Dane Co. PARC grants will improve bicycle access

There is an article in the paper with all the grants from the Partners for Recreation and Conservation program, and the headline emphasizes the Verona soccer facility, but there are several bicycle-related grants as well, and I thought I'd emphasize them here.

There are three bicycle-related items on the list. Quoting pieces of the article:

The village of Oregon was the third $250,000 grant winner, for a new bicycling trail from Oregon to the Badger State Trail, about four miles to the west.
$100,000 for the Dawley Park bicycle hub and $3,300 for bike lane signage and marking on County D and PD to the city of Fitchburg.
$32,050 to the Friends of the Arboretum for restoration of the Grady tract and green prairie, bike access and trail improvements.

Also note that the recipient communities or organizations must match the grant amount, so they definitely have some skin in the game.

The Arboretum project is the only one that I am really familiar with. The director of the Arb called me last month to talk about this, and I told him how great this would be. It looks like the plan is to have a few accommodations off the new Cannonball Path where it passes the south side of the Arb. Water, bike racks (no bikes on the Arb trails!), a shelter, picnic table, information, etc. would allow path users a pleasant and convenient place to stop and enjoy the area.

In addition, this would add another entrance to the Grady Tract - the portion of the Arb south of the Beltline. Right now, the only official entrance is off Seminole Hwy, in the far NW corner. There are a number of places along the eastern side, near the apartments, where people enter the Arb, but these are often no more than places where the fence has been cut, and the Arb staff and scientists are not happy with the situation.

As to Dawley Park and the other Fitchburg improvements, I had to look up Dawley Park to find the location of this "bicycle hub."

Dawley Park is the area bounded by Seminole Hwy on the east, the Badger Trail on the West, the Cap City Trail on the north, and some development on the south. It is on the south side of the Cap City Trail from Dunn's Marsh. I'm not sure what they are planning, but there is no question this area is a hub for bike routes. The new Cannonball Trail will run north of Dunn's Marsh, so there will be a point where the Badger, Cap City, SW, and Cannonball will all be within a few hundred yards of each other.

Maybe someone from Oregon can chime in on where this new path will be from Oregon to the Badger Trail, because I don't see an old rail line that is ready to be converted. It's certainly possible that they are starting from scratch, but that generally means acquiring easements. On the other hand, maybe they don't really mean "trail," and instead mean "route," as in a signed on-road route with bike lanes.

Either way, It will be a nice addition.

What would be even better would be if they could figure a way to get the Badger Trail connected to Sun Valley Parkway (it currently runs under the road, and there is a pretty major elevation change.) This would allow families and less experienced bicyclists to get to Paoli without going over Sayles Trail. For those who haven't ventured past the paved portion of the Badger Trail - which ends at Purcell Rd - the next place you cross a road at grade going south is a little road called Henry Rd in Basco, almost 3 miles to the south. From this point, you are dumped onto Hwy 69, not what most trail users would chose.

A ramp from the trail up to Sun Valley Pkwy, and maybe bike lanes/a paved shoulder on the road, would provide good. safe access for less experienced cyclists all the way to Paoli. What a boon to businesses in Paoli!

Maybe someone from the village will work on that.

Fish Hatchery Rd rebuild in 2012: Will bike and pedestrian conditions improve?

A quick post about a projects that could improve bicycling south of downtown and the campus significantly, or could just lay new pavement over a crumbling section of roadway.

Below is an email conversation about this project. In the initial email to the Bikies list, I had cc'd a few people who I thought could either provide answers, or should be aware of problems in this corridor. The second email is from Tony Fernandez, of City of Madison Engineering. I'm not sure if he is directly involved in the project, but he at least has knowledge of it, and was trying to provide some info. Much appreciated.

The third email was my response to Tony, which also got cc'd to the same group, plus Christy Bachman, who Tony had identified as the person taking the lead for the City. This is a Dane County project, so the City of Madison neither planned the project nor has direct authority, although I'm assuming they had significant input because the majority of the roadway is in the City.

I haven't heard anything from the County yet, so maybe things are better than I think.

Email #1 - from me.

There was an article in today's Cap Times about the 2012 planned rebuilding of Fish Hatchery Rd from Wingra Dr south to West Badger Rd. 

Most people on this list recognize that this stretch, although equipped with bike lanes, is an unpleasant ride, and often downright scary. Much of the problem stems from potholes and cracked pavement on the far right (the bike lane), but also the amount of trash, debris, sand, and general junk that lands in the bike lane. 

I also think that, given the amount and speed of traffic - normally far over the speed limit - the current width of the bike lanes is too narrow.

Did anyone attend the meeting mentioned in the article? Will the current conditions be improved when the project is done? Obviously, new pavement will be a huge improvement, but are there any other changes planned? 

And while the project is ongoing, will there be some accommodations for those bicyclists that still need to use Fish Hatchery to get around? Due to the Arb on the west and the lack of north-south routes to the east between Fish Hatch and Park, Fish Hatchery Rd is often the only option in this area. 

I have cc'd a cross section of City of Madison, Dane County, and Bike Fed folks. The road is in the City (mostly, although there are sections in Town of Madison), but Dane County is doing the project, since it is a county highway. 

Thanks for any info. I'm sure many people on the list would be interested in any insights.

