Last Update of 2021!

Seasons greetings friends and neighbors!

Can you believe 2021 is almost over?! It seems as if the days all blur since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but I am fortunate to be writing this update in good health and spirits. As a heads up, I will be on vacation 12/23 - 12/31. I will be checking emails sporadically - if you have an urgent need please call or text me. This written update will also serve as my last entry for 2021. 

SAVE THE DATE

I'd like to invite you to an upcoming virtual event regarding homelessness in our community. Brought about through a collaboration between the Doubled Up Workgroup, a subgroup of the Homeless Services Consortium, and the Madison Public Library, Not Homeless Enough will feature filmmaker Diane Nilan and her short documentary on families experiencing doubled up and self-paying hotel homelessness in Madison and Dane County. The screening will be held online Thursday January 20, 6-7pm. There will be a short discussion afterward of positive steps to take in our community. The event is free and open to the public but pre-registration is required. Register HERE

DAIRY DRIVE SHELTERED CAMPGROUND

Media coverage of Madison's 1st sheltered campground has been abundant. To date, all units have been accounted for. In addition, 3 residents have already transitioned from the campground into permanent housing locations! More will come in the upcoming weeks regarding operations and services provided within the 1st 60 days of move-in at the site. In the latest edition of the Everyday Engineering Podcast, the Dairy Drive campground is featured. In the podcast, Community Development Division Director Jim O'Keefe and Engineering Division Facilities Section Manager, Bryan Cooper, share their reflections on why this development is so important and seeing the bigger picture and impact within our community (disclaimer, the podcast was recorded prior to move in). It's only 20 minutes, check it out if you have time! 

NEW ALDERMANIC DISTRICTS/REDISTRICTING

As a reminder, new alder districts and wards will go into effect January 1, 2022. Changes to District 16 include:

• Additions of neighborhoods south of Sprecher Road (Reston Heights, Sprecher East, Door Creek and Meadowlands). According to 2020 Census data District 16 will now have 13,863 residents.
• The Glendale Neighborhood, which is currently split between Districts 15 and 16, will now be within District 15 only.

A free interactive online map is available to review alder district and ward boundaries, and to see which areas have changed from one alder district to another. A PDF map is also available.

STREETS DIVISION SERVICES CHANGES

As we prepare for winter and snow, the City's Streets Division will be making some changes to salt routes. Salt routes are the roadways the Streets Division plows and salts during every snowstorm. These are roads around schools, hospitals, Madison Metro routes, and other critical transportation corridors. Around 48% of all traffic lanes of Madison fall into this category.

Some of the changes are restoring some streets to the salt route after being temporarily removed last winter. Other changes are to permanently move segments of the salt routes.

D16 street sections that were restored or added to the salt route network:

• Tompkins Drive from Monona Drive to Stoughton Road Service Rd
• Stoughton Road Service Rd from Tompkins Dr from Pflaum Rd
• Camden Rd from Tompkins Dr to Pflaum Rd
• Groveland Terrace from Tompkins Dr to Pflaum Rd
• Buckeye Rd from Stoughton Rd to the interstate bridge
• Academy Dr from Ellen Ave to Woodvale Dr

D16 street sections that will no longer be part of the salt route network:

• Academy Drive from Woodvale Dr to Acewood Blvd
• Kings Mill Way from Buckeye Rd to Cottontail Trail
• Dell Drive from Cottontail Trl to Langley Ln
• Langley Ln from Dell Dr to Cottontail Trl
• Helgesen Dr from Advance Rd to Daniels St
• Daniels St from Helgesen Dr to Pflaum Rd
• Ellen Ave from Buckeye Rd to Vondron Rd

What happens to the streets that aren't salt routes?

These are the residential neighborhood streets. They are never salted. They are plowed when there is three or more inches of snow on the road. These roads get little traffic and since they are not salted, they will have a layer of snow and ice on them throughout the winter. The Streets Division will apply sand as needed to these streets if the roadways become slippery.

