The dangerously high water levels in Madison lakes that I warned about in June have subsided and the lakes are teeming with activity as they should be this time of year. A wonderful new boating destination has been added. The new Alumni Park now welcomes boaters to the shores of the UW Memorial Union, where previously they were forbidden to dock.
The floating pier accommodates 20 or more boats and has a two-hour paid time limit — plenty of time to run ashore for an ice cream cone, restroom stop, or a beer and brat. Beer sales are usually limited to patrons with a Memorial Union or UW Alumni Association membership card.
Boat parade and fireworks
Rhythm ‘n’ Booms may be moving to Lake Monona, but you don’t have to wait till next July to catch a spectacular fireworks display over Lake Mendota. It will be the finale to the Lights on the Lake Boat Parade on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 1, following the Taste of Madison on the Square.
The decorated boat parade begins at Maple Bluff at dusk and runs past Burrows Park, Tenney Park, James Madison Park, and the Memorial Union. Each park has DJ music furnished by local radio stations, and there’s live jazz at the Union. The fireworks, shot from two barges by Spectrum Pyrotechnics, follow.
I’m going to click the link below and donate $100, for no other reason than it’s a great event for Madison and I know organizers need funds for the fireworks and other expenses.
http://www.lightsonthelakebydrake.com/
‘Twiddle’
North side retailers generally opposed the recent reconfiguration of Sherman Avenue to add bike lanes on both sides and reduce automobile lanes to three — the middle for left turns only (two-way left-turn lane, pronounced “twiddle.”) North side businesses raised money for an upcoming independent study of how this would affect traffic, but the city went ahead with the changes.
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The changes were promoted with the idea of “safety” and “bicycles,” and I’m all in favor of both. I drive this section of Sherman Avenue several times a day, and I perceive an increase in bike traffic on the newly configured street, from very, very few to very few.
Motorists and merchants might be less resistant to the change if bicyclists were to chip in for the $100,000 reconfiguration, which presumably comes from gas-tax road funds. Would it be too much to ask cyclists to pay a license fee of $20 a year or so? This would add significant dollars for bike-lane improvements.
If there is any doubt that cyclists are effectively immune from the rules that govern automobiles, note this section from the city website: “Although the City of Madison does not wish to stress this point as the major focus of the program, Madison City Ordinance 12.78(1) requires all bicycles used by Madison residents to be registered.” The bike fee is currently $10 for four years and it appears practically no cyclists bother to buy the license.
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