Category: Weekly Update

Just in case you haven’t heard yet — in which case we’ve been doing a terrible communications job — Madison Bike Week 2021 is already underway! While technically it doesn’t start until Sunday, there were a few prologue events on Saturday.

Starting Sunday, there will be commuter stations, movies, bike check-up opportunities, fundraisers, classes, happy hours, social rides, and so much more. 

There is simply too much to list individually, but we wanted to highlight a few major events. To see what is happening each day, head on over to the Madison Bike Week 2021 page. The events are neatly color-coded by type of event, and there is even a way to bookmark your favorite events and sync them with your phone or calendar. 

Oh, and if you’re subscribed to our newsletter but not actually in Madison: Of course it’s also the Wisconsin Bike Fed’s Bike Week all across the state. Find out more here.

There is more infrastructure news, but we are concentrating this week on the Bike Week events. A good place to find out about Madison projects is the city link at the end of this blog post.

Madison Bike Week activities

Monday-Friday 

There are multiple commuter stations, where you can pick up some eats and/or beverages, have your bike checked out, and just generally hang out with other bicyclists. Motorless Motion will have an afternoon commuter station every — for the less morning-oriented among us — while others will be doing the regular morning bike commute station with coffee and such. 

Also, discounts are available all week at Pasture and Plenty, BCycle, and Bicycle Benefits. Information on these discounts and all the events can be found on the Madison Bike Week 2021 page. 

Tuesday

The Mayor will hold a press conference at 8:30 am in front of the Municipal Building on MLK Blvd downtown, and then go on a short downtown bike ride at 9:00 am. All are welcome to join us. 

There are also a ton of other activities on Tuesday, including an open house at the Madison Bike Center to see the beautiful new facilities, a bike maintenance check up and neighborhood ride at the Lussier Center, and a couple of no-drop social rides. Also not to be missed is the morning Cheddar Bacon Waffles commuter stop on the Cap City Trail at Dickinson.

Wednesday

At Lodgic Everyday Kitchen, Forward Madison will hold a fundraiser for Dream Bikes. The event runs from 5:00-7:00 pm, and there is a suggested donation. In addition to food and beverages, there is valet bike parking at the event, a silent auction and raffle, and bike safety checks and a complimentary bike wash. More info and tickets at the link above. 

Thursday

If you or any family or friends need a little refresher on bicycling — maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve been on a bike? — MSCR will hold a series of classes to get folks feeling comfortable on a bike. They are held at several locations around the city, and there is a nominal fee, but you can attend one or all the sessions for the same cost. 

In the evening, make sure to head over to Capital Brewery to see “A Bikers Ballad”, hosted by the brewery and Capital Off-Road Pathfinders. This movie is an ode to mountain biking of all sorts. Tickets and more information at the link. 

Friday

Friday, the big event is the Final Bike Week Party at Brittingham Park from 5:00-8:00 pm. There will be music, beverages for all ages (yes, beer too), food trucks, community groups, a bicycle-based mini library, bike check ups, and general fun and celebration. Family-friendly, and all are welcome. 

By the way, we still need volunteers to help us set up, run the event, and clear everything afterward. We are an all-volunteer organization, so we rely on you to get this done. You can sign up and see the shifts here: https://forms.gle/Yj7aczSCTxyftKbk6

Saturday

We aren’t done yet! 

Free Bikes 4 Kidz will be holding a donation drive at multiple locations. If you or a neighbor have an unused or unloved bike in the garage or basement, you can give it to Free Bikes 4 Kidz and help families experience the joys of biking. Kids come in all sizes, so even though we often think of this as collecting “kids’” sizes, older kids can use your bigger bikes. (Free Bikes 4 Kidz also takes financial donations.)

Finally, we want to give a big shoutout to a great organization and event — a chance to try out some adaptive bicycles for kids with special needs. Padres e Hijos en Acción will be holding Bicicletas y Jardinería event at Quann Community Garden, at the corner of Bram St and Koster St, 11:00am-1:00pm.

Phew. That’s a lot of celebrating bicycling. Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters, and to everyone who bikes every day, whether it’s to work, school, errands, meetings, the library, to see friends, or just because you love to go for a spin. This week is a celebration of you, too. 

Madison Bike Week sponsors: 

• Trek/BCycle
• MGE
• Wheel and Sprocket
• Black Saddle Bike Shop
• Scwinn

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.

