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Newsletter Weekly Update

TPPB, TC, Hub Demo, Cranksgiving, and Much More

Winter slowly creeping its way in. Photo credit: Harald Kliems

Last Week

At Tuesday’s Common Council budget meeting, an amendment to halt funding for BRT until the council approved an alternate route failed to receive enough votes to pass. This means that for now, BRT will continue to be funded with the plan to have it run down State Street.

On Friday, The Bodgery unveiled its new bike work stand area. Members can schedule its use 24/7. It is a warm space where you can work on your bike projects over winter.

On Saturday, Madison Bikes held its Winter Bike Meet and Greet. If you missed it, you can always post to our Facebook Community page with any questions you have about extending your riding into the winter season!

This Week

This is a pretty packed week with lots going on, so let’s dive in!

On Monday there will be a virtual meeting of Madison’s Transportation Policy and Planning Board at 5:00 PM. One big item is the approval of TAP projects. These are projects that would improve the ability of people to get around without a car. Here’s the full agenda.

On Tuesday, the University Bicycle Resource Center is holding a hub overhaul demo at 6:00 PM. The class will cover disassembling and repacking a hub’s bearings. This is a free event and will be located at the UBRC’s location in the Helen C. White garage, next to the Memorial Union.

Also on Tuesday, there will be a public meeting for Connect Greater Madison 2050. This meeting will take place at noon. You can learn more about it and register for the virtual meeting here.

On Wednesday Madison’s Transportation Commission will meet virtually at 5:00 PM. On the agenda is an update on Sheboygan Ave bike lanes, and an item asking for review and feedback of 2022 Public Works transportation projects. You can get the full agenda here.

On Friday, the Bike Fed of Wisconsin will be holding its Fall FUNdraiser. This event will be at Trek HQ in Waterloo, and is scheduled to run from 6-10 PM. You can read more about it and get tickets here.

On Saturday, the Wisconsin State Cyclocross Championship races are being held at Trek HQ in Waterloo. This event starts at 9 AM. You can learn more about that here.

Finally, Sunday is Cranksgiving. Cranksgiving is “part bike ‘race’, part food drive, part scavenger hunt”. This year’s event will be more virtual, but you can participate by picking up a manifest at Black Saddle Bike Shop in N Sherman, biking to the various grocery stores for items, then dropping off those items at Goodman Community Center on Waubesa St. You can learn more 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.

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Newsletter Weekly Update

Review the budget, take a survey

Look at those new Whitney Way bike lanes! Photo credit: Ben Sandee

Join Our Board of Directors!

We are seeking applicants for our Board of Directors! Harald covered the gig in detail here; I also tried to list as much as I could remember about the work Madison Bikes has accomplished in just the past few years. Please share the Board application with those who you think might be a good fit. If you are at all in doubt, we would love to talk with you.

Last Week

The city held a session about John Nolen Drive, which is set for reconstruction in the next few years. Take their survey if you haven’t yet, and please share with others who get around by bike, bus, wheels, and feet. So far, the city has noted that the survey indicates “John Nolen Drive should be an automobile centered corridor” route, although as someone who has witnessed crashes on the narrow trail along the causeway, and has looked wistfully over at the multiple, mostly-empty traffic lanes while the multi-use trail was packed with cyclists, children, workers, couples, and joggers, I would argue that John Nolen could actually be much more than just what it is. This is especially important given the reality that we will very likely see denser development in areas like Bram’s Addition and other surrounding neighborhoods, and we should be doing better to connect those folks to the city safely and easily (including by bike and by transit).

Speaking of surveys, take the second Let’s Talk Streets survey. In direct contrast to the John Nolen discussion, this survey is looking for your approval to move forward with a vision of our streets being first for people and their safety. Really, take the survey!

This Week

Whoosh! It’s budget season. You might want to spend time brushing up on the Executive Budget, both capital and operational. Finance Committee hearings kickoff this week. On Monday, October 11, the Finance Committee will hear about Transportation (Public Works will come on Tuesday, October 12). Meetings start at 4:30 pm. I’d recommend checking out the map of the Capital Improvements budget items. Dane County also has a proposed Executive Budget out from County Exec Joe Parisi; I’m actually going to pass you over to Madison Bikes Community Facebook member Craig Weinhold, who summarized the bike-related items in that budget well here. You can read the budget memo here (bike stuff on pages 19-20).

Also on Wednesday at 6:30 pm, the Parks Commission will meet. A few of its items are relevant to the biking community, including options for a new multi-use path through Olbrich Park. You might also be interested in learning more about the PARC and Ride grant from Dane County.

There’s a lot going on with transportation in Madison and Dane County these days, and it’s hard to follow. I wanted to shout out to Madison Bikes’ President Harald Kleims (who also serves on the Transportation Commission) for writing a great Twitter thread about his perspective on the Bus Rapid Transit discussion and stop options. I’m the first one to jump into some jokes on this issue, but if you haven’t been following, I think Harald lays out clearly why no options are perfect (turns out, nothing is!), but why State Street is generally a better routing option.

Wow, did you get all the way to the end of this post? Sounds like you might be a great fit for our Board of Directors. We’d love to have you.

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.

Categories
Newsletter Weekly Update

Velo Underround Opens, Meetings

Velo Underround. Photo credit Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Last Week

As of Friday, the bike roundabout that links the Capitol City, Military Ridge, and Cannonball trails, commonly known as the Velo Underround, has been officially reopened! The roundabout had been closed for several months this summer to improve storm water drainage from the site. According to the MMSD, this project finished two months ahead of schedule.

This Week

On Monday, the City’s Transportation Policy is meeting online at 5:00 PM. Much of the agenda will be focused on transit planning. There will be at least two semi-bike related items. The first is a discussion item on the lowering of speed limits on East Washington. The second is about the Draft Vision Zero Action Plan.

On Wednesday, the more region-focused Greater Madison Metropolitan Planning Organization is meeting at 6:30 PM. On the agenda is adopting the five year 2022-2026 Transportation Improvement Program. This is a planning document that goes into detail about projects that should be considered over the next five years in Madison and Dane County. There will also be an update on the Connect Greater Madison Regional Transportation Plan 2050. This is a more forward thinking plan about where we would like to see Dane County’s transportation network by 2050.

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.