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.
Metro Transit bus, by Lauren Graves – UW Transportation Services
Metro Transit hits 1M+ rides in February
Metro Transit once again hit a post-pandemic milestone of providing over one million rides in February 2024. The agency reports having provided 1,019,324 rides in February ’24, a 12.5% year-over-year increase over February ’23. This is the second non-consecutive month Metro has had more than 1 million rides in a month since before the pandemic, with October 2023 being the last seeing roughly 1,075,500 riders.
Metro continues to make progress in recovering post-pandemic ridership
Coming this week
Healthy Communities Summit
4/29 at 8a – 5p
The Healthy Communities Summit returns to Madison this year on Monday, April 29. The summit is scheduled to occur at UW-Madison’s Memorial Union in the Great Hall on Monday, April 29th, 2024, running from 8a to 5p. Featured programming topics for this year include Education Empowerment, Changemaker Inspiration, and Trail Development Toolbox. Attendees can anticipate various breakout sessions led by both local and national experts, covering these themes and additional subjects.
North/South BRT Public Meeting
4/29 at 5:30p
Metro Rapid Route B will be the second bus rapid transit route in the Madison area, following a North to South route from the North side of Madison to Fitchburg. At the next round of meetings on Monday, April 29 at the MainStay Suites in Fitchburg from 5:30-7:30p, the public can provide feedback and see changes that have been made based on input we received, including updated station locations and routing. Attend the meeting in person or watch it here.
Women’s Mountain Bike Day Group Ride
5/4 at 9:30a
Celebrate Women’s Mountain Bike Day on Saturday, May 4th with a Women’s Group Ride! Meet at the Pavilion by the Quarry Ridge parking lot at 9:30am for a 1-hour beginner-friendly ride. Bring your mountain bike, helmet, water, and a flat kit. There will be an instructor present to help you learn and improve your mountain biking skills. Stick around afterwards for coffee and donuts.
A woman on a mountain bike on a dirt path, Machinery Row Bicycles
Cyclists cruise down the Cap City Trail on Madison’s East Side
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. If you aren’t familiar, this newsletter shares the need-to-know information for bicycle advocates in the Madison area. As we gather to address both the joys and challenges of biking, this issue touches upon critical matters—from supporting those affected by tragedy, to community meetings where discussions of bicycling safety can take place.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Joseph Solomon, who was killed by a driver while biking home from work on Lien Rd on the East Side. I can’t express how frustrated and angry it makes me that there has been another bicyclist death due to traffic violence. We have to do better to protect vulnerable road users, especially in areas farther away from downtown where separated bicycle infrastructure is often sparse and disconnected. If you wish to donate, his family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his funeral and provide support for his daughter. Thank you to those who have made contributions.
Community Event: Vision Zero & Active Transportation Planning
Join us this Monday, March 25th, 6:00 PM at the Central Library downtown to hear from Renee Callaway and learn about Vision Zero and Active Transportation planning. Renee is the new Assistant Director of the City of Madison’s Traffic Engineering division. Renee has over 20 years of experience in Transportation Planning and was recently promoted from her previous role with the city as Pedestrian Bicycle Administrator. We’re looking forward to having her come talk with us about Madison’s progress in Vision Zero, bike and pedestrian infrastructure planning, and Safe Routes to School planning.
We’ll be in Room 301 (note the change from 104) and we’ll have pizza, so come down, grab a slice, and chat with us about Making Madison a better place to ride a bike.
Transportation Commission
On Wednesday, at 5:00 PM the Transportation Commission will meet. Included in the agenda is one North/South BRT topic, the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPT). The LPT is the desired configuration for things like stops, dedicated bus lanes, and other operations like transit frequency and fare cost. Tune in to this meeting or see more information by vising the city website.
Upcoming Bicycle Education
The League of American Bicyclists has a few upcoming classes at the Fitchburg Community Center:
Smart Cycling on Saturday, April 20. This course is a fast-paced class that provides cyclists with the confidence to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. We will cover the basics of bike maintenance, rules of the road, on-bike skills, and crash avoidance techniques.
League Cycling Instructor (LCI, May 31 – June 2). LCIs are ambassadors for better biking through their education efforts. After earning certification through a three-day, League Coach-led seminar, LCIs can teach a variety of Smart Cycling classes to children as well as adults, helping them feel more confident and secure about riding. From our youth focused classes to our Bicycle Friendly Driver curriculum, LCIs can educate people who bike and drive how to safely and legally share the road.
Smart Cycling is a prerequisite to LCI, and LCI is not held locally very often, so those in Wisconsin who are interested in getting certified should take advantage.
