Tag: Transportation Commission

Last Week

Funding for N Mendota Trail: Dane County announced it will award Middleton $1 million for construction of the next segment of the North Mendota Trail, from the Highland Way / Century Ave signal to just past city limits near Century Drive. This trail is a multi-year project to help regional bike routes like HWY M safer for bike riders and pedestrians.

This Week

New Legislative Advocacy Tool: People For Bikes released this year’s Bicycle Friendly States rankings, and they weren’t pretty. Wisconsin fell to #29 in overall bicycle friendliness, and down to #49 in spending per-capita on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. This week, the WI Bike Fed released this tool to help concerned citizens tell relevant state legislators to invest in bicyclist and pedestrian safety. Wisconsin can do better, and we will.

Bike the Barns: FairShare CSA Coalition’s Bike the Barns ride is open for registration, event link here. The event is FairShare’s largest fundraiser, and helps fund the Partner Share Program that supports low-income families in accessing locally grown produce. The event needs volunteers, if you are interested sign up here.

Monday: Transportation Policy and Planning Board is meeting virtually at 5pm, agenda here. Tuning in to TPPB meetings is a great way to learn more about how bike and pedestrian infrastructure is planned in Madison. One interesting agenda item this week is approval of Madison’s application to the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Discretionary Grant Program, designed to repair some of the harm caused by mid-20th century highway expansion and associated destruction of low-income urban communities.

Tuesday: The Aldo Leopold Park Pump Track is being dedicated with a big community party, from 1-7pm! See here for details, including the inspiring story of how local kids inspired a host of private and public investments that made this project possible.

Wednesday: At 6:o0pm, Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is meeting virtually. Link to agenda and participation details here. Following the MPO is a great way to stay up-to-date on pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure affecting Dane County.

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.

Last Week

Vilas Park Drive: If you missed the event last week, Vilas Park Drive is officially closed to motor vehicle traffic between the bridge at Edgewood Ave and the entrance to the Vilas Park Shelter lot. This change is designed to better support the safety of pedestrians and bike riders using the park.

This Week

Monday: Madison’s casual, fun, and inclusive Monday 40 group rides are up and running again. This week’s ride is around 20 miles, leaving from Orton Park at 6:00pm. See details here.

Tuesday: Slow Roll Cycles will host their free casual weekly group ride, leaving from their shop (4118 Monona Dr, Madison, WI 53716) at 6:20pm, details here.

Wednesday: Transportation Commission meets at 5pm, see here for agenda and participation details. Agenda items include a review of the quarterly traffic safety report, which shows a modest reduction in reported severe injuries and fatal crashes compared to Q1 last year.

Saturday: Black Saddle Bike Shop is once again hosting a free night of bike camping for Swift Campout weekend! Ride out from Black Saddle Bike Shop (601 N Sherman Ave) at 11:00am, following a 31 mile route that mostly follows the Southwest and Military Ridge paths to arrive at the beautiful Brigham County Park group camp site near Blue Mounds. If you can’t make the group ride, you can also get to the campsite using whatever route you prefer! For more info on camping bags and the ride, contact Black Saddle. Full event details 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.

Last Week

Bike and Walk To School Week: The Lapham Elementary PTG organized a social at the school to celebrate bike and walk to school week, and had a great turnout! Thanks to Kyle Hanson for helping organize the event, and showing that in a well-designed city, walking and biking to school can be safe for all ages and abilities.

Madison Bicycle Center Membership: Madison Bicycle Center has opened its long-anticipated membership program, which offers downtown bicyclists secure indoor bike parking, bike and human showers, two tune-ups per year, and other services. See details here.

UBRC Video: The University Bicycle Resource Center on UW’s campus put out a new video about the services available to affiliates, check it out here.

This Week

Monday: Madison’s casual, fun, and inclusive Monday 40 group rides are up and running again, leaving from Orton Park at 6:00pm. See details here.

Tuesday: Slow Roll Cycles will host their weekly group ride, leaving from their shop on the Eastside at 6:20pm, details here.

Wednesday: Transporation Commission is meeting at 5pm, see here for agenda and participation details. Then, at 6:30pm Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is meeting to discuss and take action on their Regional Transportation Plan 2050. Link to agenda and participation details here.

Saturday: The famous Elroy-Sparta rail-trail is finally reopening after four years of repairs, following extensive flood damage in 2018. With the Stewart Tunnel closed to bikes, you can get your tunnel biking fix on this trail, which features three bikable rail tunnels, along with interesting scenery and camping accommodations. For adventurous riders interested in a tour from Madison to LaCrosse as the weather warms, the Elroy-Sparta is a must.

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.

This Week

On Monday from 6:00-7:30 PM, Madison Bikes is hosting a virtual community meeting to discuss gaps in Madison’s low-stress bike network and how to fix them. Fixing these gaps is an essential step towards making Madison a place where anyone living in any area of the city can safely get around without a vehicle. After a deadly year for Madison’s pedestrians and bicyclists, momentum is building at the city level to close these gaps. Community participation is essential to keeping that momentum going. Zoom link here, Facebook event page here.

Transportation Commission updates:

• TC recommended Option 1 for Atwood Ave. reconstruction around Olbrich park, with Option 3 as the preferred alternative! This is great news, as these two options are the safest for bike riders of all ages and abilities – kudos to everyone who responded to our messages to vote! Parks will announce their final decision soon. For now, the survey is still open if you haven’t yet voted.
• Madison BCycle presented expansion plans, including utilizing federal Transportation Alternatives funding to reach underserved areas of the city. A large expansion of their e-bike share stations is planned for this year.
• Buffered bike lanes were approved on Tokay Blvd. between Whitney Way and Segoe Rd.

