Lots of bike lanes and amenities have been added in the city lately. Some highlights from this construction season:
widened bike lane on the 800 and 900 blocks of E. Johnson
convex mirror placed at the blind turn at the John Nolen underpass at Olin Turnville Park – now you can see if someone’s coming toward you around the bend!
bike lanes have been marked
on Fordem Avenue between East Johnson and Northfield Place*
on Anderson Street between Pearson Street and Wright Street
on Commercial and International Lane
bike lane signs added to Midvale Blvd.
sharrows and bike boulevard signs added to E. Mifflin, Kendall and E. Wilson**
a trial with red bike boxes at the Wilson/Williamson/John Nolen/Blair intersection
a number of bike racks and parking have been added downtown
Behind the scenes, the city enhanced its bike count system this past spring to get more accurate bike traffic counts for a larger section of Madison. A shout out goes to the citizen advocates, the mayor’s office and the folks at traffic engineering, engineering and streets divisions who are working to make our city a better place to bike.
On the table for next year are:
bike lanes on Segoe Rd. road
new path connection behind Oscar Meyer
and there are rumors of improvements to the Monroe/Regent/Southwest Path intersection to make it safer and more convenient
What would you like to see the city add or improve?
*Unfortunately, across from Fordem Ct., the lane is too close to parked cars; if you bike in the lane, you are not giving parked cars the 3 feet of passing space required by Wisconsin law.
**The bike boulevards have gotten mixed reviews so far. See, for example, this review by Dave Schlabowske on his Over the Bars in Milwaukee blog.
Did you know that, in good weather, 12.9% of campus trips at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are taken by bike? That’s one of the statistics that Dick Wagner, board member of Downtown Madison Inc., discusses in an article for the September 2010 issue of Madison Magazine.
Wagner points out that Madison is the only city in the United States that has both a state capitol and a major university on an isthmus. With that many people traveling to and through such a narrow space, it’s simply impractical to expect everyone to get around by car. Doing so would create unending gridlock. The article points to some of the solutions:
A new tool is encouraging more residents to choose bicycle transportation by making Madison a Platinum Bike Community. Among the ideas from the Platinum Bike report is establishing an arterial bike network—just as we have an arterial street network. Local streets should work as complete streets, meaning they serve all transportation uses, not just the auto. Some of these ideas got a boost from the recent trip by the mayor, the county executive and others to bike-friendly cities in Europe. But it’s not just pro-cycling politicians who are pushing their own agendas. A 2002 survey by the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders found that a nearby bikeway was ranked “the second most important neighborhood amenity” for homebuyers.
Madison boasts 35 miles of dedicated pedestrian/bike paths and is in the process of designating streets such as East Mifflin and East Wilson bike boulevards, where cycling would be the primary mode. Currently under development is a new path linking areas in the Oscar Mayer vicinity north and east of the Capitol. The planned Cannonball Path on the southwest side is a partnership between the city and Fitchburg.
We’d like to add that bicycling is not just a great part of the solution to gridlock and limited space on the isthmus; it’s also rockin’ fun.
Lance Armstrong is coming to Wisconsin this weekend to participate in Madison’s Ride the Drive, and you are invited to this free event.
On Sunday, August 29, at 10:30 a.m., Lance will kick off Ride the Drive with an opening ceremony at the top of East Washington Avenue at the Capitol Square. Immediately following, he will lead participants on a 6-mile loop around downtown Madison.
Then head over to Olin Park for the Bike Fed Bike Parade, a child-oriented event that is fun for all ages.
Ride the Drive is a celebration for anyone who wants to run, ride, skate or stroll. More than 6 miles of downtown Madison streets are closed to automobile traffic so people can experience the city’s scenic byways a whole new way – via bicycle, skates, stroller or foot. Go to the Ride the Drive website for a complete schedule and maps.
One of my favorite bits of Madison radio is the Bicycle Traffic Report that plays on WORT 89.9 FM’s 8 O’Clock Buzz every Friday around 8:30 a.m. The report started years ago as a bit of a joke, with an announcer who regularly reported that there were no major traffic jams on Madison’s bike paths.