That’s all for this newsletter. We really hope to see you at one of our upcoming events. There are a lot of interesting, fun, and educational events coming up, including during Madison Bike Week 2024 in June. Stay safe and see you out there.
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.
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.
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.
It’s daylight savings time. Don’t forget to skip your clock an hour forward if it isn’t automatic- you don’t want to miss this week’s updates.
A ghost bike memorial for the late Sarah Debbink Langenkamp (credit: Alicia Bosscher, 2022)
This week – urgent action needed
Sarah Debbink Langenkamp was killed while riding her bike in a bike lane in Bethesda, Maryland in August of 2022. The driver who struck her received a meager sentence of 150 hours of community service and a $2,000 fine. Sarah’s husband, Dan, is urging lawmakers to take action and pass the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation act, which is likely to be introduced Tuesday, March 12.
– Unlock Highway Safety Improvement Program funding for projects that connect two pieces of safe cycling infrastructure.
– Allow local governments to identify active transportation projects eligible for Highway Safety Improvement Program funding.
– Allow bicycle and pedestrian safety projects to be fully federally funded, ensuring all communities can take advantage of these new eligibilities and encouraging communities to undertake more bicyclist and pedestrian safety projects.
We need your help to email Ron Johnson and ask that he co-sponsor the Senate version of the bill. The House version has bipartisan support. Click here to quickly e-mail Senator Ron Johnson. You can copy this message, if you would like: “Please consider co-sponsoring the Senate version of the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Act as it has the potential to save lives and won’t cost the government anything. Thank you!”
Also in this week
UW Transportation Services published this illustrated guide on bicycle security and theft prevention. Check it out for tips on how to keep your bike safe using the right equipment.
Bike lock security infographic (Credit: UW Transportation Services, 2024)
Coming next week
Spring is in the air! Come celebrate with MadisonBikes by taking a tour of the Madison BCycle Facility on Thursday, March 21. Join a relaxed group ride from Law Park leaving shortly after 4:30 pm or meet directly at the Third Street facility at 5 pm. Discussion will include battery charging and safety. Drinks and snacks will be provided.
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
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.
Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter! It’s Winter Bike Week and we’re super excited to share some news and updates with you.
Winter Bike Week activities
On Tuesday morning from 7-9, Bike Fitchburg will be hosting a commuter station at the “Velo UnderRound” (where the Badger, Cap City, Southwest, Cannonball, and Military Ridge Paths intersect). Stop by to enjoy some hot coffee and bagels. There will also be minor mechanical adjustments and bike maps available. Come chat about what Bike Fitchburg is doing to help make a more fun and welcoming place to ride a bike, and how you can get involved!
Friday is International Winter Bike Day, and Madison Bikes and the City of Madison are hosting another commuter station on the Capital City Trail, just east of the Monona Terrace (near the bike elevator). From 7-9am we will have free coffee (courtesy of Cafe Domestique), donuts, and some one-of-a-kind MB Winter biking stickers!
A happy commuter at Winter Bike Day 2023 (Photo: Harald Kliems)
Finally, Friday afternoon from 4-6pm, we’ll be hanging out at Working Draft Beer. All are welcome to stop by, enjoy 10% off with your Bike Benefits sticker, and chat with us about why you love Winter biking. Working Draft has a large selection of tap beer and plenty of NA options! We look forward to capping off the celebration with you there.
Meetings: Passenger Rail and Pedestrian Safety
How exciting is it to imagine a passenger train station in Madison? On Tuesday from 6-7:30pm, the city will be hosting a public meeting on the Passenger Rail Station Study. The study aims to identify a location for Amtrak’s planned extension of the Hiawatha route. Tune in to hear about the study’s progress and where the station could be located.
Wednesday from 5-7pm, the city is hosting a virtual Community Conversation about pedestrian safety. The meeting, held by the Disability Rights and Services Program, is for learning and discussing how to reduce crashes and deaths and improve safety for anyone who walks, rolls, or rides for transportation.
Freewheel Bicycle Co. Update
Madison Freewheel Bicycle Co. is a local non-profit bike shop that focuses on education about biking for transportation. Their services include providing free and low-cost bicycles to individuals in need, bike building, low cost and DIY repair, and maintenance classes. While they had to leave their previous space at the Madison Bicycle Center in 2023, they are still going and exploring which direction to go in 2024. Along with looking for a new indoor shop space, they are planning fundraising, advocacy for better transportation, and events. To help them do those things, Freewheel is seeking new board members. If you are interested in helping the community through bicycle education and advocacy, you are encouraged to join the next meeting on Thursday, February 15th, 6-7pm on Zoom (More info) (Zoom meeting registration link).
