Winter Bike Fashion Show
Want to extend your riding season from 3 months to 6, 8, 10, or even all 12 months? Come join Madison Bikes on Sunday November 16, 1:30 – 4:30pm at the Goodman Community Center’s Ironworks building (just north of the Cap City trail where it crosses Waubesa Street). Free, fun, frosty, and family-oriented. More information
Weekly news
Transportation Commission on Wednesday Oct 22 (full agenda). Of special note are the proposed Safe Streets projects for 2026. Safe Streets are small-ish infrastructure upgrades, often the result of citizens reporting concerns.
Odana Rd. On Tuesday Oct 21, District 19 Alder John Guequierre hosts a virtual meeting on the future of Odana Rd and its transformation into housing. Think of the area north of Odana Rd between Whitney Way and Gammon Rd – there’s a bright future there!
Perry St. On Wed Oct 22, Madison is hosting a Public Information Meeting for a Perry St connection over/under the beltline. The beltline split Perry St in the 1960’s, with housing on one side and employment on the other. A few decades ago, an effort to reconnect it died a political death. Now there is money and motivation from both Madison and WisDOT.
Area Plans
Madison posted draft Southwest and Southeast Area plans last week. If you or someone you know lives or bikes in these areas, please pay attention. These Area Plans set a 10-year roadmap for area development – transportation, zoning, housing, parks, economic zones, etc. Below are highlights for the biking community.
Area Plans – Southwest
The Southwest Area Plan page has the draft proposal, a storymap, meeting details, and much more. There is an in-person meeting on Thursday, Oct 23 6-7:30pm at Chavez Elementary School, plus two virtual meetings next week.
Some key bike elements:
- An All Ages & Abilities (AAA) facility along Seminole Hwy from the Beltline to the Cannonball path.
- Proper bike lanes on Whitney Way south of the Beltline to Raymond Rd
- Extending the new Hammersley Path west to Elver Park
- Elver Park path connections to the west to Valley Ridge Park & High Point (steep grade, woods, X-country ski trails), to the north to High Point Estates, and to the south to the new Midpoint Commons.
Area Plans – Southeast
The Southeast area plan covers an even larger area of the City that has long been neglected. The Southeast Area Plan page has the draft proposal, a storymap, meeting details, and much more. There is an in-person meeting on Tuesday, Oct 21 6-7:30pm at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, plus two virtual meetings next week.
Some key bike elements:
- Improved crossings, bike boxes, wayfinding,
- Working with WisDOT on the Hwy 51 corridor for both north-south and east-west connections
- Buffer the Cottage Grove bike lanes
- Explore a new north-south connection near Interstate 39/90 with new overpass/underpass there and across Hwy 12/18.
While I’m heartened with the City’s attitude towards the Hwy 51 / Stoughton Rd project, I think the City needs urgent priority to improve the Pflaum Rd crossing there. That crossing cannot afford to wait 3-8 years for WisDOT. Pflaum Rd is about to be resurfaced to the west of Hwy 51; it would be a crime to not improve the Pflaum Rd crossing of Hwy 51 at the same time.
“E-motos”
“E-moto” is a term that bike and transportation advocates are trying to get into common usage. Bike Illinois has a good webinar on why. TL;DR is that there is currently a wave of e-bike backlash, and so differentiating legal e-bikes from illegal e-motos is important to avoid punitive e-bike laws.
In short, an “E-moto” is any illegal electric vehicle. It could be a really egregious electric motorcycle. But more often than not, it’s a regular-looking, pedal-driven e-bike that has been unlocked by the owner so that it goes faster than 20mph under throttle control.
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!
