Category: Weekly Update

We’ve been having a blast at the Bike Week events so far, and there is so much more to come.

On Saturday, West side alders and constituents had a chance to look at both new infrastructure and locations where things were not so great for biking. There was also a gathering to test out cargo bikes. And of course, the Trek Pride Ride in partnership with the Flamingos game. 

Sunday, a few of us went on a signal and detection tour to see all the nerdy things the city is doing to make it easier and safer to get across the street on bike routes. Thanks, Jerry Schippa!

The week ahead

Before we get into all the upcoming events for Bike Week, there is one city meeting of interest to bicyclists. Wednesday, the Transportation Commission meets and has an agenda item labeled, “Approving roadway geometry for the reconstruction of John Nolen Drive from North Shore Drive to Lakeside Street.”  It is unclear as of this writing whether this is the final approval of the North Shore Dr intersection. TC meets online. If you want to comment or watch the meeting, instructions are at the link above.

On to Bike Week!

And there are so many more events to check out. We know you’ll find something fun every day.

Madison Bikes board members love to meet people in person and chat about what’s on your mind, so please say hello at the events.

In case you haven’t peeked at the schedule – have we not reminded you enough? – you can take a look here.

Just a few of the events coming up:

Monday there are two morning commuter stations, two happy hour events, and a class to teach adults how to ride.

Tuesday features a ton of commuter stations in both the morning and the afternoon all across the city, a free sample of natural deodorant at the Cheddar Bacon Waffles event, and a chance to try out the bike racks on buses (and maybe pick up a pass for a couple of free bus rides.) There is also a social ride leaving from Olbrich Park.

Wednesday is the mayoral press conference on the Monona Terrace plaza at Wilson St, plus a chance to join a ride to the event. There is also a social ride geared toward seniors in Fitchburg and a class at Centro Hispano to help people feel more comfortable biking around town. And of course, lots of places to get yummy treats.

Thursday has too many to list. Classes, social rides in the morning and evening, commuter stations, a chance to try mountain biking, and places to get your bike repaired. Oh, and a new beer launch to celebrate Bike Week.

Friday, of course, will have a big party in Brittingham Park – all ages welcome. There are also more commuter stations and bike repair locations. And Marquette Middle School students will have a coffee stop and discussion of path etiquette – something that has been a hot topic on our Community Page recently. 

Saturday we finish the week with a class on bike touring, bikepacking, and how to travel by bike. And one final social ride, this one leaving from the Pinney Library and especially geared to families. 

Whew. That’s a lot. See you out there!

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 everybody is enjoying the long weekend. Because of the holiday, this will be a short update.

John Nolen Drive

The design for the rebuilt John Nolen Drive intersection as North Shore Drive was on the Transportation Commission’s agenda last week. A lot of people had submitted written comments in favor of an underpass solution (if you haven’t done so already, read our board member Craig’s post in support of an underpass). But staff made clear that an underpass was not within the scope of the current project and the focus of the meeting was about the at-grade crossing options. Staff presented two options: One that includes a “channelized right turn” (commonly known as a slip lane or multi-stage crossing, “Alt 2”) and a simpler intersection design with direct crossings (“Alt 4”). Neither option would preclude a future underpass.

Both designs had advantages and disadvantages for people walking, biking, and rolling across the intersection in terms of how long it will take to cross, how long one has to wait, and how safe the crossing will likely be. In the end, the Transportation Commission recommended moving forward with the channelized right turn option. Staff and consultants will now work on the details of that design option and bring it back to the Transportation Commission.

Greenbush Safe Street Meeting

The City will be hosting another neighborhood Safe Streets meeting on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30pm.

Streets in the Greenbush Neighborhood have been identified for consideration of safety improvements and improving connections for walking and biking. Streets identified include Drake St and Mills St. This meeting will also be an opportunity to discuss changes on Randall Ave to support the new Metro Transit Route including changes to the traffic calming circle at Vilas Ave and parking changes near the circle.

The meeting is virtual and you can register here: https://cityofmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqc-yupj8qH9Jqzsr_a_DeJ_gtQCvxSLjN

There is also on option to provide written feedback on safety concerns in the area: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LGBLCYF

Madison Bike Week preview

Bike Week is less than a week away! If I’m counting correctly, we are up to 50 events! New events keep coming in, and so if you haven’t checked the full schedule in a while, go take a look: https://www.madisonbikes.org/events/bikeweek-2023/

We have a great mix of events that have been around for many years and new events at new locations. Madison Bikes is hosting a few events:

• On Saturday (June 2), our board member Craig and Alder John Duncan will go on a far west bike infrastructure tour
• On Tuesday, we’re teaming up with Curbside Cycles and the University Hill Farms Neighborhood Association for an afternoon Bike Station at Fire Station #9 (Regent and Midvale)
• On Wednesday morning, join us for a ride with the mayor and a press conference. Followed by a post-ride Coffee on the Square at our wonderful sponsors Wonderstate Coffee
• On Thursday, we ride to Paoli to fetch a keg of beer for…
• …the Friday Madison Bike Week Party at Brittingham Park!

Again, check out the full schedule — I don’t think we’ve had this many events since before the pandemic! Madison Bike Week is a community effort. All this wouldn’t be possible without the support from local businesses, community groups, city staff, volunteers, our great board. And our awesome sponsors!

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.

After a weekend of wet blustery weather, we can look forward to some sunshine starting on Wednesday this week. This is the first week of May when many area schools participate in a Bike and Walk to School event. Walking and biking are excellent ways to build healthy habits, a cleaner environment and promote accessible transportation options. Introducing kids to biking at an early age can have a lifelong impact. Reach out to us or Safe Route to School Dane County for assistance planning a bike to school event in your community.

