Does the Autumn Ridge Path’s bike overpass still look like this? There’s only one way to find out.
Ride to the ribbon-cutting
One of Madison’s newest bike paths opened to users during the deep, brumal chill of December. So, on April 16, the city is throwing a vernal celebration for the Autumn Ridge Path, a north-south route anchored by a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 30. The path connects neighborhoods divided by the highway, eases access to another bridge over Highway 51 to tie more of the city’s bike infrastructure together, and opens the door to future path extensions to the northeast.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at 4346 Commercial Ave., the new bridge’s landing spot on the north side of Highway 30. Join Madison Bikes and other path-appreciators for a ride to the Autumn Ridge Path and the event, kicking off at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the BCycle station near Machinery Row Bicycles, 601 Williamson St. The leisurely ride — exclusively on bike paths and relatively quiet streets — will pass the BCycle station at Garver Feed Mill, 3241 Garver Green, around 8:20 a.m., and proceed east and north over the venerable Highway 51 bridge, through Hiestand Park and adjacent greenway, and across the new Autumn Ridge span.
Get a good look at the new route before planning your estival jaunts across the city.
More upcoming April Madison Bikes events
• April 23, Driving Federal Bike Safety Legislation: a meeting at Machinery Row to provide the newly motivated and the long-time advocates and everyone in between with updates on bike-related legislation and ways to take action on behalf of bike safety.
• April 27, Two Wheels, Many Stories: a mini-documentary screening and talk at the UW Arboretum with Julia Bourdet, French artist and author who traveled across the United States by bicycle and train, interviewing climate activists and collecting material for her upcoming graphic novel.
Apologies for the delay in getting this week’s newsletter sent to you.
Last year’s Bike Wash (Photo: Beth Skogen Photography)
Spring Bike Wash this SaturdaySunday!
The weather this week does not look too promising, but on SaturdaySunday things should be perfect for our Spring Bike Wash! From 2-4 pm, come join us and our friends from Freewheel on Clark Court (right next to Brittingham Park) to get that winter gunk off your bike and have the bike checked for safety and minor mechanical issues. You bring the bike; we bring the power washers, chain lube, rags, and mechanically inclined volunteers. Watch the news clip from last year’s event to get you in the mood! If the weather forecast starts looking questionable, please check the event’s Facebook page the day of for last minute updates.
A new street on the Southwest Side
The Transportation Commission is meeting Wednesday. One item of interest on their agenda: An extension of High Point Road at its southern end. The whole area, formerly home to the Marty Century Farm is being redeveloped.
Project locationOption with center turn lane
The proposed street would include unprotected on-street bike lanes and a multi-use path on one side of the street. The road would either be divided by a median or have a center two-way turn lane in the middle. The intersection with Raymond Road would either be a traditional intersection or a roundabout. If you have input on the design, you can email transportationcommission@cityofmadison.com or register to speak at the meeting. https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule/register
Save the dates: Driving Federal Bike Safety Legislation & Two Wheels, Many Stories
Are you interested in getting involved in bike advocacy, but don’t know where to start? Join us April 23rd at Machinery Row to learn about progress being made on federal bike safety legislation, hear first hand accounts of advocacy work, and take action though a guided communication to your elected officials. Alicia Bosscher, Dirk Debbink, and Mike Ridgeman will share the story of Sarah Debbink Langenkamp’s tragic death to traffic violence, share details about the bill named after Sarah and its progress, and help attendees to write letters to their own representatives. Whether you’re a long time advocate or just getting started with bike advocacy, come by to learn something new and take action!
Please note that the event is from 7 to 8:30 PM, not from 6:30 to 8 PM as the graphic says.
Join Madison Bikes, in partnership with UW European Studies, in a speaker session and mini-documentary screening with Julia Bourdet, a French artist and author who traveled across the United States by bicycle and train, interviewing climate activists and collecting material for her upcoming graphic novel. The presentation will include previews of the upcoming book, which combines real-life observations, fictional storytelling, and journal fragments to create a story about climate and ecological awareness.
In keeping with her commitment to reducing her carbon footprint, Julia Bourdet will be joining us virtually from France to discuss her project and virtual mini documentary screening.
One of last week’s seasonal Cyclists of Madison photos. On both Mastodon and Bluesky now (h/t Harald)
I’m glad we’re almost done with March.