I hope everyone had a restful Labor Day weekend. Our newsletter took the day off as well, and here we are, on a Tuesday. The long weekend also meant that not much is happening in terms of city meetings. But! Madison Bike Week is just around the corner. Technically, Bike Week starts on Sunday, but there will be three “prologue” events on Saturday:

• Fitchburg’s Jamestown Neighborhood is hosting a bike rodeo — if you can volunteer, please sign yourself up
• The Badgers are having a home game, and as per usual, the Bike Fed provides valet parking right next to the bike path
• And finally, Delta Beer Lab and Hop Haus Fitchburg are hosting the second edition of the Madison Brewery Bike Race. “There is no marked course – just get from one brewery to the other and back as fast (or slow) as you can. Race for time or ride for fun.” Pre-registration is required.

Find more info about those events and everything else that’s happening during Bike Week on our website: https://www.madisonbikes.org/events/bikeweek/

The next edition of our newsletter will go out on Saturday and cover the whole rest of Bike Week. I hope you are as excited as we are! I also want to send a big thank you to the amazing community that powers Madison Bike Week, and of course to our generous sponsors: Trek and Madison BCycle, the MGE Foundation, and Wheel & Sprocket, as well as Black Saddle Bike Shop and Schwinn.

Looking for Bike Week Party volunteers

One way in which you can help make Bike Week a success is by signing up for a volunteer shift at the Madison Bikes Bike Week Party on Sep 17, from 5-8pm. We need help with setting up/breaking down, handing out drink tickets and pouring drinks, and a few other things. You can sign up here: https://forms.gle/Yj7aczSCTxyftKbk6 Thank you!

Oh, and if you’re subscribed to our newsletter but not actually in Madison: Of course it’s also the Wisconsin Bike Fed’s Bike Week all across the state. Find out more here.

This Week

Monday

This Monday there are two area bike organizations having meetings. First up is the Madison Bikes Community Meeting at 6:00 PM. You can join the meeting by following the directions in the Google Calendar entry.

The next meeting on Monday is the Bike Fitchburg monthly meeting. This meeting starts at 6:30 PM and takes place at the Fitchburg Public Library.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, Madison’s Transportation Commission is meeting at 5 PM. On the agenda is a fairly important item related to Madison’s bike network. Specifically, the TC is considering a new alternate to the previously adopted route through Olbrich Park as part of the Atwood Avenue Project. This path not only helps improve commuting from the near east side to Monona, but it is also a critical piece of Madison’s extremely popular Lake Loop recreational route.

The public is encouraged to give feedback on this proposed change, so I encourage you to look through this and provide feedback on the changes proposed. The next public meeting after Wednesday’s TC meeting will be the Sept. 22 Board of Park Commissioners.

Option 1, shown above, was the routing in the documents approved by the Common Council on July 24, 2018. This option was arrived at after nearly a year of public input. However, this option did see opposition from some people who did not want the future multi-use path to use the existing multi-use path in the park.

Some time after the passage of the Atwood Avenue plan, Option 2 was shown as part of the 30% design plans. This option took the proposed path off of the existing path, but also created a conflict point at the bottom of the very popular Olbrich Park sledding hill. For that reason, this option fails to meet the city’s goals of providing safe, equitable, year-round bicycle access. This is why we’re now seeing Option 3.

Option 3 routes the Option 2 path around a significant curve to the southwest to move the path’s route away from the runout on the sledding hill while maintaining still keeping the new path off the existing path along the lake shore.

Bike Week

Bike Week is now three weeks away. Be sure to check out Madison Bike’s Bike Week page to learn about what exciting events are in store! Last Friday, Madison Bikes Board Member Robbie Webber had an interview on WORT’s Friday 8 O’Clock Buzz about Bike Week. You can listen to it here.

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.

My family enjoying the mountain biking trails near Duluth, Minnesota. Our family is new to mountain biking this year and I was pleased to discover there are many great mountain bike trails in Wisconsin and other neighboring states. Plus most of the easy (green circle) trails are accessible to kids with standard non-mountain bikes. Just make sure to run very low tire pressure on the small kids bikes to get traction.

Madison Bike Week

Madison Bike Week (and Wisconsin Bike Week) is just a little over a month away! September 12-18 is coming soon. We have received the first event submissions and our calendar just went online. If you have a business or are part of a community group that would like to host an event during the week, you can find more information and sign up here. New this year: We have a limited number of mini-grants to help community groups host events in parts of town that haven’t had Bike Week events in the past or that serve/are run by underrepresented populations.

