Southwest Commuter Bike/Pedestrian Path

Maintenance
Plowing
Grand Opening: July 28
A Friends of the SoutWest Path group has formed.
Access to Odana Hills golf course: in the plans!.
Background information on the project.

Maintenance

That portion of the SWP between Verona Road and Lovell Lane requires significant maintenance resources. Trash, broken glass, and graffiti litter the area. An annual cleanup is inadequate. City staff are aware of the problem.

10 Apr 2003: George Perkins reports:
The City Council last night passed a budget amendment allocating funding to the Community Adolescents Program to hire teens to cleanup the path on a regular basis. This is the organization that also hires and supervises kids who work cleaning up the downtown area. They plan to hire 4 teens and to start around April 21 and work two hours a day on Monday and Thursday until school gets out, then working 4 hours a day on Mondays only. City Streets and Engineering will be working with them, facilitating the pick up of the trash they collect.

Grand Opening!

Saturday, July 28: 9:00-10:45 am (rain or shine).

Mayor Sue Bauman will be riding the path as part of a "rolling ribbon cutting" for the SW Path. Representatives from Dane County, the City of Fitchburg, and various neighborhood associations will join Mayor Bauman at stops along the way. There appear to be refreshments at some of the stops hosted by businesses and other neighborly folks.

Ribbon Cutting

Left to Right: ?, Mike Rewey, Madison Mayor Sue Bauman, ?, Madison City Engineer Larry Nelson.

SWPath Transportation Geeks
Left to right: ?, Tom Walsh, Mike Rewey, ? Tom Huber, Jesse "the K" Kaysen.

Here is the schedule:

9:00 Capital City Trail at Arrowhead Park in Fitchburg
9:20 Lovell Lane
9:35 Hammersley Rd / Beltline bridge
9:45 Midvale Blvd
10:00 Parman Terrace / Council Crest
10:15 Sheldon St / Fox Ave
10:30 Breese Terrace

Connection!

MGE will be tearing up the ground to put in powerlines. I think we will get a a connection between the SWP and Odana Hills out of this. The press release:

Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE) and American Transmission Company (ATC) will begin installing an underground electric transmission line along roadways and streets in Madison and Fitchburg in early 2003.
The proposed route for the Fitchburg-Tokay line travels north from the Fitchburg Substation at 5961 McKee Road in the City of Fitchburg along an abandoned railroad and a bicycle path, crosses under USH 12/14, continues north along the eastern end of the Odana Hills Golf Course to Odana Road, then west along Odana Road to the Tokay Substation site, located just east of Tokay Boulevard and north of Odana Road.
Please contact Ruth Miller at (608) 252-4703 or email rmiller@mge.com for additional project information from MGE.

No Entrance

The celebration of the Path on opening day was marred by the presence of large logs across the obvious connection between the Path and the Odana Hills golf course.
This connection has been a sore point for bike advocates. (see the Nov. '99 pictorial description ). Early it was recognized as an important access point, but was opposed by the Parks department. When the path was approved by the city council, an amendment was added to reconsider this access point for Phase III of the project. However, it again did not make it into the budget. Of course, residents of the nearby neighborhood have been traveling this route for many years, and is a common shortcut for many of the new cyclists and pedestrians on the path . Everyone figured it was just a matter of time before this connection was formalized, and perhaps the new Parks Director, Jim Morgan, would be more sensible.

Unfortunately, the Parks dept. took a decidedly confrontational approach - they put a large log across the connection. Some friendly citizens removed the log. Later, Parks Dept. staff put three logs across the connection.

Subsequently, Parks has agreed not to block the path. Currently (February, 2002) the connection is a rutted patch of mud. It may be some time before a more formalized connection is developed.

Friends of the Path

A Friends of the Path group has formed, and already started planting native plants along part of the route. If you're interested, and/or would like to volunteer to help, contact Laura Brown: ljbrown@chorus.net, 274-9367
OR Sue Reindollar, 233-9383 ssreindo@facstaff.wisc.edu
The Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association has more information.

