The city of Madison has budgeted $50,000 for each of the seven new bus shelters that will be built around Capital Square in 2004, and many officials say the high price tag is necessary to accommodate the city’s needs.

Director of City Planning and Development Mark Olinger said the bus shelters are designed to provide services, such as holding electrical wires for street lights and other functions. The budget is trying to include all of these.

The city is in the process of figuring out exactly what functions the shelter will perform and setting a reasonable price. Olinger noted the possibility of the shelters some day having digital or GPS functions.

According to Madison Metro director of marketing and customer services Julie Maryott-Walsh, when the current shelters were built in the 1970s they cost more than $30,000. When accounting for inflation, the new shelters would actually be cheaper.

Olinger said the new shelters are expected to last for the next 25-30 years, as the old ones have. However, he said that he wants the new shelters to be easier to repair.

“The shelters should look good and function well. They should not only be easy and reasonable to construct, but reasonable to maintain,” Olinger said.

The wearing down of the shelters is the main cause of reconstruction.

“The bus shelters that are around capital square right now have been worn down over the years from weather, and many are missing bricks and can’t be repaired anymore because they need to be replaced,” City Council President and District 8 Alder Mike Verveer said.

Verveer also noted the importance of recognizing where the money that would finance the projects is coming from.

“I want to point out that not one penny is tax money or money the city would have to borrow and repay. It is federal funding as well as tax-incremental money,” Verveer said, while adding that tax-incremental money is money the city is able to keep for infrastructure and improvements for new developments around the city.

Maryott-Walsh said the shelters do not have a final design yet, but the $50,000 is a place mark to make sure there is enough money for them.

The city is planning to replace the shelters on State Street as well as the ones on the Square. However, the projects are two separate items for the city to consider.

“I don’t want a cheap cookie-cutter bus shelter to be sited on Capitol Square around obviously the most important building in Wisconsin,” Verveer said.

He said he sees the shelters as a good opportunity for public art on the square and on State Street. Last year there was a competition to find the design for the State Street shelters, and the one that was chosen has still not been priced.

There is also a staff team made up of engineers, metro employees, city planners and other individuals deciding what the shelters should look like and include.

“People who would be building, managing and using the shelters are all included in the planning process,” Olinger said.

The shelters on the square have typically been larger than those on State Street and the new designs will also be larger, Olinger said. The team is trying to find a design that goes along with the State Street design while still having the correct dimensions.

Verveer said he thinks that in the end the city will agree on an appropriate design.

“Everybody wants a handsome yet affordable bus shelter on the square, and I’m convinced we will be able to do this,” he said.