Ride the Drive cancelled for 2022. We are sad to hear that parks superintendent Eric Knapp notified the city last week that Ride the Drive is being cancelled for 2022, as Parks prioritizes other city projects due to staffing shortages. Blog post here. We will keep you updated with other kickoff event plans for Bike Week!

Bike jobs! DreamBikes is hiring a bicycle technician. DreamBikes is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization that works with local youth organizations to provide hands-on paid job training in the bike industry to Madison-area teens. Job posting 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.

Last Friday’s Winter Bike to Work Day featured lots of fun. Thanks to the volunteers who helped hand out free food and drinks, and to our sponsors who provided deals to people commuting on bikes. Congratulations to Tara Dary, who had the closest guess for the Bike Counter total on the Cap City Path. The number was 262 and Tara guessed 249. That brings the counter to 1,570 for the week! Thank you to Revolution Cycles for the generous prize donation, which will be delivered by bike to Tara by one of our board members.

This Week

Bike advocacy jobs in Madison! This week you can apply for two jobs that support efforts to make Madison a better place for all pedestrians and bicyclists. Traffic Engineering is hiring a permanent Pedestrian Bicyclist Outreach Specialist with competitive pay and great benefits, application deadline 2/28/2022. Details here. The Bike Fed is also hiring an Educational Programs Instructor for the Madison area, application deadline 3/17/2022. Details here.

Detour update: The University Ave bike path detour via Flambeau Rd. through Indian Hills Park is now open, allowing users to avoid detouring via Whitney Way. See below for current detour and part of the path still closed.

On Monday, the Transportation Policy and Planning Board (TPPB) will be discussing plans for new streets in the Oscar Meyer Special Area Plan, which may make it easier to bike to areas of Madison siloed by Packers and Aberg avenues. TPPB will also be discussing making streeteries permanent, and will provide an update on Let’s Talk Streets. Link to more information.

On Tuesday, ride over to Slow Roll Cycles on Monona Drive for their weekly mellow group ride. Details posted on their Instagram and Facebook on Tuesday mornings, rides leave at 6:20 PM. Looks like it might be above freezing this week!

On Wednesday, join a free webinar with Beth Osborne, director of Transportation for America, for a discussion of Transportation for America’s “Driving Down Emissions” report. The report hones in on solutions to the challenges of making US transportation accessible to anyone, year round, whether they own a car or not. In reducing car dependence, these policies combat the largest driver of climate change in the US – transportation emissions. Registration required, link here.

Wednesday at 5:30 PM, you can participate in long-term regional transportation planning in the Madison metro area. WisDOT, Metro Transit, and local government units in the Madison Area work with Madison MPO to make comprehensive, movable transportation plans for the area that comply with federal law. You can ask questions and provide feedback on the processes found in MPO Public Participation Plan, Regional Transportation Plan 2050, and Transportation Improvement Program during the meeting by registering here. Written comments can also be submitted by March 17th to wisconsin.fhwa@dot.gov.

On Thursday, a public information meeting about Russell Street reconstruction will happen at 6:00 pm. This small street can be used to access Atwood businesses and restaurants from the Cap City path, and its pavement is of particularly poor quality. Link 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.

This week has an exciting day for Madison Bikes. Friday is International Winter Bike To/From Work/Anywhere Day, and to celebrate, we have a special announcement! Announcing the International Winter Bike to Work Day “Guess the Bike Counter” contest!

Guess the correct total # of riders that pass by the bike counter at Capital City Trail @ N. Shore Dr. from 12:00am to 11:59pm on Friday, February 11th. Guesses must be submitted by 11:59pm on Thursday, February 10th – no late entries will be accepted. Submit by email (liz@madisonbikes.org) – one guess/entry per person. The prize, donated by Revolution Cycles, will be bike delivered to you by a Madison Bikes board member (if you are located in Madison).
Good luck!!

This Week

First up this week is a pair of public information meetings for the Hammersley Road Resurfacing Project. The pair of meetings is to allow more of the public to participate in the planning process. The first meeting is Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM, and the second is Wednesday at noon.

Hammersley Road is scheduled to be resurfaced between Brookwood and the W Beltline Frontage Rd in 2022 and 2023. The current plans are to remove on-street parking and bike lanes, replacing the bike lanes with an off-street multi-use path on the north side of the street.

To learn more about the Hammersley Rd project, and how to participate in one of the public meetings, check out the project’s webpage. Also be sure to take the survey.

Wednesday also has a meeting of Madison’s Transportation Commission. The big items on the agenda are related to the permanent continuation of Madison’s Streatery program that allowed restaurants to use street space for expanded dining areas. A few other items are updates on 2022 Transportation projects, but there isn’t much info about them other than locations.

As mentioned earlier, Thursday at midnight is when guesses due for the “Guess the Bike Counter” contest for Winter Bike to Work Day.

On Friday, February 11, join Madison Bikes and our partners as we celebrate International Winter Bike to/from Work (or anywhere) Day:

International Winter Bike to Work Day is a real thing…and we’re loving it! Join us on your way home from work or school and enjoy a warm beverage, a hot fire and some friendly winter biking conversations. Coffee donated by Lodgic Everyday Community.

In addition to various specials all day around the city, join us between 3pm and 5pm along the Capital City Trail — near the timekeeper between the convention center and the causeway. We’ll have treats, a hot fire, warm beverages and a lot of the enthusiasm!

On Sunday, Freewheel is restarting its Sunday Volunteer Day. This volunteer opportunity is at the Madison Bicycle Resource Center on S Pinkney St. Learn more about this volunteer opportunity 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.