City-County Building
Common Council

City Meetings and Updates Week of 12/22 and 12/29

posted 
  • City Services on Holiday Schedule Dec 24, 25, 31, and January 1
    • Trash and Recycling Schedules
    • City Offices Closed
    • Madison Metro Running Holiday Schedules
  • City Meetings: Sustainable Madison Committee 12/22
  • Downtown Area Planning Process is Underway
  • Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop Scheduled for 1/14
  • Events & Announcements

Note: given the slowdown in City business over the holidays, this will be the last weekly updates post of 2025. Watch for more in the new year, happy holidays!

City Services on Holiday Schedule Dec 24, 25, 31, and January 1

Trash and Recycling Schedules

Trash & Recycling Collection Schedule for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2025: There will be no Streets Division collections performed on both Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Thursday, December 25, 2025, in observance of the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day holidays. The drop-off sites and offices will also be closed. 

If your trash and recycling are normally collected on Tuesday or Wednesday by the Streets Division, you should have your carts to the curb by 6:30am on Tuesday, December 23, 2025.

If your trash and recycling are normally collected on Thursday or Friday by the Streets Division, you should have your carts to the curb by 6:30am on Friday, December 26, 2025.

Expect this to repeat the following week for the New Year's Eve and New Years Day holidays. Check your collection schedule calendar to determine if you should have your recycling cart to the curb along with your trash cart. Carts set out late may not be collected.

City Offices Closed

City of Madison offices will be closed on Wednesday, December 24 and Thursday, December 25 for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: All emergency services will remain open. To learn more about our holiday services, please visit: https://www.cityofmadison.com/city-hall/holiday-schedules. Expect this to repeat the following week for the New Year's Eve and New Years Day holidays.

Metro Transit Schedules

Reduced Service on December 24 & 25: Due to the holiday, Metro Transit will operate a shortened weekday schedule on Wednesday, December 24. On Thursday, December 25, buses will operate Sunday schedules. More information is available here. Expect this to repeat the following week for the New Year's Eve and New Years Day holidays.

City Meetings: Sustainable Madison Committee

The Sustainable Madison Committee meeting will take place on Monday, December 22, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include a presentation from Clean Wisconsin on Data Centers in Wisconsin. The presentation isn’t posted yet, but at some point will be available as an attachment to this Legistar item.

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Downtown Area Planning Underway

As part of the City of Madison’s still relatively new Area Planning framework, City Planning will study, engage with residents, and write area plan recommendations for each of 12 distinct areas of the City including many that have never been covered by a planning process. The first two plans, Northeast and West area plans were adopted in September 2024. The next two plans, Southeast and Southwest, are underway now and are planned to finish and be adopted next spring. Up next is the Downtown Area Plan, which just got started. 

Boundaries of the Downtown Area Plan
Image credit: City Planning

I obviously don’t represent a downtown district, but Downtown Madison is the City’s (and region’s) cultural, political, and economic center we all have a vested interest in its health and connectivity. Many residents of outlying areas work in, travel through, or attend events in the Downtown planning area. This planning area is roughly 700 acres and is home to 34,000 residents and over 60,000 jobs. The Downtown Area Plan will guide future growth, public policy and investments, and will build on the 2012 Downtown Plan.

Approximately 175 people attended the Envision Downtown Madison kick-off meeting on December 2nd. Meeting materials are now available on the Downtown Area Plan webpage. This includes the meeting video, presentation slides, and digital versions of the engagement activities. A summary of comments will be prepared and shared in early 2026. See the Spanish version of the video recording here. If you have any questions, or would like to schedule a conversation or presentation with City staff, please reach out to downtownplan@cityofmadison.com.

Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop Scheduled for January 14

In 2025, the City awarded 9 neighborhood grants to neighborhood associations in Madison, including one to the Hiestand Park Neighborhood Association in District 3 to support capacity-building events and resident engagement.

The Planning Division will host its Neighborhood Grant Program again in 2026. If you have a project idea and want to ask staff questions, or if you are simply interested in learning about the program, please join:

What: Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop

When: January 14, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Hybrid

Where: two options,

  • Virtual: zoom - link and additional program information will be posted to the city’s webpage and sent via this Neighborhood listserv by early January
  • In-person - Conference Room 151, Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Events & Announcements

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted. Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.

Tags:
Was this page helpful to you? * required

District 3 - Alder Field

Portrait of Alder Derek Field

Alder Derek Field

District 3
Contact Alder Field

Categories