The Downtown Coordinating Committee met Thursday evening at the Civic Center and saw an updated status report on the State Street Design Project, which is set to give Madison's most recognizable street a makeover.

City Planner Archie Nicoletti gave the committee a sneak peek at what the renovations might entail.

“The project is looking to entirely redesign the layout of State Street,” said Bill Fruhling, Principle Planner with the Madison Department of Planning and Development.

The State Street Strategic Plan, adopted by the Madison Common Council in December 1999, examines potential improvement for State Street. Nearly a year later, in the fall 2000, the City Council, in accordance with the State Street Strategic Plan, passed a resolution that set the project in motion, hiring developers to begin laying out the project.

The council hired a design team led by a Philadelphia consulting firm to begin work on the State Street Design Project.

Ald. Mike Verveer said that State Street has been awaiting redesign for some time.

Verveer said he expects the proposal to include plans to replace a number of public amenities on State Street.

While State Street continues to thrive, he said, much of it is ripe for overhaul.
“State Street is functioning just fine, but there are many parts of it that are showing their age and could use an upgrade,” he said.

Fruhling said the renovation of State Street will focus on the sidewalks and street itself, which he claims State Street has outgrown.

“The present designs are twenty to twenty-five years old,” Verveer said.

Verveer said he expects the proposal to include plans to replace a number of benches, bus stops and street lamps on State Street.

Another issue expected to be included in the new plans is traffic on State Street, including busses.

David Patch, a UW senior, contends that busses are a real hazard on State Street.

“While there are no pedestrians injured by cars, the presence of busses is certainly a real hazard,” Patch said. Reducing the number of routes on State Street in order to relieve bus congestion is a possibility the committee is considering.

The Design Project includes proposals to improve the situation at the intersection of Broom, Gilman and State Street, which normally sees heavy pedestrian activity as well as automobile traffic.

Verveer believes the changes to State Street can not be expected to occur overnight. “There are millions of dollars involved in this project. These improvements will be put into place over years, block by block.”