Week of August 24

Carpenter-Ridgeway Park Improvements

Beginning mid-September Madison Parks construction crew will be out at Carpenter-Ridgeway Park. The improvements include replacement of playground surfacing to wood mulch, adding a slide and border. It is anticipated this project may take up to one month to complete and playground will be closed during this time.

2107-2249 Sherman Ave

The project proposed at the intesection of Sherman, North Sherman and Fordem Avenues is before the Madison Plan Commission this Monday August 24 beginning at 5:00pm in the City County Building Room 201. It is agenda item #28. The proposal and the staff comments can also be found online. As I understand it at the moment that staff has made suggestions for changes to the design and it is anticipated that the Plan Commission will refer the proposal back to Urban Design Commission (UDC) for further review. However, the Plan Commission may also decide on other courses of actions.

Pounding the Pavement for Warner Pool

Make sure you get a t-shirt in your size by signing up for the walk by this weekend. The Circle of Friends will be Pounding the Pavement for the Warner Pool on Saturday, August 29 at 9am. Registration and photos start at 8am. Show your support for the Warner Pool by joining us at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center and walk around the Warner Park lagoon with us or just to come and cheer on all the walkers.

All checks should be made out to Warner Park Community Recreation Center-Circle of Friends (WPCRC-CoF.) Checks can be dropped off at the 1625 Northport Drive, Madison, WI 53704. The CoF is a 501(c)(3) making all donations tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information check out the COF web site. Or contact by Dorothy Borchardt

Well 7 Open House

Madison Water Utility will be having an open house on Wednesday evening August 26 to celebrate our newest facility, Well 7. Well 7 is located at 1613 North Sherman Avenue and is a key water supply point in our system.

Stop by and have a look around this new facility. Well 7 is also what the Water Utility submitted to the Wisconsin Best Tasting Water competition.

Madison businesses competing to get more people riding bikes

Starting today, businesses and organizations in Madison and Dane County will take on the Love to Ride Challenge and pedal to surpass the 1,800 people on bikes Atlanta produced in the challenge last fall.

Even a 10-minute ride will count, as the groups compete to win prizes awarded to those with the highest percentage of their staff out on bikes from Sunday, Aug. 23 through Sept. 30. With nearly 510,000 people in Dane County, Atlanta's number of people biking should be within easy reach.

More than 30 businesses are already in the Love to Ride Madison 2015 contest to date, including Meriter-UnityPoint Health, Aprilaire, and Filament.

Love to Ride Madison is all about encouraging people to hop on a bike so they can rediscover the joys and benefits of riding.

The Challenge is about participation. People can ride anywhere, anytime they like over the five-week period.

"We're excited to be a part of the Love to Ride program," said Bike Fed Executive Director Dave Cieslewicz. "We hope to inspire people to realize the health, economic and other benefits of bicycling and make use of the great bicycle facilities in the Dane County area, while at the same time winning great prizes."

Dane County is one of four U.S. communities to host a Love to Ride challenge in 2015, joining Atlanta, GA., Boulder, CO., and Indianapolis, IN. The 1,800 in Atlanta last fall included 350 new riders, another target Madison bicyclists expect to surpass.

There will be a live leader board on the Challenge website showing which organizations are currently in the lead and how individuals stack up against each other in miles, days logged, and people encouraged.

The prizes for participants include a trip to New Zealand, a Trek bike, Saris car racks, Planet Bike lights and much more. Registration is open and it's free to participate. For more information see the Love To Ride website.