After a year of shutdowns, violent demonstrations, and limiting public orders, State Street business owners have another worry — the size of newer, larger bus stops planned for Madison’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program. According to a report on Channel 3000, State Street merchants oppose the city’s plans to build the larger bus stop platforms in a concentrated area near the Capitol Square. The plans come after the city rejected a request to turn State Street into a pedestrian promenade on certain days, which many area merchants supported.
John Hayes, the owner of Goodman’s Jewelers, says it doesn’t make sense to build bus stops that block off a frontage of three to four businesses. “If you count the number of people on the busses that go by here, it doesn’t justify it,” Hayes told Channel 3000.
City officials plan to meet this week with members of the State Street Business Association, and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway indicated in a June 18 press conference that the city’s current BRT plans aren’t final.