20 is Plenty Pilot Starts Monday

The city of Madison is starting the 20 is Plenty pilot initiative on Monday this week. This is part of the broader Vision Zero goal to reduce and eventually eliminate all traffic related deaths in the city. The first phase of the project will be implemented in the Tenney-Lapham and Theresa-Hammersley neighborhoods. I recommend you try to visit one of these neighborhoods so you can try it out and provide feedback in a survey expected later in the year.

Transportation Commission – Wednesday

The Transportation Commission is meeting at 5pm on Wednesday. The agenda includes quarterly updates on metro, traffic engineering, traffic safety and parking. Plus an updated design of the W Wilson, S Hamilton and S. Henry intersection to improve pedestrian safety and accommodate the planned cycle track on W. Wilson st. Register to attend or give comments at https://www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingRegistration

Let’s Talk Streets Survey

The city is seeking feedback on how our future transportation infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, metro, etc..) should be designed to serve all users (not just cars). This “Lets Talk Streets” initiative is part of the larger Vision Zero goal and it is very important that you respond. I urge you to complete this survey ASAP, if you haven’t done so.

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.

Probably the biggest event this past week was the rally that Madison Bikes held Saturday morning in partnership with three other organizations. The Take Back the Streets: Safe Streets Save Lives gathered people in front of the Madison Municipal Building to demand improvements to E. Washington Ave (and other large, fast roads in our city) to address the conditions that led to recent deaths. All three major local TV news services and the Wisconsin State Journal covered the rally the same day. Tone Madison will be running an article in the future. 

Although we wanted to have an event immediately to react to the deaths on E Washington in the last month, this is not the end. This is just the beginning of a coalition for safer streets. We will keep you up to date on future events, planning, and actions. If you are interested in volunteering for this coalition, drop Marybeth McGuiness — Madison Bikes new board Vice President — a note. 

The week ahead

Monday

Transportation Planning and Policy Board meets Monday at 5:00 pm. On the agenda is the final report of the Traffic Calming Subcommittee and adoption of the new Safe Streets Madison program. This new program will replace the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program that required residents to collect signatures and petition for traffic islands, speed humps, or other traffic calming infrastructure. The new program’s scoresheet relies more heavily on whether a proposed project will improve the pedestrian network, all-ages-and-abilities bicycle network, or address a high-crash and serious-injury location. You can read the full report of the subcommittee here. If you want to watch the meeting, see what else is on the agenda, or comment on any item, follow this link. 

Wednesday

The Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization will meet at 6:30 pm. They will be hearing reports on a variety of regional transportation issues, including the following:

• Regional Travel Forecast Model Project
• Review of Connect Greater Madison Regional Transportation Plan 2050 — Update public survey results
• Initial scoring of projects to receive federal STP-Urban funding

Documents related to these topics are not linked from the MPO agenda (unlike other city committees), but you can poke around on their website if you want to delve into the info, The MPO does transportation planning and finances projects in the Greater Madison metropolitan area, so many major projects go through the MPO to get the funding go ahead. You can also watch the meeting or comment on agenda items at the.  agenda link.

Save the date, and think about events

Although Madison Bike Week 2021 isn’t until September 12-18, it isn’t too soon to think about events. So if you are a member of a business or organization that wants to put on an event or offer a deal or discount during Bike Week, or even if you want to host an event yourself or with a small group, you can find the form to fill out on the Madison Bike Week page.

We are excited to have the opportunity to have a wide variety of activities and events throughout the city. So if you have an idea, we can work with you to flesh it out.

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.

East Washington Safety

Marybeth covered the deaths that have recently happened on East Washington Ave last week. We’ve been working with other organizations on a protest action calling for an end to the traffic violence. If all goes as planned it will take place next Saturday (July 2731), starting at 10 am. We’ll send out a separate email once we have more detail. Stay tuned, save the date. The only acceptable number of traffic deaths and severe injuries is 0.

Madison bike ecosystem in the news

Madison has an amazing ecosystem of biking. Madison Bikes is part of it, but there are many other people and organizations out there that do really important work. Some of them recently got some media coverage. The Know your Madisonian series has a portrait of Alan Crossley, a “retired wildlife biologist who finds purpose in giving bikes new life.” Alan has long been part of Wheels of Winners, and more recently he joined the board of BikEquity. BikEquity, founded by Francisco Sayu, and Madison Adaptive Cycling, which launched only a few weeks ago, were covered in a segment by NBC15, covering their work to make cycling more inclusive in Madison.