What do we do at the North end?

Currently the path is closed at the North end, just before the Spooner bridge. After the bridge is rebuilt, and the rest of the path paved, how will cyclists navigate the crazy intersection of Regent/Monroe/Breese/Crazylegs?

Joe King, member of the design committee, says:

The design committee did not make a specific recommendation for this intersection, except to say that it should be studied.
( see map )
If you're heading to campus, I would recommend that you leave the path at Spooner and take the familiar route through Camp Randall. The traffic light at Spooner & Regent I judge to be more bike/ped friendly than the one at Regent & Monroe. Please note: that due to the Spooner Bridge construction, you may have to get off that path at Prospect and take Commonwealth/Rowley to Spooner.
If you're heading to Merriter, or thereabouts, you should be able to take Oakland to Mound Street.

Documents

SW Path Approved!. That's the word from a stalwart advocate, Mark Shahan. (March 8, 2000)
Pete Taglia Tells All! Well, he reports on the Southwest Path at any rate. (Feb, 2000)
Use this form to send your comments on the SWP project to the City, Earth Tech, and your alderperson!
Final approval for the path is being sought in February 2000 beginning with review by city committees and finishing with approval by the Madison City Council in March. Call your alderperson in support of this huge asset to community life! The resolution contains the design overview for your reading pleasure (you'll need a pdf reader). You can find your alderperson's contact information here.
Here's the project fact sheet that was available at the public hearing on January, 20th 2000.
And here's the Spooner bridge fact sheet which in regards to a separate but related project to reconstruct the Spooner Street bridge.
The rails are being removed. Here's a November, 1999 pictorial report that shows rails removed from the track bed. Pictures of the controversial access point to Odana Hills Park are also included.
On September 15th, 1999 the plans for the path were presented to the public. Mark Shahan and Darin Burleigh were there to offer us these reports and analysis:
- Meeting Overview by Darin Burleigh
- Comments on the path design by Mark Shahan
The minutes from the May 25th, 1999 PBMVC where The Project Gained Approval.
Southwest Bike/Pedestrian Path Progresses is lifted from the Winter, 1999 edition of the Regent Neighborhood Association Newsletter. Added March 6, 1999.
Trail or tracks? Green County split on issue, an article from the March 5, 1999 issue of The Capital Times, reveals that the disposition of portions passing through Green County are still much up in the air.
Proposed Madison-Freeport State Trail is the draft feasibility study and environmental analysis report released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In Madison this corridor is already being developed as the Southwest Bike and Pedestrian Commuter Path. The proposal is to continue the path as a recreational tail that will reach south into Illinois. The following text can be found under the "Proposed Goal" heading in the aforementioned study:
The proposed goal is to provide a 45-mile recreational trail for pedestrians and bicyclists with the potential for winter use to include snowmobilers, with links to the Cheese Country, the Sugar River, Military Ridge and Capital City state trails in Wisconsin, and the Jane Addams Trail in Illinois.
The Jane Addams trail is a proposed segment of the Grand Illinois Trail in Stephenson County (IL).
City's OK is next step for bike path, an article from the December 22, 1998 The Capital Times. reports that the Southwest Bicycle and Pedestrian Commuter Path is edging closer to reality. A resolution to hire a consultant to design the path will be presented to the Common Council on January 5, 1999. Construction would start in 2000.
Southwest Rail Corridor Bike Path Progress is an article lifted from the Spring 1998 edition of the newsletter of the Regent Neighborhood Association that talks about progress on planning for the the path. Most interesting is the revelation that a bicycle overpass of the beltline will be constructed this summer. Anybody that's bicycled the automotive underpasses of the beltline in that area will be pleased by the prospect of an alternative route such as this. No heaving of concrete blocks onto passing Chevy Suburbans will be permitted, at least initially.
Here is an informational letter, dated March 31, 1998, from WisDOT's Joseph Dresser et al, in which the current status of the overall project is discussed, revealing that efforts by rail advocates to prevent removal of rails in the Monroe-Freeport section of the corridor have failed.
[1998] Two citizen committees have been formed to gut the proposal-- one for the eastern and one for the western section of the portion of the trail that would fall within Madison city limits. Former BTA activist Joseph King sits on the committee that's going to kill the eastern section, and has been actively keeping us informed on the process. BTA Action Coordinator Mark Shahan sits on-- chairs?-- the committee that's dealing with the western section. King's unofficial minutes are and will be collected below. He points out that they are provided "as is," which means that if they aren't edited for public consumption in a manner sufficient to make them as useful to you as you might wish, your purchase price will be silently refunded.
Maps R Us. Here are two maps of the proposed trail:
- view of Capital City trail plan with Southwest path drawn in
- view of Southwest path
And here is a hilarious artist's rendition, from the 1950's, of what the neighborhood would have looked like had a proposal to use the corridor for a four-lane highway been adopted. The big traffic circle shown is situated at the intersection of Monroe and Randall Streets. Regent Street is also shown as a divided four-lane highway.

