Winnebago St-Linden Ave Reconstruction

Construction Update

Project is complete.

Project Update

The contract for the reconstruction of Winnebago St. has been awarded to S&L Underground. Construction is expected to begin on April 1, 2019. The initial phase for the project will be on Atwood Ave. between First St. & Second St., which will involve closing that portion of Atwood for approximately 1 month. The second phase will involve reconstructing the Winnebago & Linden portions of the project, which will last 4 months, and will include closures of those streets during construction.

Project Limits

Atwood Ave (Utility work only) - South First Street to South Second Street
Winnebago St - South Second Street to Bashford Avenue
Linden Ave - Winnebago Street to Rusk Street

Project Description

The City of Madison is proposing to reconstruct a portion of Winnebago St. and Linden Ave. in 2019. Work on Winnebago St. between Second St. and Bashford Ave. will include replacement of utilities and replacement of the curb and pavement; work on Linden Ave. between Winnebago St. and Rusk St. will include replacement of the utilities and pavement, but most of the curb is planned to remain. The project will also include some utility work down Atwood Ave. between First St. and Second St., but the pavement in this area will only be patched in the areas that the utility work is completed.

This portion of Winnebago St. is currently 48 ft. wide, with a travel lane, bike lane, and parking lane in both directions, and approximately a 3 ft. terrace on both sides. Due to significant grade differences, a portion of the southeasterly side terrace has walls and railings adjacent to the sidewalk. During the planning and design phase for this project, several options for the redesign of Winnebago Street were considered, and those options are described below.  Ultimately, the Common Council approved Option 1B, which is also described and a link to the plan is below.

Option 1: Narrow the street by 2 ft. (down to 46 ft.) and maintain travel lanes and bike lanes in both directions, along with parking lanes on both sides of the street. This option would also include bumpouts at the intersections, and traffic calming islands at Fourth St. and Sutherland (mountable for driveway access). The bike lane and parking lane space would remain at standard widths, and the travel lanes would be narrowed by 1 ft. This option only provides for enough terrace space on the southwesterly side for small, ornamental tree plantings, and not enough space on the northwesterly side for any new tree plantings. A few parking stalls would be removed for the pedestrian improvements, and staff will review some of the bumpout areas to determine if some canopy trees could be planted within the bumpouts. This may involve extending the bumpouts, which would result in the removal of a few additional parking stalls. This option, as originally presented, provides for approximately 21 more parking stalls over Option 2, which may be reduced to approximately 17-18, if bumpouts are extended for more canopy type tree plantings.
Option 1 plan
Option 1 cross section
Option 1A plan

Option 1B - Current proposed design: Similar to Option 1A, this plan includes bike lanes, parking lanes and travel lanes in both directions. Option 1B includes a proposed street width of 47 ft. between Second and Linden, which will provide for a little additional space between the bike lane and parked vehicles, and a 46 ft. width between Linden and Bashford. The other modifications include mid-block bumpouts on the southeasterly side of the street in order for additional canopy tree plantings.
Option 1B Plan

Option 2: Narrow the street by 5 ft. (down to 43 ft.) between Sutherland and Bashford, and maintain travel lanes in both directions, a parking lane on one side, and bike lanes with 2 ft. painted buffers between the bike lanes and travel lanes to provide for more comfortable biking. The block between Second and Sutherland would essentially remain the same as described in Option 1. Bumpouts would also be constructed were feasible. This option would provide for enough space on the northwesterly side terrace for small, ornamental tree plantings (under overhead electric lines), and enough space for larger trees, albeit, not full canopy trees, on the southeasterly side. Similar to option 1, bumpout areas will be reviewed for the possibility of planting full canopy trees.
Option 2 plan
Option 2 cross section

Parking Study

The City Parking Utility has completed a parking study in the area surrounding Winnebago St. to have a better understanding of the parking utilization in the area. The study was done at different times both during and after the alternate side parking (ASP) rules. A link to the data from that study has been posted. The results of the parking study indicated high utilization of the parking along this portion of Winnebago St. Parking Study

A significant amount of input has been received in support of both of the options that have been presented, so, based on the parking study and the input received thus far, Engineering is currently recommending Option 1.

Project Schedule

Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission: June 26

Mail estimated assessments: June 8

Board of Public Works public hearing: June 20

Common Council public hearing: July 10

Bid project: Late July

Start construction: Mid-September 2018 or Spring 2019

Public Meetings

Project Approvals (Board of Public Works)

On June 20, 2018 City Engineering presented the proposed Option 1B design for the Winnebago St. reconstruction to the Board of Public Works, which was approved by the BPW.

Project Approvals (Common Council)

On July 10, 2018 the Common Council discussed, and ultimately approved Option 1B for the reconstruction of Winnebago Street.

On May 1, 2018 the Common Council voted to approve Option 2 for the reconstruction of Winnebago St. The Mayor vetoed this decision, and the Common Council did not overturn the veto. Therefore, there was not an approved design to proceed with for the reconstruction of Winnebago St.

Project Approvals (Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission):

On March 27, 2018 the alternatives for the reconstruction of Winnebago St. were presented to the Pedestrian, Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Commission (PBMVC). The commission voted to approve Option 2 as it provided for more comfortable bicycle facilities on Winnebago St., along with the opportunity for more, and some larger tree plantings.

Public Information Meeting #2

A second Public Information Meeting was held on Tuesday February 13th. A copy of the presentation can be found here: Presentation

At this meeting, City Engineering presented two options for the reconstruction of Winnebago Street.

The first option is a 46 ft. wide street that maintains travel and bike lanes in both directions and parking on both sides of the street. This design would also include some elements for improved pedestrian safety and for traffic calming, which would require removal of parking stalls. This option would include limited terrace space such that there would not be any new tree plantings on the northwesterly side, but small tree species could be planted on the southeasterly side. A preliminary plan for option 1 can be found here: Option 1 Plan

The second option is to narrow the street to 44 ft. between Sutherland and Bashford, but the 46 ft. width (Option 1) would be installed between Second and Sutherland. The 44 ft. width would provide travel lanes in both directions and buffered bike lanes in both directions – a 2 ft. painted buffer would be marked between the bike lane and the travel and parking lanes. This option would allow for parking on only one side of Winnebago between Sutherland and Bashford, but the parking would remain on the side with the most stalls available. Also, a switch in sides with parking would provide for some traffic calming effects. A preliminary plan for option 2 can be found here: Option 2 Plan

Public Information Meeting #1

A Public Information Meeting for this project was held on Wednesday, January 10th. A copy of the presentation and exhibits can be found here:
Presentation
Option 1 Plan
Option 2 Plan