Gorham Street, now with bike lane

Until very recently, Gorham Street, one of the few corridors through the isthmus, was a busy, bumpy street, with a narrow combined parking/bike lane on some part and no bike infrastructure at all farther east. Repaving the street was just completed, and now there are bike lanes all the way from Baldwin (where the Tenney Park multi-use path ends) to Butler! The bike lanes required the removal of some on-street parking spots — something that we need to be willing to do in more places to make space for safe bike infrastructure. Well done.

Transportation Commission

Wednesday’s Transportation Commission meeting has an update from bike share system Madison Bcycle on the agenda. The slides are already available, and it looks like we’ll be getting some new stations!

Another item on the agenda is a discussion about how racial equity and social justice can be incorporated in the Commission’s work.

New bike trail in Cambridge

Cambridge is close to the Glacial Drumlin Trail, but getting from the trail into town currently requires riding on a state highway. That is going to change: A new multi-use trail will soon connect Cambridge to State Farm Rd, bypassing the highway. The trail will be named after long-time bike advocate and adventurer Phil Van Valkenberg. A trail dedication ceremony will take place at Cambridge Winery on Sunday, starting at 2:30 pm.

Cannonball and Military Ridge reopening in October

We just received word that the Cannonball and Military Ridge Trails near the “Velo Underround” bike roundabout are scheduled to reopen October 1. This is well ahead of schedule: Construction was originally slated to continue until December. Until the trail reopens, please use the detours.

The Nine Springs Valley Interceptor Improvements – McKee Road to Dunn’s Marsh project anticipates reopening the Military Ridge and Cannonball trails by October 1, 2021. Remaining work left includes manhole lining, testing, fine grading, and various restoration work (signage, plantings, paving etc). This date is subject to change depending on progress and weather.

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.

I planned to go bike camping this past Friday. Between the rain this summer and a big move to a new neighborhood, I haven’t had the chance to load the bike with gear. My plans were delayed again, this time by a semi-impromptu meeting with a mix of folks discussing how we can respond to the unacceptable deaths on our streets. These deaths aren’t inevitable tragedies, and the City’s commitment to Vision Zero – no deaths or serious injuries on our streets by 2030 – cannot just be a heartwarming resolution. It is unacceptable to approach Vision Zero and safe streets with an unstated asterisk: Vision Zero, unless we need a high vehicle throughput; Vision Zero, unless we know this neighborhood won’t put up a fight at Council and committee meetings; Vision Zero, unless, unless, unless. Our lives, and the lives of those wonderful people who make up our city, are more important than street parking or a few seconds shaved off of commutes. We need real Vision Zero, we need it now, and we cannot tolerate anything less. 

If you find yourself frustrated, sad, angry, and bitter at a city that likes to wield its “Platinum Biking Community” designation like a shield, I can offer two balms. Most important is coming together with other people, outside of social media. There is no greater relief to frustration than organizing with others and resolving to wield whatever collective power you have to make our streets safer. See my note about Tuesday below, and let us know what organizing and advocacy work you’re already doing.

The second balm? Throwing your tent on your bike and pitching it near or far. Hopefully we’ll run into each other on the trail soon.

Monday

At 5 pm, there will be a joint meeting of the Transportation Policy and Planning Board and the Transportation Commission. This is a pretty packed agenda, with a number of items that impact our transportation system. First is a preview of the Metro Transit Redesign. For those who haven’t been following The Discourse, the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit has led to some continuing discussions about the best possible route for the new system, with current focus on the downtown. Due to downtown’s geometry, there are some tradeoffs for locating BRT stops on or off State Street. Receiving less attention is the city’s redesign of the entire bus network. The network is outdated for a number of reasons including limited storage in the bus barn and a transfer point system that leads to enormously inequitable commute times for people of color and lower-income residents. I recommend reading through the presentation here. Your voice does matter! 

The agenda also includes a substantial report from the Traffic Calming Subcommittee. Additionally, Madison’s larger project of reshaping the size and substance of its many city committees is coming into play with our very own TPPB and TC, which are proposed to combine into a single body, called the Transportation Commission. Finally, there will be a discussion on the budget. If you want to watch the meeting while you cook dinner, the link is here. Sounds like a good one if you’re interested in buses and how decisions around transportation are made in our fair city. 

Tuesday 

Several of us from different organizations met on Friday to discuss our response to the deaths on East Washington Avenue and the need for safe streets in our city. If you want to be involved in planning a response, we will meet Tuesday at 5. Send an email to marybeth@madisonbikes.org to receive the Zoom link. If you want to participate, keep watching this newsletter and our Facebook – we will have more information once we have the details hammered out.