Welcome to our new board members!
Speaking of board members, meet the newest recruits to the Madison Bikes crew!
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Jacob Bortell, Katie Nash, Pratik Prajapati, Paul Lata, and Christina Lopez join the Madison Bikes Board of Directors. Please join us in welcoming them! We are delighted to have such a great group and we look forward to their contributions and effort to make Madison an even better place to ride a bike. To read more about the new (and existing) board members, check out our Board of Directors page.
That’s all for this newsletter. Enjoy the warmer riding weather and we hope to see you out there!
2023 is almost over. It was a busy year for myself and for Madison Bikes. What did we do? What did we achieve? What went on in the city that is related to biking? The following is my personal, and certainly incomplete, account of that. Be warned: It’s long (and Mailchimp may cut some of it off!)
Madison Bike Week: Bigger than ever
Jerry Schippa, a traffic engineer with the city, nerding out about traffic signals
Writing about the 2023 edition of Madison Bike Week is a little overwhelming: It was the biggest Madison Bike Week ever and no single paragraph can do it any justice. There were bike stations, nerdy signal infrastructure rides, non-nerdy social rides, an amazing party in Brittingham Park, a cargo bikes and an e-bikes test event, bikepacking, and so on and so on. It’s always a big lift to keep all this organized, and then it’s amazing to see how it all comes together.
Cargo bike test event
Infrastructure highlights
Two-way off-street bike facility along Atwood Ave
A number of exciting infrastructure projects were completed or partially completed in 2023. Atwood Avenue was completely rebuilt, with fewer and narrower car lanes, new multiuse paths, continuous sidewalks, and a lot more. A little farther east, on the Lake Loop, the Dempsey and Davies project started and was partially finished: Instead of a bumpy road without any sidewalk, there is now a multi-use path on Davies St. The rest of the project will be completed in 2024.
New multi-use path on Davies St
Downtown saw the completion of the West Wilson and Broom St project. The Wilson Street corridor had been an advocacy focus for us since at least 2018, and it was wonderful to see the project come to fruition, with a two-way cycletrack on West Wilson almost all the way to Monona Terrace. The full benefit for the low-stress bike network downtown will be realized when the East Wilson portion of the corridor, from Monona Terrace to Franklin, is rebuilt next year.
Delivery of the Ubay overpass
On the west side, the University Bay Drive overpass was finished. On Hammersley Road we saw the completion of phase 1 of another multi-use path, from Brookwood Rd to Gilbert Rd. Phase 2 from Gilbert to the Beltline Frontage road, where the path will connect to the Southwest Path, is coming in 2024. And finally, another segment of the West Beltline Path, from Junction Road to Commerce Drive opened this year.
West Beltline multi-use path
Aside from these large projects, there were also a lot of smaller, less visible but no less important improvements – more rapid flashing beacons, green crossing markings, improved signal phasing, and so on. An infrastructure improvement of a different kind was the expansion of BCycle into Fitchburg. The all-electric bike share system grew by several stations and bikes, and this resulted in record ridership this year. Next year, more stations in Madison should be coming online.
Bringing federal funding to Madison
Site of a (very delayed) press conference to announce $15 million of federal funding to rebuild John Nolen Drive
If you’re following the local news, you’ll have noticed that the City of Madison was very successful in bringing in federal infrastructure dollars this year. This includes funding for the Autumn Ridge Path and overpass; for the John Nolen Causeway reconstruction; and most recently $6.2 million to implement the city’s Vision Zero action plan. These are all projects that couldn’t happen without federal dollars. Our role in all this? Probably small, but we provided support letters with the grant applications, emphasizing how the projects contribute to traffic safety, connectivity, and equity.
Candidate questionnaires
Madison Bikes is a non-partisan, educational non-profit. We don’t endorse candidates in elections. Rather, we educate about the positions of candidates so that voters can make an educated decision on who to vote for. Therefore for the Common Council and mayoral election in the spring, we sent out candidate questionnaires again. Because transportation, land use, and housing are inextricably linked, we partnered with housing advocates Madison is for People and Madison Area Bus Advocates. All three mayoral candidates and 19 Common Council candidates responded to our questions.
Madison Bikes social rides
Madison is for People X Madison Bikes social ride
It’s a little weird for a bike organization to not organize any bike rides, isn’t it? Well, when we started Madison Bikes we felt that a) there already were plenty of wonderful group rides ain Madison and b) organizing rides wasn’t our core skill set. But this year, after several years of COVID-related lack of in-person interaction, we decided to give it a try. In September and October we slow-rolled around Lake Monona with a group of 30-50 people. The conversations and connections made during and after the ride were wonderful, and we may pick these rides up again once the weather gets warmer.