This Week
On Tuesday, April 1, vote if you’re eligible. See last week’s post by Robbie for some great info and a lot more enthusiasm than I can muster. Enjoy it while you can!
Starting Tuesday, April 1, participate in the monthlong Spring Roll Challenge for Dane County.
To take part in the Spring Roll Challenge, residents can create a RoundTrip account at www.RoundTripGreaterMadison.org and log trips taken by biking, walking/rolling, riding the bus, and carpooling from April 1-30. Each green trip logged boosts your chances of winning weekly and grand prizes.
Don’t sleep on it too long because “the first 50 participants to log a green trip in April will receive a free slice from Ian’s Pizza and two complimentary Metro Transit rides.” Good deal.
On Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 PM, Greater Madison MPO meets virtually. You can check out the agenda and detailed meeting packet if you like. There’s some interesting stuff in there if you care to dig.
On Sunday, April 6 from 12-4:00 PM, the semi-monthly “Open Shop @ Neighborhood House” hosted by Freewheel is happening. Their web site has all the details, but the gist is: “Bring your bike or work on donated bikes at Freewheel’s Open Shop. Experienced instructors are here to help. All skill levels welcome from beginner to pro. Everyone’s a learner, everyone’s a teacher.” Sweet, and convenient to many on the very near SW Side @ 29 S Mills St.
Later on Sunday, April 6 from 5-6:30 PM, join the first of a new, monthly series of Bike Advocacy Meetups hosted by Machinery Row Bicycles:
Machinery Row Bicycles and Madison Bikes are partnering to host a new Bike Advocacy Meetup group in Madison! For those who attended the Bicycle Book Club, our aim is to carry on that momentum with a monthly gathering. Open and free to all, we will meet the first Sunday of every month from 5-6:30pm at Machinery Row. Our first meetup is April 6! The first few meetings will focus on building community, as well as learning about and conducting a bike audit within the City of Madison.
We believe we can successfully advocate for change when there’s a dedicated community invested in the work and sustained by collective energy.
Come as you are and we hope to see you April 6! Help us spread the word by sharing this announcement with anyone who might be interested. Follow us on social media for updates or contact lauren@machineryrowbicycles.com to be added to the email list.
Upcoming
Keep the evening of Wednesday, April 23 free for a MB community event, also hosted by Machinery Row, titled “Driving Federal Bike Safety Legislation.”
Also, keep your eyes peeled for both old and new spring events that haven’t yet made it onto our calendar.
There aren’t any meetings or events coming up this week, but here’s a little news catch up and some reminders.
Catching up on news
Madison Bikes represents at the National Bike Summit
Three Madison Bikes board members – Jacob Bortell, Alicia Bosscher, and myself – attended the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, March 11-13. This meeting is a combination of workshops, rides to see innovative infrastructure in DC, national speakers, and lobbying on Capitol Hill. It’s a great opportunity for board members to meet others from around the country, hear about programs we might want to replicate, and get information to help us push the city and country forward. Plus, we go up to talk to our Senators and House members about federal policy, funding, and legislation.
The biggest news to come out during our visit – although not good news – was the announcement that the US Department of Transportation plans to cut projects that contain bike infrastructure. We put out an action alert from the League of American Bicyclists, but we are still trying to figure out the details of the administrative memo and what this will mean for Madison.
The Wisconsin Bike Fed wrote a good summary of our congressional visits and the two federal initiatives we were pushing.
Renee Callaway retires
Renee Callaway – formerly the city Pedestrian and Bicycle Administrator and later promoted to Assistant Director in Traffic Engineering – retired on March 20. Renee has been working in bicycle planning, outreach, and engineering for 25 years or so. She has worked for the UW, WisDOT, the Madison Area MPO, and the city. We’ve been so lucky to have her working to improve bicycling all these years. You can read more Renee in a City of Madison post highlighting her career.
Now she’s going to enjoy more mountain biking, skiing, hiking, and general exploration. She’s got quite a travel itinerary planned, but she’ll also be around Madison a lot. Happy retirement, Renee, and thanks for all your hard work over the years!
Elections
Spring is upon us, and that means two things: Spring elections and road construction. They can both be painful, but if you pay attention, good things (or bad) may come of the pain.