Wednesday

Also related to buses: on Wednesday, Metro staff will have a virtual public meeting to introduce and discuss how to collect fares on buses.

Where are our Slow Streets?

The City decided to implement several of the same Slow Streets as last summer. We’re hearing reports that almost none of them have been implemented other than Atwood, despite plans for barriers to be up for Mifflin, West Shore/South Shore, and Sherman by the end of June. Report back to the Madison Bikes Facebook page if you see barriers implemented, and contact your alder about this.

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.

Call to Action

If you haven’t yet, take the City of Madison’s Lets Talk Streets Community Survey. This survey seeks to gather your community values and concerns about streets in Madison.

The goal is to help the City of Madison create a process to design and construct streets based on equity and shared community values. This is your opportunity to provide direct feedback to the city about your experiences with Madison streets. To learn the construction equipment that they need, you can try these out.

Last Week

Last week the Capital City State Trail reopened along Fish Hatchery Rd between Glacier Valley Rd to the Fish Hatchery Rd overpass. This represents an important milestone in the Fish Hatchery Rd project as this section had been closed since spring to accommodate the major construction project.

Governor Tony Evers on Thursday signed Wisconsin’s 2022-2023 biennial state budget into law. While the state budget covers many items, the Wisconsin Bike Fed posted a summary of the budget items likely to impact bicycling in Wisconsin. In short, the budget maintains funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship and the Transportation Alternatives Funding Programs. While the Governor’s proposed increases in funding for these programs were shut down by the state’s Republican legislature, funding levels were maintained.

This Week

Construction on the West Washington Ave project begins Monday. The primary goal of this project is to rehabilitate deteriorating pavement conditions. However, there are several improvements along this stretch that will benefit biking. The most impactful improvement for biking is what will change on Bassett St. I’ll try to cover the major changes from the perspective of a person on a bike traveling south on Bassett.

The first change you’ll notice once this project is complete is the elimination of the exclusive right turn lane from Bassett. In its place will be a concrete median and staging area for bicyclists waiting to cross West Washington. This configuration will stage bicyclists well in front of right turning drivers in a newly shared straight-right lane. This should eliminate the stressful crossing of through riding bicyclists with right turning drivers that exists presently.

The next change you’ll notice is the presence of green crossing paint. This paint is intended to highlight to drivers where a person on a bike is likely to be in the event someone is about to cross the intersection. It does not provide physical protection, but it does create a visual cue for drivers to expect people on bikes to be using that space.

Finally, you’ll notice the parking protected bike lane continuing to Main St. This is the result of the overwhelming success and positive reception of the pilot parking protected bike lane on Bassett from Dayton to West Wash.

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.

Another week, another death on East Washington Ave, one of the busiest roads in Madison. This time, a driver struck and killed a 57-year old cyclist who was crossing in a crosswalk at Pawling St. Needless to say, there’s a lot of sadness, frustration, and anger at the escalating situation on E. Washington Ave.

In fact, while recently it’s been in the spotlight, E. Washington Ave has been a problem for decades. For example, two of Madison’s four high schools are next to major arteries (E. Washington Ave and Mineral Point Rd) and both schools have lost students to these roads and drivers over the past thirty years. The city’s Vision Zero initiative is intended to reduce these sorts of deaths, but exactly how effective it will be or whether recent changes (such as reduced speed limits) will make any meaningful difference remains to be seen. Both of these roads are also part of the proposed BRT route, so there is at least some medium-term chance of changes to traffic patterns along these corridors driven by that project. Expect to see more coverage of this issue from us as we process these tragedies and try to figure out what we do next.

In brighter news, Odana Rd between Whitney Way and Gammon Rd has been restriped to add a mix of buffered and unbuffered bike lanes, a single travel lane each direction for cars and a center left turn lane.

This change has been long-rumored and is certainly long-overdue, as it reverses an infamous 1980’s era “midnight restripe” where bike lanes were quietly removed overnight (and apparently in direct opposition to the intention of the City Council!), in favor of two travel lanes in each direction. We were first tipped off to the imminent change by Jerry Schippa, who might just have an inside track on these things; he’s a Traffic Engineer for the City of Madison. In addition, these changes are paired with brand new smooooooth pavement extending from Research Park Blvd to Whitney Way.

More good news, albeit temporary: the Atwood protected bike lane in front of Olbrich Park is back for the season. Get your (clockwise) Lake Loop on and maybe stop off and enjoy the biergarten.

Not much in the way of calendar updates this week, which is sort of expected as it’s a short holiday week for some.

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.