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Resources for the Madison Community
Madison stands with the families of Abundant Life community. This page is dedicated to connecting victims and the broader community to resources and accurate information about the tragic events that happened on December 16.
Meetings and Updates Week of December 16
posted- City Meetings:
- Plan Commission 12/16
- Board of Public Works 12/18
- Economic Development Committee 12/18
- Alert: Pattern of Theft-From-Auto, Preventative Steps Recommended
- Important Items at 12/18 Board of Public Works, Including More Traffic Calming Projects
- Last Chance to Fill Out WisDOT’s Stoughton Road Survey by 12/19
- Autumn Ridge Path Ribbon-Cutting 12/17
- Events & Announcements
City Meetings
Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.
Plan Commission
The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, December 16, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include development-related requests (none in District 3).
Board of Public Works
The Board of Public Works meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 18 at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include advertising for bids for the North Star Park and Sycamore Park sun shelters, advertising for bids for the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park project, and Safe Streets Madison traffic calming approvals including three in District 3 (see more on this in a below section).
Economic Development Committee
The Economic Development Committee meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 18, at 5:00 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include authorizing the eventual forgiveness of $1.6m of debt held by Madison Ice Inc. for the Madison Ice Arena and Hartmeyer Ice Arena. D19 John Guequirre wrote an informative blog post recently, explaining this deal and his rationale for supporting it.
If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.
Alert: Pattern of Theft-From-Auto, Preventative Steps Recommended
Last week, East MPD Officers alerted me to a pattern of theft-from-autos in District 3. The incidents likely happened overnight. In response, MPD officers will respond diligently to calls for activity resembling “window shopping” of vehicles and will leaflet surrounding houses or blocks with this information if/when they receive a report of a theft-from auto.
Please consider reviewing these helpful prevention tips:
Image credit:
Madison Police Department
Important Items at 12/18 Board of Public Works, Including More Traffic Calming Projects
Wednesday's Board of Public Works agenda includes three items that are important for District 3:
- Item 21: the contract for constructing sun shelters at North Star Park and Sycamore Park (as well as Kestral Park). Here's the document with construction plans, including maps of the shelters' locations at their respective parks.
- Item 22: a resolution allowing the Board of Public Works to advertise and receive bids for the construction of the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park, a library and park facility just across East Washington Ave from District 3's Mayfair Park neighborhood. Here's a file with renderings of the project.
- Item 25: a resolution authorizing the Board of Public Works to advertise and receive bids for Safe Streets Madison traffic calming projects that have been approved by the Transportation Commission. Here's a file with the specific project designs. Here are some District 3 items on that project list:
- Cottage Grove Rd and Acewood Blvd (page 16 in the designs file): reconstructing the center island crosswalk and island "nose" concrete work. This spot will also be the site of a new left turn signal for drivers turning onto Acewood Blvd after this concrete work is done.
- Milwaukee St and Walbridge Rd (page 8 in the designs file): an improved crossing with a pedestrian refuge island and a flashing beacon.
- Milwaukee St and Portland Pkwy (page 9 in the designs file): improvements to the Milwaukee Street pedestrian and bike crossing and changes to the curb and sidewalk on the north side of Milwaukee Street to accomodate safer crossing at the new Autumn Ridge path.
Last Chance to Fill Out WisDOT’s Stoughton Road Survey (Closes on Thurs)
WisDOT’s public survey about the South Stoughton Road study closes on Thursday, December 19th. Please consider adding your input on the proposed design alternatives by taking the survey:
As a reminder, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is conducting a corridor study of South Stoughton Road between McFarland and Hwy 30 and is rethinking the number of lanes, speed limits, potential new access points, and intersections. Here is a link to the exhibit boards and visuals that WisDOT staff displayed at the Nov 19th public meeting and here is a video explainer on YouTube. This study will establish design plans and no construction projects are yet planned or budgeted - that step will depend on the State's process for prioritizing their projects.
Autumn Ridge Path/Bridge Ribbon Cutting 12/17
There will be a ribbon-cutting for the new Autumn Ridge Path and bridge on Tuesday, Dec 17th at 8:30am (note that this was rescheduled from a date last Thursday due to the cold advisory). It will take place at 4346 Commercial Ave. The public is invited to join!
Image credit:
City Engineering
This project will reconnect the Hiestand Park and Burke Heights neighborhoods over Highway 30, offering a much safer alternative for bikes and pedestrians than the current set of high-traffic round-abouts at Thompson and the Hwy 30 ramps. This new path and bridge provides Hiestand Park residents with safer access to Sycamore Park’s dog park and new singletrack bike course, and provides Burke Heights residents and others north of Hwy 30 much-improved access to the rest of the City’s bicycle network.
The Autumn Ridge Path is funded by a substantial federal grant ($2.5 million), which covered the majority of the project costs, the remaining costs are made up with local City funding ($2 million). I was proud to successfully defend Autumn Ridge from another Alder’s attempt to defund the project in the 2024 Capital Budget adoption process, which would have jeopardized these federal funds which significantly offset local costs.
Here's the press release for the rescheduled event.
Events & Announcements
- Set Out Brush on Sunday, December 15, 2024, for Last Chance Pickup; Collection is Not Guaranteed: The Streets Division will perform one more sweep through the city collection brush [different from leaves/yard waste] that has been set out for collection, weather permitting. If you have brush that needs to be collected, you can set it out for pickup on Sunday, December 15. … [posted December 13, 2024]
- Streets Division Drop-off Sites Now on Winter Hours: The Streets Division drop-off sites at 4602 Sycamore Avenue and 402 South Point Road are now on winter hours. The winter hours began on Friday, December 6, 2024. They will remain in effect until the spring of 2025.The hours for the sites are… [posted December 12, 2024]
- Buy Local This Holiday Season: Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is encouraging residents to buy locally this gift-giving season. [posted December 10, 2024]
- Alders on Ice, December 18, 6p.m. - Hartmeyer Ice Arena (1834 Commercial Ave.): It's Learn-to-Skate night at Hartmeyer - a cherished community event on Madison's East Side. Gather on the east bleachers and learn more about the Ice Arena Resolution followed by a facility tour.
- Bird & Nature Adventures | Starkweather Creek Area, Saturday, December 21: Outings in the Starkweather Creek area vary each month - be sure to check the starting location. Adventures typically at 10:00am on the 3rd Saturday of the month, year-round, and frequently start at the Goodman Community Center, unless noted otherwise. Outings include nature walks, canoe/kayak adventures, bicycling tours, and more, and are sponsored by the Madison Friends of Urban Nature , Madison Parks, Goodman Community Center , Madison Audubon Society , and Friends of Starkweather Creek . No registration is required. Pets are not allowed.
Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted. Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.
