Birds are singing, the snow has melted, Saturday marks the first day of spring and, in true Madison fashion, construction throughout the city will soon resume.
Local business owners and city staff were invited to view a presentation Monday by Chris Petykowski of City of Madison–Engineering Division.
Petykowski covered various road construction projects, including the intersection of Park Street and University Avenue, West Gilman Street, Observatory Drive and John Nolen Drive. The majority of these projects will begin in mid-May and continue throughout the summer with completion scheduled by the end of August.
“If they get finished earlier, we do include incentives on our contracts,” Petykowski said.
He added failure to complete the projects on schedule would bring corresponding punishments as well.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, was especially enthusiastic about the renovations to Lisa Link Peace Park, which resides in his district.
The Peace Park renovations, set to commence in the coming weeks, are scheduled to be completed by Sept. 3.
“Given the fact that the rest of the downtown is so substantially park-deficient and so few usable open and green spaces, it’s always bothered me that so very few folks take advantage of using Peace Park,” Verveer said.
The addition of a visitor center containing information and a small police presence, a performance space, enhanced landscaping and more accommodating outdoor seating, Verveer said, will hopefully draw more visitors to the park.
He added some of the park’s current users had been obtrusive enough to discourage individuals from crossing through the park from Gilman Street to State Street.
Renovations to Broom Street between Doty Street and Johnson Street are scheduled from May to August and will result in a complete closure for much of the summer.
“If you’ve ever tried riding a bike or even driving down Broom Street, it’s just pothole after pothole,” Verveer said. “These will be taken care of.”
He added the installation of pedestrian-level lights would help to improve not only the aesthetic features of the area, but public safety.
Improvements to Capitol Square, including new curbing, planters, benches and a small performance space near the Children’s Museum, are some of the more prominent projects to take place in the coming months.
“I’m not going to let the whole square turn into sand and dust during the summer,” Petykowski said.
Verveer said it was a shame Capitol Square, as one of the city’s most visited sites, had been neglected. He added he feels the renovations will serve as more than a completion of already renovated areas of the square, but an overall improvement.
“There’s a cute saying here that we have two seasons of the year in Wisconsin: winter and construction,” Verveer said. “As we morph from our winter season to construction, I appreciate that we were able to have this information here.”