April 1 is the spring election for local and non-partisan statewide offices. We all know that “non-partisan” is in name only for statewide offices, but since we are a local group, let’s concentrate on the local elections that will most impact bicycling, housing, transportation in general, and other close-to-home issues.
Every alder in Madison will be elected this year. In the future, half the Council will be elected each year in April. Because spring elections tend to be much lower turnout than fall elections, your vote counts even more. In 2023, one alder race was a tie, and the winner was selected by drawing a name from a hat. One more vote would have made the difference!
If you want to know more about the people that will be deciding what the city looks like, how it feels, how we can move around, and where we are going to spend money, check out this great resource that Madison Bikes board member Craig Weinhold put together. It has every candidate, their websites, the answers to questionnaires from local groups (including the one that Madison Bikes did jointly with others), and organizational and media endorsements they have received. Madison Bikes does not endorse candidates, but the answers to the questions we submitted for the joint questionnaire will give you some good information.
The election is April 1, but you can also vote in-person absentee – aka “early vote” – at locations around the city until March 30. To see who is on the ballot, where you vote on April 1, or where to vote early, go to MyVote.wi.gov/.
Road construction
East Wilson St
Work continues on the reconstruction of E Wilson St in downtown. This will include the extension of the two-way cycle track on Wilson St. But things are going to be messy from April 2 until mid-June. E Wilson will be fully closed from King St to S Pinckney St. More information can be found on the city of Madison site.
Seyne Rd
Work on Seyne Rd where it crosses the Cap City Trail in Fitchburg is scheduled to begin Monday, March 24. As always, there’s some flex in that date, due to coordination with local utilities. There may be disruptions to the trail crossing, and walking one’s bike across may be necessary at times.
When a Madison Bikes Community member asked the city of Fitchburg about turning onto Seyne Rd, this was the response: “For parts of the summer, the north/south path along Syene will be closed. I don’t have expected dates for when that will be, as it will depend on the contractor’s work schedule. We’ll be posting on social media and our website with weekly updates on closures and openings as the project progresses. The Capital City trail will remain open throughout construction, but there may be times when bikes need to be walked across the crossing with Syene.”
This is part of a larger project on Seyne Rd. If this is part of your ride or commute, you may want to check out the full project site.
Get your discounts via Bike Benefits
The warmer weather is bringing out more cyclists, so we wanted to make sure Bicycle Benefits is on everyone’s radar. You can get discounts at participating businesses around town by showing your helmet with a Bike Benefits sticker. Although Madison Bikes doesn’t run the program directly, we’ve sold the stickers in the past and plan to again.
So how does Bike Benefits work? It’s simple:
Cyclists purchase (for $5) a small Bicycle Benefits sticker for their bike helmet.
Show it at a participating location in order to get a discount or reward for arriving by bike.
The sticker does not expire, and most users will agree that it’s the best $5 they’ve ever spent. We hope that cyclists and individuals see the value in seeking out and patronizing locations that prioritize healthy transportation in the community. It’s affirmative-transportation-action led by the most progressive local businesses.If you know a location that you’d like to see pop up on the roster, pass them the link to sign-up. If you’d like to help us out as a volunteer ambassador or want more information on the program, send Ian Klepetar a message at ian@bicyclebenefits.org
Door zone bike lanes on an all ages and abilities street?
On Wednesday, the Transportation Commission has early feedback on the Pflaum Road project on the agenda. The agenda item doesn’t have a presentation attached yet, but there was a public meeting last week that showed a proposed layout.
Current conditions on Pflaum: No bike infrastructure at all
According to the city’s Complete Green Streets policy, Pflaum Road is on the All-Ages-and-Abilities bike network, that is, a street where policy is “to prioritize high-comfort bikeways.” However, the city is proposing to add a “door zone,” unprotected bike lane, squeezed in between car parking on one side and car traffic on the other.
Another item on the commission’s agenda: Reviewing the 2024 Annual Transportation Operations Report. There are lots of interesting facts and figures about transportation in Madison in the report. Among them, on page 14, is an overview of the bicycle improvements that were completed last year:
Stoughton Road North public hearing
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is hosting a public hearing about their Stoughton Road North project on MondayTuesday. This section of the project goes from Highway 30 to Anderson Road/Highway CV. A separate project covers the section south of there.