Response from Tony Fernandez

This is a federally funded pavement replacement project. Dane County is the lead agency and Matt Rice is doing the plans. My supervisor Christy Bachmann is the main liaison for the City of Madison. My understanding is that the type of funding pretty much restricts the project to replacing the existing pavement, and the current plans call for bike lanes for the full length of the project, but no significant widening anywhere. To get the latest information about the current design and any planned public involvement activities or other opportunities for input you should probably contact Matt or Pam Dunphy at Dane County Highways.

Email #3 - from me

I didn't expect widening, but perhaps a change in the location or width of paint? Don't know the width of the curb-to-curb, but since traffic is consistently well above the speed limit, I would imagine the MV lane widths are pretty generous. Might a little narrowing of the other lanes - by even 6 inches - allow a slightly wider bike lane and also slow the average speed? As Mike Rewey has repeatedly pointed out, just making sure that the 6 inch bike lane marking starts in the MV lane, and does not cut off 6 inches of the bike lane makes a big difference.

I also posted the questions to nudge the folks in charge of maintenance (sweeping on a road next to the Arb, anyone?) to perhaps be more diligent when the project is done. The Fish Hatchery corridor suffers from a multitude of issues that make it a crappy bike route, but there is really no alternative. Fast traffic (law enforcement and engineering); higher traffic volumes; ugly, car-based land use (planning); and a multi-jurisdictional roadway leads to poor maintenance.  Because Fish Hatchery is so huge south of the Beltline, and also a major exit off the Beltline, it feels like a fast highway, but it is actually an urban roadway - one that passes through several neighborhoods with a high percentage of low-income resident. There is also a middle school, the Arb, and a large health care facility in this stretch. 

Because it feels like a highway, drivers are less sympathetic to bicyclists and pedestrians in the area (and public right of way), because they wonder why anyone would be on foot or bike on this big, fast road. Well, there really isn't much choice.

So, I think with a rebuilding project, even without changing the curbs, there are a few things that could be changed to make this road more bike and pedestrian friendly. Hey, how about painting the few crosswalks with wider markings too? I hear from lots of kids and parents trying to cross that street to get to Wright Middle School. 

Sorry, this really isn't a rant against anyone in particular, but more a plea that maybe something can still be done to improve the situation. I was really hoping to hear, "Yes! We are doing those things. We know it sucks, and we took all that into consideration, and here's how it will be different when the work is done." 

Still hoping. 

Snowshoe walk to Arboretum springs

One of my favorite places to go on a short walk in winter is down to the springs along Lake Wingra. Although you can ski to the springs, it is more direct to go by snowshoe, or just hike with sturdy boots. If you start in the parking lot on the north side of Arboretum Drive, just east of the Visitors Center, you can walk down the hill through the woods. If you want to ski, you have to go around the long way, because the Arb doesn't want people skiing down the slope. Besides, it's pretty steep and twisty for XC skis!

I am always amazed how well-worn the paths are in the middle of winter. Even though we got over 18 inches of snow just a few days ago, the path can easily be walked in boots. It is cut about 9 inches into the surrounding area, with the base well packed down.

The Big Spring is a large area of open water all winter that is filled with water birds in even the harshest conditions. If there are still berries on the trees, or during late fall and early spring migrations, you can also see and hear small birds flitting through the brush along the Big Spring.

Father down the path, you come to a stream flowing out of the hillside and towards the lake. Amid the white, black, grey, and spots of brown that are the winter palette, the springs show a bright green in the snow. Although it looks sort of like pond scum, this is actually watercress.

This is why I love this walk. The green in the middle of the winter reminds me that life continues, even in the deep snow.  There is copious water coming from these springs, and no matter how harsh the weather, the streams flow and support the plants. Here are some notes from a walk by an Arboretum naturalist that had some similar thoughts in December.

In the summer, the walk to this area is along a boardwalk through a wetland. As explained in this set of notes from another naturalist led walk back in 2007, this is a fen, a wetland that has a more basic water and soil than many of the bogs of northern Wisconsin.

Not being a morning person, my walks often start in the afternoon, and by the time I am ready to head back home, the light is often low. I always think that my photos are going to be too dark, and Saturday I even forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone. But the cameras on cell phones have gotten much better, and I was actually quite pleased with how some photos of the spring came out in the low light.

The image to the right is a bit farther into the wetland. I don't think you wouldn't be able to access this area during the summer, although the boardwalk may continue this far. After this, I tried to follow a small trail worn into the snow, but I think it might have been made by some of the UW researchers that work in the Arb, because it got very tangled up in the brush after a few hundred yards. I turned back, realizing that I'd probably end up out on Nakoma or Monroe St, if I kept going - if I got that far.

In the fresh snow, red blood stains where an animal ate a squirrel stood out. At first I thought it would have been an owl, but after seeing a couple locations, all deep in the underbrush, I decided it was more likely another mammal that finished off these squirrels. Maybe a fox? The pictures didn't really come out well, so I didn't include them.

As I climbed back up the hill, away from the lake and into the woods, the patterns created by the drifting snow caught my eye. There were circular depressions where the snow had drifted around the trees, and little mounds, like goosebumps, where bits of brush and twigs had accumulated more snow.

Even though the deeply worn trails multiple tracks show that many others have come before me, I always feel that this walk is a little secret of mine. While the prairie woods near the visitors center are popular place to ski or hike, you sort of have to know that the springs are down the steep hill. Most people don't go looking for open water and green plants in the depths of winter, especially after the amount of snow that came our way last week. But the Arboretum always shows its gems to those that are willing to explore.