Small grants
Women-trans-femme-nonbinary bike social during Madison Bike Week (photo: Sarah Perdue)
We’re a small organization and there are a lot of people and organizations out there with great ideas but a lack of funds to turn those ideas into reality. That’s especially true for folks and communities that traditionally have been excluded from or underrepresented in biking spaces. As a small step to fix this, we set up our small grants program a few years ago: A simple application, quick turnaround, locally focused. We’ve had the program in place since 2021, but in 2023 it started taking off. We supported several events during Madison Bike Week: A bike station by the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County; a shop tour and volunteer event at Bikes for Kids Dane County (formerly known as Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison); a women-trans-femme-nonbinary ride and social during Madison Bike Week, organized as a collaborative effort between Madison Women’s Cycling Club, Radical Adventure Riders, and Bombay Bicycle Club.
Improving bike infrastructure data at an OpenStreetMap mapathon (Photo: Stephen Kennedy)
Outside of Madison Bike Week we provided support for a “mapathon”:Local cartographer Stephen Kennedy of LATLONG.SHOP hosted a Madison Bike Mapathon in November focused on adding bike-related data to OpenStreetMap. Nearly 20 community members—most of whom had never contributed to OSM—showed up to learn the editing process. The group added data related to road speed changes, road crossing elements like islands and RRFBs, Bcycle stations, and bike parking infrastructure.
And our biggest small grant that is still ongoing is a video production project by La Comunidad News ONLINE and Madison Vibra: “A Pedaleando Juntos: Inclusive Biking for All in Madison.” The results should be coming in early next year.
In 2024, we will continue and expand the grant program. If you have an idea or know anyone who does, please go to the small grants page on our website.
New people supporting weekly update
In an organization without paid staff, a lot of the work gets done by our amazing board of directors. But of course we can’t do it all, and we have wonderful help from volunteers. Our weekly newsletter is something I’m very proud of, and writing them is a lot of work (I’d estimate that on average it takes me at least an hour to write one newsletter). This year we reached out to our community to recruit new writers. Chris and Daniel responded to that call and are now part of our rotation of newsletter writers. A big thanks to them, and the other members of the team: Ben (another super volunteer), Christo, Kyle (emeritus), Robbie, and Connor.
The Streets Project
Panelists at The Street Project: Collin Mead (Wisconsin Bike Fed), Baltazar de Anda Santana (Latino Academy for Workforce Development), Morgan Ramaker (Downtown Madison Inc), Alicia Bosscher (safe streets activist and organizer of Ride for your Life Madison). Not shown: Chris McCahill (Congress for the New Urbanism)
In October we hosted a film screening and a panel discussion. The Street Project tells stories about “humanity’s relationship to the streets and the global citizen-led fight to make communities safer. Digging deep into the root causes of traffic violence, the filmmakers engage a diverse array of experts. These expert interviews are interwoven with the stories of real people working to make their communities safer.” To make the connection to what’s happening in our city more explicit, we invited a panel of local experts and activists to discuss the movie and respond to audience questions. The event drew about 120 people and the panel discussion was lively. Stay tuned for some exciting film screening news in 2024!
Winter events
Winter Bike Anywhere Day
We actually had two successful Car-free Holiday Fantasy in Lights events this year. One at the very beginning of the year, and another one in November. Hundreds of attendees got the opportunity to experience the lights on foot or bike, without having to worry about cars. Our other traditional winter event is celebrating International Winter Bike Anywhere Day in early February. We teamed up with the City and served warm beverages and snacks in front of Monona Terrace on a very crisp-but-beautiful weekday morning.
Ride for your Life
Video from Ride For Your Life Madison (https://youtu.be/flAgCa3jhqg)
October saw what was likely the largest bike and walk safety rally that Madison had ever seen: The Ride for your Life, instigated and organized by Alicia Bosscher, who lost her sister to traffic violence, and a team of the Wisconsin Bike Fed, Trek, Madison Bikes and numerous volunteers. Hundreds of people rode their bikes through the city to demand more safety for vulnerable road users. This was a powerful demonstration for how much support for safer biking and walking there is. Which leads me to the next topic.
Vision Zero
Madison’s Vision Zero policy and action plan have been in place for a few years now. As a reminder, Vision Zero posits that the only acceptable number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries is zero, and Madison’s action plan has a goal to reach 0 by 2035. The good news: After the devastating loss of the lives of three cyclists last year, nobody in Madison was killed while biking in 2023. Four people on bikes were seriously injured, which is the same number as in 2023. The larger picture, however, looks less rosy: After we had seemingly made progress last year, the overall number of fatalities and serious injuries is up again, and the number of fatalities is the highest since at least 2017.