Most notably for people on bikes, WisDOT is showing a new shared use path along Stoughton Road from Highway 30 to Kinsman, and then from Hoepker north. This leaves a large gap along the airport — apparently there are some sort of FAA regulations that don’t allow a new path to be built there.
The public hearing will be at Madison College – Truax Building, Conference Room D1630, from 4 to 7 pm. You can also provide written testimony by emailing jeff.berens@dot.wi.gov
Two bike touring events this week!
On SaturdaySunday (!), join us for our bike packing and bike touring 101 and social! The event is geared both toward folks who are curious about or new to bike packing and touring, as well as more experienced folks. We’ll have a presentation about fundamentals, and then several community members will share their experiences doing different styles of bike touring, followed by a social. We’ll be at the Goodman Center in the Merryl Lynch Room from 2 to 4 pm. You can bring your own food and drink (but no alcohol).
If you’d rather keep your biking more local, Cool Bikes North is hosting a Bicycle Show ‘n’ Tell on Local Bike Routes on Thursday.
Come by March 20th for this free event from 6-8pm, and hear what our selection of local riders and routemakers have to offer for your spring riding inspiration!
This position helps fulfill the mission of our agency by advancing Madison’s sustainability, safety, and equity goals through innovative transportation planning initiatives. This role leads the implementation and maintenance of the City’s Complete Green Streets policy while supporting other key transportation plans, programs, and policies. By collaborating across departments, engaging with stakeholders, and refining planning processes, this position ensures Madison’s transportation system is equitable, efficient, and sustainable.
Vote vote vote!
A quick reminder to vote in the April 1 elections! In addition to the State Supreme Court, school board, and a constitutional referendum, all seats on the city council are up for election. Madison Bikes and a couple partner orgs sent a questionnaire to all candidates to help educate voters. See their answers here: https://www.madisonbikes.org/madison-spring-elections-2025/
Military Ridge closure in Verona
A lot of highway expansion projects are happening out by Epic in Verona. One of them is leading to a temporary closure of the Military Ridge Trail. WisDOT says that the work will be be done by Memorial Day and will include underpass improvements to mitigate (but not eliminate) flooding. Our board member Craig put together this visual of the closure and its detour:
Syene Rd path closure
Fitchburg is preparing to rebuild the intersection of Syene Rd, McCoy Rd, and the Cap City Trail. We’ll discuss this in more detail in future updates, but for now the path to the south is closed. Enjoy biking on Syene!
At the March 5 meeting, the transportation commission discussed options for the West Wash-SW path intersection. The city is required by Office of the Commissioner of Railroads to remove the rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) signal currently at the intersection and replace it with a signal that can interact with the railroad signal. This will require installation of a full traffic signal at the intersection. The committee discussed continuing the current lane reduction to 2 lanes vs increasing back to 4 lanes.
The following strategy was approved by the commission:
Remove the RRFB and install a full traffic signal at the intersection. Install a detection system to trigger the traffic signal automatically when bicyclists approach the intersection on the path.
Maintain the current lane reduction test for now. The lane reduction may be temporarily removed during the John Nolen Dr Reconstruction Project if there are safety or operational issues due to detour traffic. After the John Nolan construction is complete, permanently reduce W Washington at this crossing to 2 lanes when funding is available.
Thanks to everyone who submitted comments on this project. They do make a difference.
Shamrock Shuffle
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County is adding a 10km bike ride wave to their Shamrock Shuffle event this year. The event takes place on March 15 and you can get $10 off registration with promo code MADBIKES.
This breakdown is actually a good thing. The Big Breakdown is an event where Bikes for Kids breaks down bikes that are beyond hope to make space for refurbished bikes for 2025. During the event, non-metal parts are removed, parts that can be used to restore other bikes are saved, and the rest of the bike is recycled.
The Big Breakdown happens on Tuesday, March 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 354 Coyier Lane in Madison. There is even Northshore pizza for volunteers. Be sure to bring leather gloves to protect your hands from metal. For questions, call the bike center at (608) 405-0385. More information is available at https://bikesforkidswi.org/2025breakdown/ .