Why were the above streets removed from the salt route network?

For the winter of 2020-21, Streets Division staff carefully evaluated the current salt route network. They found many segments of streets no longer met the criteria to be salted and were therefore removed from the salt route network. Some other reductions were due to Madison Metro route changes.

What's the benefit of removing streets from the salt route network?

We as a city need to reduce the amount of salt that's put down on the roads. All of the salt deployed winds up in our local waters, including the water we drink. As the Streets crew deploys multiple methods to reduce the use of salt, the only way to really reduce salt is to stop salting some streets.

Why add back salt routes that were removed last year?

Since schools have returned to in-person instruction, the roads around the schools will once again be salted for the school buses. In addition, some of the other reductions were due to Madison Metro changing their routes. If Metro returned to using some of these roadways, we would salt them for buses.

Further information about the Streets Division winter operations can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/Winter

LARGE ITEM PICK UP CHANGE

There will be more opportunities to have large item collection every month. Soon, residents needing large item collection will see weekly opportunities throughout the year to discard of large items. The previous system restricted residents to just one large item collection opportunity a month.

How to Get Your Large Items Collected
Step one - Submit a work order

Step two - Set your large items out for collection on the date you picked

More information about the Streets Division large item system and the work orders can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/LargeItem. You can also call the Streets Division office that services your home for assistance with the large item work order form, or to answer question you may have. Residents that live east of South Park Street should call 608-246-4532. For questions about enforcement of exterior property maintenance ordinances, please contact Building Inspection at 608-266-4551.

YARD WASTE

Curbside yard waste collection by the Streets Division has ended for the year. Please do not place yard waste out to the curb for pickup at this time. If you already have a yard waste pile on your curb at this time, it is not likely to be collected. Yard waste material should be taken to a drop-off site. The drop-off sites are located at 4602 Sycamore Ave. and 1501 W. Badger Rd. These two sites are currently on winter hours, meaning they are open from 7:30am to 2:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Curbside collection will resume in the spring of 2022. The exact start date of the spring collections will be announced at a later date. Additional information about yard waste, the drop-off sites, and other Streets Division services can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/Streets.

KEEPING YOURSELF AND COMMUNITIES SAFE RE: COVID-19

As I hope you are aware of by now, Public Health Madison Dane County has once again extended its face covering/mask mandate, which now expires on February 1, 2022. Since the last order, Wisconsin and Dane County has experienced a surge in people testing positive for COVID. Case averages and the number of people hospitalized in Dane County hospitals with COVID have reached the highest levels of 2021 this month. Dane County remains in CDC's highest level of community transmission. In addition to regional surges caused by the Delta variant, the highly transmissible Omicron variant has changed the landscape of COVID in our community once again. As we head into the holidays and gatherings, please consider taking the following action steps & precautions:

• Test yourself before a gathering or before traveling to a gathering
• Stay home if you are sick, even if symptoms are very mild
• Keep gatherings small and short
• Take extra precautions when gathering with people 65 or older, people who are immunocompromised (i.e. have cancer), and people with chronic health conditions
• Get vaccinated and boosted

These are extremely trying times, no doubt, but I do hope you, your family and loved ones can celebrate together in confidence and safety by abiding by the above mentioned precautions.

NEW IN 2022 – VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS

Due to the wide ranging issues and topics I have been contacted about by residents in addition to my own work schedule, I have decided to begin hosting virtual office hours in 2022! The intent of office hours will be to provide residents with varying, yet consistent times to be able to connect with me individually or as a group to ask questions, discuss topics and/or build community. I am still working out technology needs and quirks but I intend to start these meetings by the end of the 1st quarter and offer at least one opportunity to meet/month. Once I have dates and times, I will post to this webpage as well as my Facebook page (Alder Jael Currie, District 16) I sincerely appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as I continue working to find balances between being a full-time homeless service provider and mother on top of my aldermanic duties!

Happy holidays and seasons blessings, from my family to you and yours. "See" you in 2022!

In community,
Jael