But as more people in Madison have begun to commute by bike, it became apparent that people on bicycles can face real obstacles on their commutes: path and lane closures, unplowed facilities, potholes and traffic signal failures. So the Bicycle Traffic Report began taking itself more seriously. Announcer Rick Cathcart of Scram! Couriers and his predecessor Peter Hart-Brinson have transformed the report into the weekly source for helping Madisonians navigate our city’s changing landscape by bike.
You can catch the report every Friday around 8:30 a.m. on WORT 89.9 FM or listen to it later by downloading the Friday 8 O’Clock Buzz program from the WORT archives page.
Ceremonial “First Ride” Held on New Ice Age Junction Trail Linking Verona to Southwest Side Madison
County Executive Kathleen Falk and Verona Mayor Jon Hochkammer joined members of the Madison Community Foundation and a number of families Tuesday to kick-off a ceremonial “first ride” for a brand new trail connecting neighborhoods on Madison’s southwest side with Verona and beyond.
The new Ice Age Junction Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail is two miles long and includes a 200 foot underpass that will connect bicyclists, walkers, and runners with everything from the Verona Library to schools and various parks in the area. It will provide a direct link from the southwest side to the Military Ridge State Trail and feed into both the Capital City and Badger State Trails.
“Thanks to an innovative public/private partnership of Dane County, the Cities of Madison and Verona and the Madison Community Foundation, this exciting new trail and underpass will add so much to the quality of life for so many in Dane County,” County Executive Kathleen Falk said. “The enormous scenic beauty of the national Ice Age Trail is one of the great close to home getaways here in Dane County.”
Falk noted the underpass to improve the safety of waking, jogging, and biking, goes under East Verona Avenue and cost around $484,000 to build – - $252,000 of which was contributed by Dane County, $150,000 from the Madison Community Foundation, and $82,000 from the City of Verona.
The trail itself cost just over $426,000 with costs shared between Dane County ($109,000), the City of Madison ($55,000), the Madison Community Foundation ($15,000, and Federal Transportation funding ($247,000).
“Completing this trail connection is a great example of cities, the county, and the private sector working together to enhance recreation opportunities and transportation connections for area residents,” Verona Mayor Jon Hochkammer said.
“We at Madison Community Foundation are proud to be part of the effort to connect trails for bike and pedestrian trails around the county,” Kathleen Woit of the Madison Community Foundation said. “Completion of the Verona portion of the Ice Age Junction Trail is a testament to how groups can successfully join to bring the dream of a well-connected bike transportation system into reality. Generations of Dane County residents will safely use this trail for recreation and transportation.”
The underpass is the first in Wisconsin to utilize high efficiency LED lighting and also a skylight to maximize daytime light. It will provide a safe crossing for both users of the bicycle trail and the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
It took around a year and a half to design and plan the new trail and around six months to construct it. The trail and underpass were built using a combination of Dane County employees and private contractors.
Dane County Parks Commission Chair Bill Lunney noted that Dane County and the Ice Age Trail Alliance have been working for many years to secure the corridor of land needed for this trail, which was first recommended back in 1993 by the Ice Age Junction Area Project Plan. “Thanks to the efforts of many, this trail will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to enjoy the beauty of our county, while still preserving our area’s geological heritage for the future,” Lunney said.
Current construction at Rimrock Road and County Hwy MM poses a challenge to people who bike for transportation. The shortest road detour around the site is three miles – making biking less attractive to people who are just trying to get somewhere (as opposed to people who are out biking for exercise and think of extra miles as a bonus).
It turns out, though, that there is a quicker alternative than the on-road detour. The Department of Transportation, which is managing this project, says that the work being done is exclusively between the curbs, so people with bikes can get through the area by walking their bikes through the construction zone outside the curb.
Sweet! We suppose that people can also do this with cars, if they can lift them off the ground and carry them through the construction site. Somehow, it seems like that would be a lot more difficult than carrying a bike.
Photo by Alexander Svensson. Used with permission through a Creative Commons license.
The District of Columbia has just become the latest American city to try out bicycle-specific traffic lights. These lights give people on bikeways their own turn to cross an intersection, enabling infrastructure such as contraflow bike lanes on otherwise one-way streets. But they’re also useful on regular bikeways, for example, by allowing bicyclists to continue on a shared-use path that runs diagonally across an intersection, without having to cross the street in two steps. (The Regent/Monroe intersection in Madison, which the Southwest Commuter Path crosses diagonally, fits this description.)
