The redevelopment of 1.7 miles of Madison’s Lake Monona waterfront is moving forward, WMTV15 reports. The Common Council in early spring unanimously approved design firm Saski’s master plan, which won a city resident survey in 2023 and passed through six committees.
Construction on the Madison LakeWay is now set to begin in 2027 and will include green infrastructure like fishing piers, walking trails, and bike paths running along John John Nolen Drive. The development’s phase one, the “Community Causeway,” comes with a projected price tag of $12–15 million. LakeWay Partners, previously known as Friends of Nolen Waterfront, is the project’s private funding arm.
The master plan also includes a 17-acre park and Monona Terrace expansion, with emphasis on preserving the lakeshore.
LakeWay Partners is slated to kick off a capital campaign once a new executive director is named. The project will be sequential with the John Nolen Reconstruction Project anticipated to start in late 2025.
The master plan and opportunities to contribute to the project are available here.
