Bike Week, Madison’s new transportation director

The good news is, Madison Bike Week started yesterday. But there’s more good news: There is almost an entire week of Madison Bike Week left to celebrate.

Weekday morning (and afternoon) rider pit-stops begin in earnest Tuesday, with generous spreads of breakfast, snacks, caffeine and deodorant awaiting hungry, thirsty and … odorant riders around Madison and in Middleton and Fitchburg. Check the calendar. There will be a gathering and refueling spot near you.

Madison’s Southwest Area Plan is the subject of Tuesday and Wednesday opportunities to meet and talk (and snack on the bike path, because that’s how this week works) with members of the city’s Planning Division about streets, bike paths, transit and other aspects of the in-process plan for the area south of the Beltline and west of Fitchburg. Bonus info: Updates on the plan are on the agenda for the Plan Commission meeting tonight (June 2).

The Capital City State Trail is 25 years old, making it exactly 100 years younger than the state park system. Celebrate both milestones with the DNR and Dane County Parks and cupcakes, trivia and prizes from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, on the Capital City State Trail at Lussier Family Heritage Center

Don’t miss the big Madison Bikes Bike Week Party from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 6, at Brittingham Park, 829 W. Washington Ave. It’s got it all: grilled food, ice cream, drinks, music, many bike-related organizations offering info and free stuff/services and a crowd of fellow two-wheeled travelers. There are still opportunities to volunteer for the party, too! Please consider picking up a short stint setting up, taking down or working the bingo table while enjoying the fellowship.

There’s so much more! Check out the full Madison Bike Week schedule for meet-ups, rides, infrastructure tours and how-to opportunities that celebrate cycling in and around Madison. Don’t forget to add a 2025 Bike Week T-shirt to your biking wardrobe.

Spieler named transportation director

Madison’s next director of transportation will be Christof Spieler, a Houston-based engineer, author and Rice University lecturer in urban transportation. Over 17 years as a planner with the consulting firm Huitt Zollars, Spieler has tackled projects across the spectrum of urban planning in a long list of American cities — including bus networks in Forth Worth and Boston, an Austin rail station, transit plans for St. Paul, Philadelphia regional commuter rail, highways and parks and mixed-used districts in Houston, Seattle’s plan for transit-oriented development.

“I look forward to bringing the skills and experience I’ve developed to a role where we can make sure cars, pedestrians, bikes, and buses all work together, and to have the opportunity to turn master plans into projects that make peoples’ lives better every day,” says Spieler, who also says he has relied on transit and walking for most of his daily trips in Downtown Houston.

He starts work in Madison on July 21, which is probably just enough time for the Madison Public Library’s copy — it’s on order! — of Spieler’s book, “Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US and Canadian Transit,” to arrive and hit the shelf.

Weigh in on Madison-area mobility planning

Now is your chance to let Spieler’s soon-to-be colleagues at the Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization know how you hope to move about Madison and 35 neighboring municipalities. Your input on the MPO’s survey, open through July 1, will help guide their Active Transportation Plan for Dane County, “a blueprint for making it safer, easier and more enjoyable to walk, bike and roll (including using wheelchairs and other mobility devices) throughout the region.”

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!