other option: Lunch Bunch E-Bike Rides, which go down every Friday from 12-2 PM. The rides are a casual pace and include a lunch stop! Rental options are available though the store or through Madison BCycle.
Best WI City for Biking?
If you didn’t catch PeopleForBike’s city ratings yet, here’s what they found. According to their latest rankings for 2024, the best city for biking in Wisconsin is Washburn, located in Chequamegon Bay, about 50 miles East of Duluth, MN. Washburn also ranked 5th out of the 2579 cities evaluated across the country. Madison is rated 13th in Wisconsin and 86th in the country.
Why is a town of 2,025 people a better place to bike than Madison with all of our paths and great bike infrastructure? Well, to understand that, we have to understand how it’s scored. The score is a “Bicycle Network Analysis” and it is intended to measure how well the bike network gets people to where they need to go. In further detail:
A low score (0-20) indicates a weak bike network, meaning the city lacks safe bikeways or there are gaps in the network. A high score (80-100) indicates that most common destinations are accessible by safe, comfortable bike routes that serve people of all ages and abilities.
So my interpretation is Washburn is highly rated because it’s easier to get all your basic needs by bicycle for most of the people living there. The town is about two miles end-to-end and almost all residents live in safe biking distance from school, groceries, the doctor, or any of their other basic needs. Most importantly, the safe, bikeable areas are well connected so more people feel comfortable getting to their destination by bike.
Compared to Madison, Washburn is much more connected. Madison, especially farther on the outskirts (like West/South of the Beltline or East of Stoughton Rd.) would be really tough places to live without a car. While we have some great trails for commuting and recreational riding, there are still lots of areas where it’s very uncomfortable to ride due to high traffic speeds. Furthermore, due to the design of some suburban neighborhoods, traveling only by residential or slow traffic streets is mostly impossible. Washburn, on the other hand, while admittedly much smaller, is a grid of mostly low speed streets.
The grid system also makes a city more walkable. No winding, sprawling suburban streets that take you nowhere (except around the block). Yes, I realize there are some large lakes in Madison that prevent it from being a perfect grid. No, a grid is not impossible in Madison and more grid-based design would make the city better for biking, assuming it were combined with some hefty rezoning, but that’s another story.
Madison’s Bicycle Network Analysis score map.
It’s not all bad for Madison, though. PeopleForBikes recognized it as a “2024 City on the Rise” due to the city staff’s recognition and participation in bicycling and bike-related projects. The total score rose from a 50 in 2020 to a 60 in 2024, which is a really great improvement considering the average score across all US cities measured is only 28.
What are your thoughts on the PeopleForBikes city ratings? Are there any areas of Madison you bike in that you wish were better connected?