Would you like to see bike traffic lights in Madison. Why or why not? And, if you would, where do you think they should go?
Biking is great in Madison. We’ve got bike paths, bike lanes, bike boulevards, bike routes, bike boxes, bike couriers, bike festivals – even bike nights at bars and biker discounts at local stores.
Still, it could be better. Motorists could be more conscious and considerate of bicyclists’ rights and responsibilities on the road. And so could bicyclists.
As someone who loves biking and would love more people to experience the fun of biking, my morning commute often makes me wonder why. Highlights of recent commutes include:
Being side-swiped by a guy on his bike who decided to fly by on my right at an intersection (see Wisconsin statutes 346.07 and 346.075 for why this is a no-no)
Half a dozen people rocketing through stop signs and causing near-collisions (in one instance, an actual collision) with a bike or car in the cross-street, or with a pedestrian in a crosswalk (see 346.02, 346.04 and 346.23)
The guy who thought that the 1.5 feet between two bicyclists exiting the bike box on Williamson and Blair was a perfect window through which to zoom (see 346.07 and 346.075)
The person on a bike who buzzed an elementary-aged kid – a kid! – on the shared-use path, apparently in an attempt to show that children must go as fast as Lance Armstrong on the bike path or or get off of it. (See Wisconsin Trail Etiquette & Safety Guidelines if you’re wondering why this is bad behavior)
The two folks riding two abreast the wrong way down the shared-use path on a blind curve, which led to my swerving off the trail to avoid them, which led to my crashing, which did not lead to them slowing down or asking if I was okay.
This morning, a Madison resident posted the following to the Facebook page of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, along with a photo of three guys in team kits riding very nice, very expensive road bikes toward Capital Square:
Calling these guys out after watching them run a red light at West Wash and Broom Street a few minutes ago and then go straight on West Wash at Fairchild from the right-turn only lanes (granted, that intersection isn’t a model of clarity). If there is anything that will draw attention more than three guys in team kits and high-end bikes running a red light, or do as much to reinforce the negative stereotype of the “I don’t give a damn about traffic laws” spandex-clad Madison bicyclist, I don’t know what it is. Thanks, guys, for setting back the efforts of a lot of us who are trying to convince motorists to respect cyclists’ rights because as cyclists exercising those rights, we respect the traffic laws.
All this paints a pretty grim picture, until one remembers that a Madison morning commute by car will show you just as many instances of rudeness and law-breaking by drivers.
Most people who bike, like most of people who drive cars, follow the rules of the road and of common courtesy the vast majority of the time. But when they don’t, their behavior sticks out like a sore thumb. Worse than a sore thumb, really. More like an infected root canal.
So, my fellow people on bikes, we’ve got to do better. If you don’t know the laws that apply to bicycling, please take a few minutes to learn them. If you are in a super-hurry in the morning, remember that others on the path or road probably are, too, and would rather not be cut off or forced off the road or path. If you’re tempted to go through a stop sign when you should be yielding the right of way, remember that waiting will take a lot less time than the hospitalization you could get or the lawsuit you could face if you are in a collision.
When we ride our bikes, let’s keep it fun – for ourselves and the people around us. A little bit of courtesy goes a long way to making everyone’s ride safe and enjoyable.
The Madison Police Department has a new bicycle recovery specialist, Rebecca “Beck” Mugford. She’s the person to contact if you’ve found a sad, lonely, abandoned bike in Madison. Call her at 608-267-8611 or email her at rmugford@cityofmadison.com. Her office hours are 12:30-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the Property Room at the City County Building.
Twice this summer, Madison is celebrating ridable and walkable streets by shutting down about 6 miles of roads to motor vehicles for the day. Ride the Drive is a great public party celebrating community and self-propelled transportation.
Our friends in central Germany have taken the concept a step further. Several communities in the Ruhr region decided to close 37 miles of the Autobahn – that’s right, the famous no-speed-limit highway system – to motor vehicle traffic on Sunday, July 18, for an event called “Still Life” (“Still Leben” in German). The event wasn’t exactly still, however; thousands of people took to their feet and bikes to traverse the route.
To learn more about the event, you can visit Still Life’s English website here. To see event pictures, you’ll have to go to the German part of the website (go to the top right of the Web page and select “Deutsch, then click on “Bildergalerien” in the left-hand menu; or just click here).
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