This Week

Wednesday

Participate in National Bike and Roll to School Day on Wednesday, May 3rd. Walking and biking are excellent ways to build healthy habits, a cleaner environment and promote accessible transportation options. Pick a safe route, wear a helmet and ride to school with your class mates. Local resources are available through Safe Route to School Dane County. We encourage you to register your school or neighborhood event to the Bike and Walk to School nationwide database.

“Let’s Talk Streets” for Midvale Blvd north of Mineral Point to University Ave meets Wednesday, May 3 at 6 PM on Zoom. This public input meeting is focuses on the gathering input about the transportation needs of the community. This is a city wide effort to shift the focus of our transportation system beyond cars to also prioritize bikes, pedestrians and transit. I highly encourage you to attend if you would like to see more alternative modes of transportation.

Friday

Madison Bike Week sponsors Wheel & Sprocket would like to invite you to a grand re-opening celebration of their Middleton location on Friday, May 5th from 4-7pm. All are welcome for a short “chain cutting ceremony” at 4:30pm and food & drinks to follow.

Other Items of Interest

Student Bicycle Assistant Job

The University of Wisconsin is looking for students to staff the University Bicycle Resource Center (UBRC). Some bike repair knowledge is desired but not required.  https://studentjobs.hr.wisc.edu/en-us/job/504888/bicycle-assistant

The Wingra Path closure

This weekend a significant portion of the Wingra Creek Path is closed for resurfacing between Olin Ave and John Nolen Dr. The path is expected to reopen by May 16th.

Bike Week Registration Open

Madison Bike Week June 3-10 is fast approaching. If your organization would like to participate in bike week, please go to our Bike Week page to register your event. There’s a short form to fill out, and we’ll get it up on the event calendar and promote it. Classes, group rides, commuter stations, discounts, music, poetry, art exhibits, and anything else you can think about is welcome.

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.

Say hello to your alder

Now that alders have taken office, we should feel free to introduce ourselves and offer to be a resource on issues on which you feel strongly, say bicycling and/or transportation in general, land use, road safety, environmental issues, the need to physical activity, etc. 

This is especially true if you have a new alder or there are specific issues in your neighborhood. As the weather gets nicer, maybe offer to go for a bike ride through the district and look at locations that are either very good or very bad for biking. 

Alders can’t be experts on everything, and you can provide that knowledge. Plus, it’s a great way to feel out whether your alder will be an ally on issues you care about and if we can count on their support. 

You can find out who your (new) alder is and how to contact them on the Council page. If you have any questions about how to talk to your alder or point out problem areas, please let the Madison Bikes board know. We can help you make that contact and speak knowledgeably.  

Construction, oh what a mess

As we’ve mentioned on our Facebook Community discussion and in last week’s update, the path that runs along University Ave is going to be closed for several months. Officially, there is a detour starting at Shorewood Blvd, if you are headed east, that sends you through Shorewood Hills and to the north of all the hospitals before linking up with the path again at Highland. That’s a long detour, so consider your origin and destination and see if you can find a better route. South of University is one option.

East Washington BRT construction has that street messed up as well, down to either one or two lanes, depending on the block, direction of travel, and time of day. And while E Wash isn’t used by a ton of bicyclists, the construction has pushed drivers onto other streets and also made a mess of some cross streets.

Ah, construction season in Wisconsin.

The week ahead

Monday:

Bike Fitchburg monthly meeting, 7:00-8:30 pm at Wheel & Sprocket, 2970 Cahill Main #101

In April we will meet at the Fitchburg location of Platinum Bicycle Friendly Business Wheel & Sprocket. We are grateful to general manager Julien Mathie for hosting us!
 
In 2023 we will meet in-person each month at one of Fitchburg’s Bicycle Friendly Businesses. As arrangements are finalized we will update these invitations. Meetings will be from 7 to 8:30pm on the fourth Monday of each month except December.

Wednesday

Transportation Commission will consider the list of projects submitted for consideration as part of the Safe Streets Madison policy. Agenda and link to watch here.

You can take a look at the list and also notice how they are scored. Projects of this sort previously seemed to be picked based on which neighborhood group or the number of interested people showed up and pleaded for a project. Obviously, this favored well-organized neighborhoods and people with the time and access to show up at city meetings. 

The system has now been changed to try to be more equitable and strategic, and to try to address locations that will have the biggest impact for the most people that really need it.

Points are assigned based on whether a project is in an area or location that: 

• Is part of the High Injury Network
• Has a gap in the bike network
• Has a gap in the pedestrian network

The proposed solution then gets points based on impact on:

• Safety
• Addressing gaps in the bike network
• Addressing gaps in the pedestrian network
• Environmental justice or social vulnerability inequities

After scoring the location and the possible impacts of the proposed solution, the combined score is then divided by the cost of the project to come up with recommendations for projects for the new year. 

Looking for a job?

A few interesting jobs have been posted that might be of interest to Madison Bikes members. 

Communications Coordinator for the League of American Bicyclists. Based in DC, but a possibility of working remotely. 

Madison Transportation Demand Management Coordinator Help make sure that new developments meet the new TDM requirements to incentivize not driving and reduce single occupancy vehicle travel. This is a great opportunity to shape travel and help those building in the city to build less parking, have fewer car trips among residents and employees, and improve multimodal travel. 

Reminder: Bike Week events registration is now open

Just a reminder that you can register an event for Bike Week — June 3-10 — on the Bike Week page. There’s a short form to fill out, and we’ll get it up on the calendar and promote it. Classes, group rides, commuter stations, discounts, music, poetry, art exhibits, and anything else you can think about is welcome.

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.