Background Information

The City of Madison proposes to construct a commuter bicycle/pedestrian path in the abandoned railroad corridor formerly owned by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company and currently owned by the State of Wisconsin, extending from the near west to the far southwest City limit. A commuter project beginning with design in 1997 and construction in 1998 is proposed. The estimated cost of the project is $1,020,000. This does not include the cost of an overpass of the West Beltline Highway which is already funded at a cost of $750,000. The proposed path is consistent with the Dane County Regional Transportation Plan, and will directly serve the pedestrian and bicycle transportation needs of 50,000 Madison residents and others.

Project Description

The proposed commuter path will extend from Randall Avenue to Lovell Lane, a distance of approximately 11,000 feet (approximately two miles). An additional 1,000 feet of connecting paths are also envisioned. It will be a 10-foot wide, bituminous surface path with shoulders and landscaped margins, using the existing railroad bed as a base. The project will include numerous points of access and intersection improvements where the path crosses existing streets.

The West Beltline Highway and Verona Road (USH 18/151) create significant barriers to pedestrian and bicycle travel between central Madison and the south and west corners of the city and beyond. The proposed project will bridge both of these major highways and provide direct connection into the City of Fitchburg street system as well as the Capital City State Trail and existing Military Ridge State Trail. In excess of 2,000 bicyclists and as many pedestrians are expected to use the proposed path on a daily basis. Because of its location and length as well as its grade-separated crossings of the Beltline Highway and Verona Road, the proposed path is considered to be an extremely important link in the City of Madison and regional pedestrian/bicycle path systems.

Project Approved!

8 March 2000

The SW Bike and Pedestrian Path was approved last night by the city council. In addition, Gary Poulsen (my alder) and Jean McCubbin added an amendment stating that access through the Odana Golf Course parking lot should be considered in phase III of the project. This amendment is a major victory because it signals that the alderman (Gary Poulsen) for the affected area is strongly in support of an access point through the golf course parking lot.

I think Gary was convinced by the efforts of myself and my wife in leafleting the area before the Jan. 20 public meeting and the support of the Midvale Heights Community Association Board. The leafleting resulted in several phone calls to Gary and while the PBMVC was approving the path on Feb. 22, my wife was getting the Community Association Board to go on record as supporting the access point. Gary was at the Community Association Board meeting. At PBMVC, I informed the Commission that access through the golf course parking lot was not a dead issue and that I would be working to get this access point constructed after the path was constructed. Alderman Kent Palmer, a member of PBMVC, then talked to Gary to see if there was some way of facilitating this access point, hence the above amendment.

Phase III is not funded yet and includes things like extending the path from Breeze Terrace to Randall Ave., constructing the Harrison St. ped bridge, and the construction of the Hammersley Rd access point north of the Beltline. The proposed construction date for phase III is 2001 or 2002.

- Mark N. Shahan

Back to Advocacy

? ? ? About the BCP