Fiscal Note
Work will be done by existing staff from Engineering, Traffic Engineering, Planning and Metro Transit using existing resources. Therefore, there is no impact on the budget or cost controls.
Title
A resolution directing staff from Planning, Transit, Traffic Engineering and Engineering to study potential options for the future use and design of the 200 Block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd including possible closure of the street to motorized vehicles.
Body
WHEREAS, the 2016 Adopted Capital Budget includes funding in 2019 for the reconstruction of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, and
WHEREAS, the Downtown Plan, adopted in 2012 recommends that “the city reinforce the identity of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as a civic spine connecting the Capitol to Monona Terrace”; and
WHEREAS, special events, such as the Art Fair, Taste of Madison, Ironman, and a weekly Farmers Market utilize the street multiple times throughout the year, and
WHEREAS, pedestrian activity and special events in downtown Madison have greatly increased over the past five years due to construction of over 4,000 new housing units within a mile of the Capitol, as well as new commercial development projects in the central business district; and
WHEREAS several new commercial development projects currently under planning and construction, such as the Anchor Bank Project and the Judge Doyle Square Project, are adjacent to the Boulevard and will continue the trend of increased downtown activity; and
WHEREAS, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a street that provides multi layered transportation access to public transit, parking, accessible loading, pedestrians, bicycles, and motor vehicles among other transportation related uses, that must be carefully studied when considering a change in street design, and
WHEREAS, the City will be undertaking a planning effort focused on State Street, the Capitol Square and King Street Areas over the next two years to address many of the recommend...
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