In addition to their efforts to distribute hundreds of bicycles to new owners, Bikes for Kids is to be commended for their efforts to recycle and reuse bicycles. Their community bike disposal service is an asset to the community. Join them on Tuesday to assist them in this worthwhile endeavor.
Winter Biking Discussion in the Daily Cardinal
Winter is winding down but it’s not over yet and the mornings can still be nippy. Check out this discussion with Liz Jesse and Alicia Bosscher and the city’s Pedestrian Bicycle Outreach Specialist, Colleen Hayes, in The Daily Cardinal. https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025/03/q-a-why-winter-biking-is-feasible-in-madison . Their tips and perspectives on winter biking in Madison are worth a read, particularly if you are new to winter biking or Madison.
That’s it for this week. Lots of events happening, so be sure to check our community calendar.
Participants line up near the start line of the Hugh Jass finale race at Blackhawk in Middleton
Welcome to the Madison Bikes newsletter. I hope you enjoyed the two week fat biking season. Well, that’s over and now it’s False Spring 2 meaning days are getting longer and bike rides are getting slightly warmer and more bearable.
Transportation Commission: W Wash and Transportation Improvement Program
Transportation Commission is meeting on Wednesday at 5 pm. The agenda includes a couple of relevant biking projects: one involving the SW Path crossing at W. Washington and the other about the Transportation Improvement Program.
During this week’s meeting, TC will give an update on the SW Path crossing alternatives. If you aren’t in the loop, the Railroad Commission is requiring that the city remove the Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon (RRFB) which was installed in 2017. Back in September 2024, following a series of crashes, this crossing was temporarily narrowed down from 4 total lanes to 2, which decreased crossing time and improved safety for users of the SW Path. Because the RRFB has to be removed, there are two alternative considerations. While both options involve adding a traffic signal to the intersection to stop vehicle traffic for path users to cross, one includes keeping the currently built 4 lanes, while the other involves curb work to permanently narrow it to 2.
The other topic on the agenda is the Transportation Improvement Program. The document lays out the potential road and path projects from 2026-2031, including street reconstructions, resurfacing projects, bikeway and sidewalk additions and improvements, and bridge repair. One notable new path planned for later this year is the bike path along the North side of North Shore Drive (opposite the existing bike path) from the SW Path to Bedford. Infrastructure projects like this path extension take a lot of planning ahead of time, so it’s necessary to plan them well in advance to better anticipate the needs of our growing city. Check out the program slides for more detailed info and all the known projects.
Bike Packing Social Event
Looking ahead to later this month, on March 23rd, Madison Bikes will be hosting a Bike Packing Social community event! We’ll be at the Goodman Community Center at 2 pm to share bike packing stories, gear tips, and get ideas churning for future adventures.
We’ll have brief show-and-tells featuring different gear setups and explanations of what you will need to pull off your own adventure. Presenters will talk about their experiences exploring northern Wisconsin, doing an ultra race around the Netherlands, riding RAGBRAI without having to worry about carrying your gear, and riding through the Alps. After that there will be plenty of time for Q&A, socializing, and planning for getting out there on the next adventure.
If you have Facebook, please let us know you can make it on the event page.
That’s all for this newsletter. Thanks for reading! Hope to see you at the bike packing event or one of our other functions this year.
Last week was a busy week for bicycling in Madison!
On Sunday, we had our last bicycle book club installment for “Killed by a Traffic Engineer.” If you missed it, you can read or listen to this story from WORT-FM to find out more information.
Book club attendees ready for the week’s presentation (h/t Harald Kleims)
There was a lot of action around the repaving/reworking of a lengthy stretch of Midvale Boulevard. Most of this was driven by the raucous public meeting from the week before. With all of the feedback and attention, the city has decided to postpone the work to spring 2026. For a nice overview and some extra context, check out this great Cap Times article.
Sun Prairie was awarded a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists. You can read the press release from Sun Prairie Moves for the details. Going from Honorable Mention in 2015 to Silver in 2025 is a great accomplishment! Congratulations to everyone involved!
In the Madison Bikes Slack, board member Craig Weinhold noted that last Tuesday the City of Madison held their first all-transportation department meeting in six years. I wonder what could have triggered that? You can watch the entire session on YouTube and maybe find out!
Design drawings sidewalk and bike path improvements at North Shore Drive and JND (City of Madison)
On Friday, celebrate International Winter Bike Day with us!
