If you do not plan to ride through the Regent Neighborhood, or don't use University Ave between Grand and Breese Terr on a regular basis, you can skip this message. However, if Highland, Walnut, University Ave, or Forest are on your route, please note that life may be quite interesting this summer. I also want to note that the Kendall bike boulevard may also either have more traffic of all kinds or may have bumps, stops, diversions, or other unexpected issues during the construction season because of construction on several cross streets, plus the fact that Kendall doesn't go all the way through to Breese Terrace.
As someone that lives within one block of all this, I'll just say that bicycling is bound to be easier than driving in my neighborhood this summer. (I should note that there is also construction planned on Williamson/Ingersoll and Sherman/Brearly, but I think those projects will be both less disruptive to bike commuters and the areas offer better alternatives.) >From the City Traffic Engineering Dept, pasted below, and linked here as well: http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=2600 UNIVERSITY AVENUE CONSTRUCTION Beginning Wednesday, April 13, 2011, City Engineering along with Capitol Underground will begin the reconstruction of (Old) University Avenue between Grand Avenue and Breese Terrace. The construction project will include replacement of utilities located beneath the street as well as all lanes of pavement on University Avenue and several other streets. One lane of eastbound traffic will be maintained on University Avenue for the duration of the project. The entire reconstruction project will be completed with two contracts. The work of the first contract beginning April 13th includes: • University Avenue from Grand Avenue to N. Allen Street. • Highland Avenue from Regent Street to University Avenue. • Van Hise Avenue from Grand Avenue to 200' east of Highland Avenue. • Walnut Street from University Avenue to Kendall Avenue. Overlapping with this is the work of the second contract, which will begin in Mid-May and includes: • University Avenue from N. Allen Street to Breese Terrace. • Forest Street from University Avenue to Kendall Avenue. • Paunack Place from University Avenue to the north end. Within these two separate contracts, there are several phases. The phases are as follows: Phase 1 (April 13 to May 22) - University Avenue will be closed from Grand Avenue to Walnut Street, except for one eastbound lane of traffic. Walnut Street from University Avenue to Kendall Avenue will be closed to through traffic with local and emergency access only. All other street segments will remain open. Phase 2 (May 23 to June 24) - University Avenue from Grand Avenue to Breese Terrace will be closed except for one eastbound lane of traffic. Walnut Street, Forest Street and Paunack Place will be closed to through traffic with local and emergency access only. All other street segments remain open. Phase 3 (June 25 to Mid-August) - University Avenue from N. Allen Street to Breese Terrace will be closed except for one eastbound lane. Highland Avenue, Van Hise Avenue, Forest Street and Paunack Place will be closed to through traffic with local and emergency access only. All other street segments remain open. Phase 4 (Mid-August to early September) - Highland Avenue and Van Hise Avenue will be closed to through traffic with local and emergency access only. All other street segments will be open. Access to all businesses will be maintained during all phases during the construction project. Intersections will remain open when possible. Information as well as updates can be found on the City of Madison Downtown Construction Project Website: http://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/universityAvenue/grandBreese.cfm/ . The traveling public can sign up to receive email updates on the construction project and find information on parking provided by the Madison Business Improvement District. Metro Transit bus service that normally travels westbound along University Avenue in the blocks between Breese Terrace and Highland Avenue will follow detours during the various stages of construction. Eastbound buses will continue to operate normally along University Avenue through the work zone. Metro Transit will post detour information and stop updates on their website as they become available: http://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/detours/ . Robbie Webber
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