Category: Weekly Update

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:      

1. Cyclists purchase (for $5) a small Bicycle Benefits sticker for their bike helmet.
2. 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

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

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.

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!

This Week

On Wednesday at 6:30 PM, the Board of Park Commissioners will meet virtually. On the agenda are first details of the proposed sidewalk and path improvements for the John Nolen Drive path so get a sneak peak:

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!

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.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

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. 

Way to go, Lyllie!

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!

With the calendar layout of the holidays this year, it’ll be a quiet few weeks on the advocacy front. You can probably look forward to some end-of-year content that reminds us of all of the cycling-related news and changes of 2024, but that’s not today.

Madison LakeWay: Do you even know what that is? I certainly didn’t until I saw this note about a public meeting coming up on January 23, 2025 “to review the ongoing design work for future Madison LakeWay improvements.” Now I know that it’s the catchy, rebranded name of what we’ve all been calling the Lake Monona Waterfront Master Plan. LakeWay. 2025 and 2026 is for planning with construction starting in 2027. LakeWay. 🤷‍♂️ It could work!

Bikes for Kids Wisconsin has opened up their application process for the 2025 season. If your organization is looking to get bikes next year, you have until January 15, 2025 to apply. Sounds like there are a few changes to the process, so go ahead and read through it when you get a chance. Also, before you know it, they’ll be running the volunteer bike cleaning/repair sessions so keep your eyes out for that as the new year gets rolling.

Finally, it’s a good opportunity to revisit the aftermath of the first solid winter storm event of the season with a bit of photographic support. Because both of the photographers were based on the west side and the conditions were pretty lousy for quite awhile, the photos are all from over there. Or over here, if you’re already there, like me.

Here’s an interesting one, taken first thing on Friday morning by Craig Weinhold. These are the flagship 🎉 protected bike lanes that arrived with this year’s Segoe Rd rebuild (stretching from Regent St to University Ave). I don’t know exactly when they were eventually cleared, but I suspect sometime during the day on Friday… 100% by Saturday morning because I rode them myself!

Judging by the shadows, an hour or so later Harald Kliems snapped this pic of a nicely cleared Southwest Path. You barely even need studs, but they do seem like a good idea if you’ve got them. Still, pretty nice riding. Side note: If you do have studs, isn’t it just so flippin’ pleasant when you hit that perfectly thin layer of snow and your ride quiets down to nothing? If you know, you know!

If one were so inclined, one might try to keep track of who’s responsible for the various types of snow removal (streets division, parks department, etc) on any given stretch of bikeway, but the truth is that nobody knows. OK, that’s technically a joke but you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know because it’s confusing. I certainly don’t know! Keep that report-a-problem site handy.

As always, you can find an overview of all bike events on our Community Bike Calendar. Email us at info@madisonbikes.org to add your events. And if you value our newsletter and other work, consider donating to Madison Bikes. For construction updates, check out the city’s Bike Madison page.

Thanks to our sponsors who make our events possible!