The 400-600 blocks of State Street are being turned into a pedestrian mall, as part of an experiment created by the City of Madison. The experiment will occur during the summer of 2024, according to the City of Madison website.
A Dec. 4 meeting gathered public input and feedback on current proposals to implement the experiment, which comes as recent Madison Metro Transit redesigns allowed a resolution to direct the city into creating this experiment and determining what methods would work best for the pedestrian mall. The proposal is sponsored by District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan, District 2 Ald. Juliana Bennett, District 4 Ald. Michael E. Verveer and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Govindarajan said.
Though the proposal has been progressed in recent months, University of Wisconsin students have advocated for a State Street pedestrian mall since the 1970s, according to Govindarajan.
“It’s been opposed by Common Council for years until now, so I think it’s really cool that the city is finally listening more and more to students who have been asking this for literally five decades now,” Govindarajan said.
During the meeting, City of Madison Planner Dan McAuliffe presented initial ideas being proposed for the pedestrian mall, including open-ended options. McAuliffe provided opportunities for attendees to provide feedback.
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Emergency access and fire lanes are a high priority to include in whatever plan moves forward, McAuliffe said. There will also be opportunities for public art and artists in different capacities, such as musicians, with easy-to-get permits and hours of operation.
Outcomes will be measured by surveys after the experiment, with results pulled from businesses, residents and visitors, which will be reported to the Common Council.
The meeting ended with a Q&A session, where residents and business owners asked questions about the impact the pedestrian mall would have on State Street businesses, and if the lighting on the blocks would be increased.
Generally, residents were supportive of the experiment, with concerns mainly focused around the inclusion of diversity and improvements to the lighting on the street.
The Downtown Coordinating Committee will continue holding input meetings to help plan the pedestrian mall, with hope for the project to open by graduation in May, pending approval from the Common Council.
