Last Week
Last week saw a number of updates to regional bike infrastructure projects. One major update came in the form of a Feasibility Study for the Wisconsin River Recreation Bridge at the southern end of the Great Sauk Trail in Sauk City. The bridge will connect the Great Sauk Trail to Dane County and is part of a planned trail network to connect Madison to the ‚Äò400′ State Trail in Reedsburg. You can see the general routing of the trail connections here. The bridge will feature numerous lookouts and fishing piers, and the proposed design was guided by numerous public outreach efforts. You can view the presentation here. You can also follow the progress of the Wisconsin River Recreation Bridge at their Facebook page.
Rendering of the Wisconsin River Recreation Bridge
(Photo Credit: Wisconsin River Recreation Bridge Feasibility Study)
Another project we were updated on last week was the Cannonball Trail Phase 6 extension to the Wingra Creek Path on Madison’s south side. Two options were presented at a meeting on Wednesday, both with their advantages and disadvantages. One option would remove an on-street bike lane to make room for a multi-use path on the same side of the street. The other option would be a new off-street path through Bowman Park. You can see a general image of the options here. You can also find the presentation slides and follow project updates at the City Engineering’s page for the Cannonball Path Phase 6.
Last week also saw the release of The League of American Bicyclists‘ Bicycle Friendly State Rankings. Wisconsin scored below average in its ranking at 29th place in the nation. When the list was first released in 2008 Wisconsin was #2 on the list and has dropped in ranking precipitously since, ranking #9 in 2015 and #26 in 2017 according to the LAB’s Historical Rankings Chart. In order to learn why Wisconsin is doing so poorly on the Bicycle Friendly State Rankings you can read the LAB’s 2019 Report Card for Wisconsin.
This Week
Wednesday, December 11
The Transportation Commission is meeting at 5:00 PM in Room 215 of the Madison Municipal Building at 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. There will be a number of bike-related informational updates at this meeting so this will be a good one to watch online or in-person. First up will be a presentation on City Engineering’s 2020 Projects, including the 2020 Bikeways Projects. The Bikeways Projects are usually minor resurfacing projects that don’t involve a major reconstruction. One path scheduled for resurfacing is the Southwest Path continuing west from the 2017 resurfacing to Glenway Street. After that there will be an update to the Blair Street project that will include reconstructing part of the path by Machinery Row and adding stop lights to Blair Street’s intersection with Main Street–a major Bike Boulevard connecting to Madison’s downtown. Then, the Commission will be updated on the Cannonball Path Extension options discussed earlier. Finally, there will be an update to the University Avenue Project. You can read the full agenda to learn more about any of the projects and to see what else will be before the Commission.
At 5:30 PM, there will be an Arts, Crafts, and Cocktails event hosted by Trek Madison West, located at 8108 Mineral Point Road on Madison’s west side. Trek will provide the wheels, decorating supplies, and craft cocktails from Gib’s Bar. You bring any extra ribbons, ornaments, or lights that you want to make your wreath unique.The event is capped at 30 people. Learn more about it their Facebook Events Page.
At 6:45 PM Slow Roll Cycles at 4118 Monona Drive, near the intersection with Buckeye Road, will be hosting a Suspension 101 class. The class will cover basic suspension theory and basic set up and maintenance. You can read more about this class on their Facebook Events Page.
Saturday, December 14
Trek HQ will be hosting Race #2 in their Hugh Jass Fat Bike Race Series. Event registration will start at 9:00 AM at Trek Headquarters, 801 W Madison St, Waterloo, WI. The race will start at 11:00 AM, and at 1:00 PM there will be a party and awards given to the winners. Learn more about the event and get tickets at their website http://www.hughjass.bike/ or on their Facebook Events Page.
Revolution Cycles will be hosting a free Surly Fat Bike Demo at Camrock Park out of Cam Rock 3 Shelter. From 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon WOMEN (Women, Trans, Femme) will have priority, and from 12:00 to 3:00 the demo will open up to EVERYONE. Be sure to bring a helmet and a driver’s license to check out a bike. After 3 PM they will do a lap or two of the Camrock Trails. The bikes being demoed are the Surly Ice Cream Truck and the Surly Wednesday. Read more about it on the Facebook Events Page.
At 11:00 AM, Fitchburg Cycles, located at 2970 Cahill Main in Fitchburg, will be hosting their own Fat Bike Demo. Fat bikes from Giant and Borealis will be available. A photo ID, or a credit or debit card will be needed for a test ride. Beer and snacks will be provided and anyone who checks out a bike will be entered in a raffle to win one of a number of prizes from their vendors. Read more about this Fat Bike Demo at their Facebook Events Page.
Finally, Saturday is the Madison Santa Rampage. The Wisconsin Bike Fed is partnering with numerous local organizations to host the event. Rides from the west, north, east, and south will depart at 11:00 AM and convene at Library Mall where at noon they will ride up State Street Mall and around the Capitol Square. Learn more about the event from the Wisconsin Bike Fed page or the Facebook Events Page. Registration is $10 and goes to support a grant-match for Equity-based programs in Madison.
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.