From 7-9 am: We will be at the Monona Terrace on the Cap City Trail serving up free coffee (courtesy of Cafe Domestique) and doughnuts!
From 4-6 pm: Happy hour at Working Draft (1129 E Wilson St.). Come grab a drink and hang out! Don’t forget your bicycle benefits sticker for 10% off.
For more details I guess you can look at the Facebook event, but only if you’re still clinging to a FB account. Otherwise, tough luck I guess? I’m not bitter, really!
The City has started work to redesign and rethink Mifflin Plaza. This is the underutilized area at the top of State Street, sometimes used for festivals/concerts. It also serves as an important ped, bike and bus thoroughfare. Some of the options include exploring a pedestrian mall, which would be a big shift. The schedule shows arriving at a final design plan by September. That means that now’s a good opportunity to read up on the design considerations and complete the survey.
Pretty much unrelated to anything, but I watched the 2005 film A Bittersweet Life by Kim Jee-woon and found this surprising moment. Transportation policy strife transcends borders and time!
Actual subtitles from A Bittersweet Life (2005) directed by Kim Jee-woon.
Coming Up
I’m already looking forward to Thursday, February 20 and a virtual lunch session led by Dr. Yang Tao, Director of Traffic Engineering, “Prioritizing Traffic Safety for All Road Users: D7 Virtual Lunch and Learn with Traffic Engineering.”
Alder Nasra Wehelie [D7] is excited to continue her Lunch and Learn session for this month, featuring Traffic Engineering on Thursday, February 20, from 12 to 1 p.m. Whether you drive, bike, or walk, this virtual Lunch and Learn will offer residents a unique opportunity to gain insights into traffic safety and infrastructure planning.
If you believe Jimmy the Groundhog in Sun Prairie, we’ll have an early spring. But Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania says six more weeks of winter. Depending on how you feel about cold weather and local vs national prognosticators, you can believe whichever rodent you like. Either way, it’s been an unusually dry winter, so our normal concerns about snow plowing have been mostly moot.
With a gray start to the week, it’s going to be pretty quiet as far as meetings.
The week ahead
Wednesday: Transportation Commission
You can take a look at the agenda and how to watch or participate, but the only interesting item is the quarterly traffic safety reports by the police department. There are lots of charts and numbers about how many tickets and traffic stops they’ve made in various categories. You’ll also see slides about grants, special initiatives such as safety patrols around schools, targeted enforcement, and comparisons to past quarters and years. Each quarter, the MPD also presents a detailed analysis of any traffic fatalities.
If you are a data nerd, there’s lots to work with, although sometimes the categories aren’t always useful. Why are pedestrian and bike safety tickets under “hazardous offenses”? I’ve asked that before, and I don’t even remember the full explanation, but it seems any ticket involving vulnerable users is considered a “hazardous” driving offense. These are almost entirely tickets issued to drivers for not yielding to pedestrians or bicyclists, or some other driving violation, not tickets issued to bicyclists.
Sunday: Third meeting of the book club
The third session of the book club reading “Killed by a Traffic Engineer” meets on Sunday, Feb 9, from 4-6 pm at Machinery Row.
The first session, on Jan 26, focused on community building and allowed participants to discuss initial impressions of the book and some areas of the city that need attention. The second session, on Feb 2, featured presentations from city Transportation, Traffic Engineering, and Engineering staff on city initiatives and how decisions are made on what our streets look like.
The third session, Feb 9, will focus on advocacy and what we as community members can do to help build an all ages and abilities biking city.
Speak up for what you want
During Sunday’s session with city staff, they discussed how during public meetings about road reconstructions, there are many competing interests. Sometimes even the bicyclists testifying don’t agree! There is considerable pushback to change: narrowing lanes, removing parking in favor of bike facilities, and slowing speeds. All of these changes would make walking and biking safer and more pleasant, but neighbors show up en masse to object. As bicyclists (and pedestrians and transit users), we have to be there to show support for the changes the staff has proposed. We have good city staff, but we must provide the public push to show that there is demand for these changes.
