School Street Pilot Project

Madison will pilot its first School Street at Marquette Elementary School beginning May 18. This project will close a portion of Jenifer Street next to the school to through traffic in order to improve conditions for students walking and bicycling to school, while also better managing vehicle traffic around the school.

What is a School Street?

There is no strict definition of a School Street – each community implements them differently. However, the main idea of a School Street is improving traffic safety around a school so that students can more easily walk or bike to school. Some School Streets are completely closed to traffic, while others are open to local traffic for varying times of the day.

Marquette Elementary School Street Pilot Project
Project area for closure: Jenifer street, from Rogers Street to S Thornton Avenue, along Marquette Elementary school.

From Monday, May 18 – Wednesday, June 10, 2026, Jenifer Street was closed to through traffic between Rogers Street and South Thornton Avenue for the hour surrounding school arrival and dismissal every day. During these times, the street was only be open to people walking and biking and residents who live on the street. Caregivers dropping off or picking up students were able to drop them off on Jenifer Street west of Rogers Street or on South Thornton Avenue, Spaight Street, or South Dickenson Street.

During the project the City collected data about traffic speeds and volumes in the area, the number of students walking and biking to school, perceptions of traffic safety around the school, and potentially air quality near the school entrance.

Timeline

Jenifer Street was closed between Rogers Street and South Thornton Avenue from Monday, May 18 through Wednesday, June 10 based on the following schedule:

DayAM ClosurePM Closure
Mondays7:00am - 8:00am12:45pm - 1:45pm
Tuesdays - Fridays7:00am - 8:00am2:00pm - 3:00pm

As a pilot project, this timeline could change based on observations.

School Street Documents
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