Biking stats: Not great
Aside from safety, one of my goals for bike advocacy is getting more people to bike more. And so every year I look at several indicators on how that’s going in Madison. What’s the proportion of people biking to work? What do the bike counter numbers tell us? How is BCycle ridership doing? And how does Madison compare to other cities? The very short version for 2022 (2023 numbers won’t be available for another while): It’s not great, but other cities are doing even worse. You can dive into the details in this blog post.
Board comings and goings
Our board of directors is the core of our organization and we are very much a “working board.” Everything we do relies on the volunteer labor of our board members. A few board members had to step down because they moved away or had too many other responsibilities. Thanks to Caitlin, Connor, Kyle, and Sam for all your work! We miss you. We also have an exciting roster of incoming board members who will start their terms in January. Stay tuned for a blog post to introduce them. And finally, a big shout-out to the board members and officers who have been and will continue to be part of our organization: Aaron, Beth, Christo, Craig, Eleanor, Liz, Mark, Pete, and Robbie!
Looking forward to 2024
I’ll end here and want to thank you, dear reader, for your support. Maybe you volunteered for Madison Bikes, attended a public meeting, forwarded our newsletter, emailed your alder, supported us financially, told your neighbor how awesome biking is, shared your knowledge in our Facebook group, or just kept biking. I look forward to 2024. Tailwinds!
Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter! It’s the time of year when we get the least amount of sunlight, so if you can, be sure to take some time for yourself during the day. A short walk or bike ride in the middle of the workday can be an effective energy booster. As I like to say, you’re only one bike ride away from a good mood! Anyway, here’s what you need to know about biking in Madison this week.
Community Meeting Recap
Last week, some Madison Bikes Community members met to brainstorm and plan community meetings for 2024. Our goal is to have a meeting each month in the form of a get together, ride, learning opportunity, etc. and last Thursday we asked you for input and help. We got a lot of great ideas for meetings with themes like Spring bike cleaning and maintenance, restaurant hopping bike rides, dogs on bikes, and more!
Community meetings typically occur on the last Monday of the month, but you can see the complete schedule on our calendar. Sometimes we may combine the community meeting with other events, like during Bike Week in June. Keep an eye on this newsletter for details on all upcoming events. We look forward to seeing you there.
New Wilson and Broom St. Cycletracks
Some hot new bicycle infrastructure just dropped along Wilson and Broom streets! Two cycletracks were built as part of the city’s reconstruction and replacement of utilities along those corridors. This is a big win and important step towards connecting the Cap City Trail near Machinery Row to the Capitol area. We want to extend a huge thank you and congratulations for those of you who advocated for this improvement back in 2019.
Check out this video from Jerry Schippa for a tour of the new facilities!
Broom and Wilson Street Cycletrack 2023 | Jerry Schippa on YouTube
That’s not all. Last week, the Transportation Commission presented preliminary plans for even more improvements in this area. The plans included extending the cycletrack Eastward to King St, along with other changes. The construction is expected to begin in May 2024 and take 6 months. You can find more plan details in the full presentation.
This is proof that showing up to meetings or even sending emails can make a big difference in the way our city’s transportation is designed. Once again, thank you to those who pushed for this and hooray for reclaiming more space for people.
Alder Slack Resigns
On Friday, Alder Kristen Slack announced her resignation from the Madison Common Council due to family health issues. The resignation will take effect January 10th and the Council is looking for applicants to backfill that role. If you’re wondering if you are eligible, the city has a page to check which district you live in. If you are a bicycling ally, live in District 19, and want to become an Alder, now is the time to apply! Applications are due by January 9th. You can find more details on how to apply in the link at the beginning of this paragraph. The newly appointed Alder will serve the remainder of the current term which goes until April, 2025.
Mineral Point “Road Diet” Meeting
Last week, we talked about how Mineral Point Rd is due for resurfacing in 2024 and the city is considering a “road diet,” meaning they want to reduce travel lanes, eliminate parking, and add bike lanes. The project spans from Midvale to the Speedway/Glenway intersection. If you want to learn more, we encourage you to read this post from the city website. The page contains a link to attend the virtual meeting at 5pm on Tuesday, December 19th. If you can’t attend but want to show support, you can email Alder Tishler at district11@cityofmadison.com.
That’s all for this newsletter. Have a wonderful week ahead!