Staff mentioned two projects specifically, both of which have been mentioned in Monday updates previously and are being discussed now:
South Stoughton Rd. This is a Wisconsin DOT project, but city staff have weighed in on the side of a slower, narrower boulevard with more crossings. But many people showed up at the public meetings and completed surveys in favor of keeping the road faster and with limited access. You can comment and see information on the project – including slides and alternatives presented at the meetings – on the WisDOT project page.
Midvale Boulevard: Neighbors insist they want parking to remain on the street, but this would make it difficult to add bike lanes between Mineral Point Rd and University Ave. You can watch a recording of the public meeting that happened on Jan 30, see the schedule for a decision on this project, and provide your input via the city project page. There was also an article about the project in the Wisconsin State Journal. Midvale Blvd will be before the Transportation Commission on Feb 19.
In proud-of-Madison-bicyclists news
Lyllie Sonnemann, daughter of former Madison Bikes board member, Emily Sonnemann, has been invited to compete in the World Cyclocross Championships in Leiven, France. Wisconsin has a proud tradition of world cyclocross competitors, with Madisonian Caleb Schwartz competing in the world championships in 2020-2021 and Racine native Kaitlin Keough competing in 2019.
Winter biking photos are the best, but there’s no snow. Here’s a photo by Harold Kliems from last month to get you back in the mood.
Welcome to the update. Not much snow around which makes some happy and others sad. I’m in the sad group but it is a bit easier to get around by bike. Here’s what’s happening this week.
Madison LakeWay Schematic Design – Public Meeting
This is your chance to learn about the proposed lakeshore and path features along the John Nolen Drive causeway. A virtual meeting, held by Madison Parks, will take place on Thursday, January 23rd, from 6:30-8:00 PM. You can register for the meeting here. Parks and design team representatives will present an overview of the master plan recommendations. The project timeline includes completing the schematic design by early 2025, continuing design development through 2026, and construction anticipated to begin in 2027. Here is a link to the draft of the master plan.
From Lake Monona Waterfront Master Plan Draft
Bicycle Book Club
The book:Killed by a Traffic Engineer, by Wes Marshall. The discussion: Moderated by Alder Bill Tishler When/where: Machinery Row Bicycles, Sunday, January 26, 4-6pm Sponsors: Machinery Row Bicycles, Wisconsin Bike Fed, Madison Bikes
Time to start reading if you haven’t already! Hopefully you were able to find a book. As of January 17, Machinery Row reports they have exhausted their second supply of books donated by Madison Bikes. Demand at public libraries is also high, so there appears to be quite a bit of interest. There will be two unique subsequent sessions. One on Feb 2 at Machinery row with a virtual option, and the other live at Machinery Row on Feb 9. For more information on the series click on this link: https://www.machineryrowbicycles.com/articles/bicycle-book-club-pg202.htm
Vision Zero Newsletter
The Vision Zero Quarterly Newsletter was released last week. It includes coverage of the Autumn Ridge Path and school zone safety
Community Survey for Southwest Plan Input
The City of Madison’s Planning Division mailed out postcards on Wednesday, January 15 to a randomly-selected group of people living in the Southwest Area as part of the ongoing Area Plan process. The survey closes on February 10. If you did not receive a survey, you can participate in the survey via a public link. A second survey will be sent out in the spring after feedback from the first survey is received. Survey results will be posted on the project web page later this spring. Here is a link to the Southwest Area Plan Webpage. Check out the Southwest Area Plan interactive commenting map. Cyclists and others have already entered lots of suggestions. You can quickly and easily add your input as well.
Southwest Plan boundaries. City of Madison
– Upcoming Meetings –
Transportation Commission Meeting
The January 22 agenda includes an update on the W Washington at SW Path lane reduction test. Discussion of this item will cover the impacts of interventions such as RRFBs, fully signalizing the intersection, and pedestrian hybrid beacons, as well as the lane reductions. The meeting will be virtual and starts at 5pm. Here is a link to meeting information where you can enter written comments, register to speak at the meeting, and/or view the agenda with attachments.
Area of SW Path-W Wash intersection (City of Madison)
Midvale Resurfacing Project Public Information Meeting
January 30, 6:30pm: Hybrid meeting (live at Sequoya library and via Zoom) The resurfacing project, from Mineral Point to University Ave, provides opportunities for improved safety updates, such as pedestrian crossings, and possibly bike lanes. This is a chance to provide input. More information in next week’s update.
