Status of Stagnant Bus Rapid Transit Stations in District 11

Dear District 11,

I received a question yesterday morning from a resident about the status of the Bus Rapid Stations being constructed in our District this summer. Here is the original question and the response I received from city staff last night as I was arriving at Rennebohm Park. I quickly walked over to take a picture of the BRT station under construction before setting up my folding chair to hear the Capital City Band perform their final concert of the season. 

Question from District 11 Resident sent 8/24/23 at 11:08 am:

While traffic remains constricted on Whitney WY and Mineral Point Road, much worse on Sheboygan, the BRT stations appear to be a very low priority. Nine days out of every 10, nobody shows up as the project stagnates through the entire summer. How does a 2-3 week project get staged over 3-4 months? I can understand how the reconstruction of a road can take such time when considering all of the elements of such a complex project. But with the bus stops, a relatively simple project consumes as much time as road reconstruction. 

Please explain and provide a completion date. One would assume that the beginning of classes would be the deadline. But at this point, before the snow flies would conform with past practices of long stretches with no progress whatsoever.

Answer from City Staff sent 8/24/23 at 6:20 pm:

The Madison BRT project is under construction. The project has work at about 50 locations along the line. Work at each individual location is expected to take 3-4 months, but can vary depending on weather and other factors. To complete the project as quickly and efficiently as possible, crews are working at multiple sites at once, meaning you will often see work sites open but no active work being performed on them. This takes longer at each site compared to working on one site at a time, but it reduces the construction time and cost for the project as a whole. We appreciate your patience. You can learn more about the project at www.madisonbrt.com and sign up for construction updates.

The station at Sheboygan and Eau Claire has been under construction for some time and is nearing completion. The civil work will be done by the end of August, and the shelter structure will be put up soon after, with Sheboygan Avenue reopening to traffic on Sept 7, and the bus detour ending the following weekend. The intersection of Sheboygan and Eau Claire will now be a four-way stop controlled intersection. The station at Whitney and Regent is also nearing completion, but the shelter structure will be put up some time later. The station at University and Midvale is in the midst of construction and is expected to be done in the fall. After this construction is done, there may be periodic lane closures for work still needed like traffic signal work and curb ramp replacement.

Other projects on the near west side include stations at Sheboygan and Segoe, and at Mineral Point and Whitney, which have not begun yet in order to coordinate with nearby projects. In addition traffic signals will be installed on Sheboygan at both Whitney and Segoe in 2024, and the Sheboygan Avenue resurfacing project will also occur in 2024. Farther west, the Mineral Point Road stations are nearing completion and two more stations on University Avenue will not begin until the road project is complete. As work on these platforms is wrapping up on the west side, construction crews are transitioning to the east side with BRT construction along East Washington Avenue.