Cycling

After reaching a five-year-high in 2022, pedestrian deaths declined by 18 percent last year, according to preliminary data released by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. David Pabst, director of DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Safety, said this is “really encouraging.” “My hope is that people are heeding a lot of our safety messages and they’re paying…

Wisconsin Democrats are proposing a package of bills aimed at addressing climate change, but the plans don’t have buy-in from Republicans who run the state Legislature. The 20 bills focus on infrastructure and jobs, with programs also aimed at bringing in farmers and supporting income communities that research shows are disproportionately affected by extreme weather…

Milwaukee officials are hopeful more protected bike lines across the city will make the streets safer and lead to fewer bicycle deaths and injuries. In Milwaukee County, there were seven bicycle fatalities in 2022, five of those in the city of Milwaukee. Robert Schneider, an urban planning professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, called that…

Wisconsin could have stricter laws against public indecency if two Republican bills that received a hearing Thursday become law. The bills stem from concerns about a child’s participation in Madison’s World Naked Bike Ride earlier this year. Dane County Supervisor Jeff Weigand testified he received a complaint and a photo from a citizen that showed…

For more than 130 years, the Schwinn name has been synonymous with bicycles. This is still true almost 30 years after bankruptcy ended the Schwinn family’s ownership of the brand. The original factory in Chicago that once employed as many as 2,000 people is long gone. The Schwinn brand is now owned by a Dutch…

A fishing pier along Monona Terrace and an underpass for cyclists and pedestrians are among the tweaks to a design firm’s proposal to revamp the shoreline along Madison’s Lake Monona. Architects with the Denver-based design firm Sasaki discussed their latest proposals during a public meeting this week. The suggested changes include adding a fishing pier…

Milwaukee launched its third electric scooter pilot study Friday, one year after 481,706 scooter trips were completed in the city. This time, the pilot study will last until the end of 2023. At a launch event Friday morning, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he hopes electric scooters will stay in Milwaukee permanently at the end…

On Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show,” we recently asked two bike trail managers to weigh in on a common debate: Gravel or pavement? Chris James, a senior landscape architect for Dane County, placed himself “hands down” on team pavement. “One, it’s much easier to maintain. We find we can get about 10 years out…

The Elroy-Sparta State Trail in western Wisconsin officially reopened over the weekend. It’s the culmination of years of restoration work. Summer flood damage in 2018 closed the popular 32.5 mile-long trail, which was the first rail trail in the country when it opened in the late 1960s. The state Department of Natural Resources said in…

A group of Republican lawmakers is hoping to block local governments from using a relatively new approach to fund road maintenance through what are known as transportation utility fees. Proponents of the fees say they’re one of few options to raise additional money to keep up with road repair costs while opponents say it’s an…