Update on Proposed Development at 5602 and 5606 Schroeder Road

JD McCormick Properties has formally submitted their development proposal for 5602-5606 Schroeder Road.

• Land use application: City of Madison - File #: 73203 (legistar.com)
• Demolition permit application: City of Madison - File #: 73200 (legistar.com)
• July 21st Neighborhood Meeting: Recording and Presentation

The existing structures would be demolished, and a new, four-story, 84-unit multi-family building would be constructed. The proposal calls for a combination of underground and surface parking. The site is currently zoned CC-T and will remain CC-T for the proposed redevelopment. This site is also located within Urban Design District #2.

• Urban Design Commission - 9/21/2022 [Virtual Meeting Info]
• Planning Commission –10/03/2022 [Virtual Meeting Info]

If approved, the developer anticipates that the construction on this site will start in early 2023.

Based on feedback from residents, the Department of Transportation wrote a memo about this project:

Traffic Engineering has received many questions and comments regarding the proposed development on Schroeder Road in the parcel once occupied by Michaels Frozen Custard.  JD McCormick Properties is proposing to construct an apartment building with 84 units on the site shown on the adjacent graphic.  The following paragraphs summarize some of the characteristics of the development in regards to this site.

Traffic

2015 traffic counts show the Schroeder Road section from the EB off ramp to Whitney Way carrying 19,850 vehicles per day. 

Traffic Engineering staff performed a preliminary trip generation for the development using ITE's Trip Generation Manual.  The following table shows the trip generation of the site in its prior condition (Michaels Frozen Yogurt & Art Gallery) to the proposed development of 84 residential units.  It is projected the development will have about 290 fewer trips per day than the previous land uses.

The City has traffic cameras to observe traffic operations.  Staff reviewed the evening rush hour of August 8 and found that while there were queues at the Whitney Way intersection, queuing on the ramp was modest indicating reasonable ramp operations.  There were two instances where the queue on the ramp extended to five vehicles, but the calculated delay to the last vehicle in each instance was less than 45 seconds, with other vehicles experiencing less delay. Most vehicles are able to exit the ramp in less than 20 seconds.  The following photograph illustrates typical operations in the evening rush hour.

Safety 

With the Vision Zero initiative, Madison puts a premium on safety.  Crash locations and the severity of injuries can be reviewed on the Community Maps hosted by the TOPS lab.  The figure below illustrates fatal, serious injury, and minor injury around the Whitney Way interchange.  The eastbound off-ramp experienced two injury crashes between 2017 and 2021.  The westbound ramp terminal and Schroeder Road/Whitney Way intersections had greater numbers of crashes.

WisDOT Plans

WisDOT has been studying the Beltline intermittently for 20 years.  They currently have the Beltline PEL study, which can access at this link https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/sw/madisonbeltline/default.aspx.  It is a long term planning study and no projects have yet been identified or programmed.  WisDOT has official mapping powers through SS 84.295, yet has not exercised them along the Beltline. 

As this proposal requires approval of a conditional use, the City of Madison Plan Commission will review the land use requests. The Plan Commission shall not approve a conditional use without due consideration of the recommendations in the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan and any applicable neighborhood plan or special area plan, including design guidelines adopted as supplements to these plans, supplemental regulations, and finding that all of the conditional use standards of §28.183(6) MGO are met. If the standards are met, the Plan Commission must approve the conditional use. In evaluating the conditional use standards, State law requires that conditional use findings must be based on "substantial evidence" that directly pertains to each standard and not based on personal preference or speculation.

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If you have questions, comments, suggestions, etc., feel free to reach out: district20@cityofmadison.com

Best,

Matt