Commission asks staff for a Williamson Street peak-hour lane test after months of safety debate

The Madison Transportation Commission directed staff to prepare a proposal for a test of removing the peak-hour travel lanes on Williamson Street and to return with options at the commission's next meeting on Aug. 27.

Traffic engineering staff presented crash history, traffic-volume and signal modeling, and options that ranged from temporary signage to permanent changes such as parking removal and installation of protective bollards. Tom Moore, traffic engineering, reviewed building-impact crash locations dating back to 2012 and concluded there was no single crash pattern other than the common corridor of Williamson Street. He said the most recent building crash into Mother Fools occurred during an afternoon peak hour.

Moore outlined potential countermeasures: traffic calming and curb changes (limited by bus turns and fire access), lighting and signal visibility improvements, bollards at intersections, enforcement, lane reduction tests, and the possibility of shifting bus routing from Jennifer Street to Williamson Street. He recommended delaying a major study until funding is secured and until John Nolan Drive reconstruction (fall 2025——6/2027 and later phases through 2029) is underway, but he said a well-planned test could be executed with careful outreach and data collection.

Public speakers and neighborhood representatives urged the commission to try a temporary removal and trial rather than waiting for a multi-thousand-dollar consultant study. Mike Tarby of the Marquette Neighborhood Association and Strong Towns Madison told commissioners, "This proposal identifies an immediate change that can be made at practically no cost," and urged a trial that could be quickly reversed if it failed. Jim Craft and Theresa Emerling, neighborhood residents, also supported a pilot test.

Moore provided cost and scope estimates: a comprehensive study could cost roughly $100,000; installing bollards at all intersections was estimated at about $600,000 (based on an example of three bollards per quadrant costing about $15,000, times intersections); a larger corridor study (Regent Street) had previously cost $245,000. He also said the city currently lacks traffic camera coverage across much of the corridor and that updated counts and modeling would be needed to refine left-turn accommodation and queuing impacts.

After discussion and public comment, Alder Martinez Rutherford moved that staff return to the commission at the next meeting with a proposal for a test; Denise Jess seconded. Chair Anne (name used in transcript as the chair) put the motion by unanimous consent; commissioners asked staff to include alternatives and scope in the return presentation.

The commission's direction was procedural: staff should prepare options for a trial (including lower-cost internal options and higher-fidelity consultant-led studies), outline data-collection needs (cameras, counts, travel-time monitoring), and present a timeline for a test or study at the Aug. 27 meeting.