Broom/Gorham done

Thank God the construction at the intersection of Broom Street and Gorham Street is finally done. Not sure why such a small area took so long (bigger projects in other parts of the city took far less time, such as Campus Drive). Anyways, that was one of the most annoying of all projects.

Road construction: lessons learned?

In Business Magazine has a nice story about how the City of Madison completely botched the planning of the East Washington road construction and how it drove several stores out of business. Meanwhile, did the City learn its lesson for University Avenue?

According to Michael Gay, the City's Business Development Coordinator, "The first time we did this, we weren't so good."

Check out the story at: http://www.ibmadison.com:80/retail?id=139

Can't Drive in Madison

Drivers: please avoid campus and downtown if you can! Gorham, University Ave (downtown), Campus Drive and University Ave (west) are all one-lane at the same time. Not sure why that entire stretch was chosen to be worked on at the same time, but it's a nightmare going to and from downtown and the near west side.

Complicating matters is that the Mills Street construction has crossed Regent St., so now Regent is a parking lot. Plus, Mills Street (between University and Johnson) and Randall Ave. (between University and Johnson) also are closed, so it's hard to use Dayton Street as an alternative.

For those keeping track, that means three of your routes out (westbound)--University, Dayton and Regent--are fucked. Langdon Street has some building construction that has clogged the road, too. Try driving from the Capitol to Hilldale Mall in less than 20 minutes--it's nearly impossible.

Soon Farley Avenue (which becomes University Bay Drive and connects to UW Hospital) will be under construction, so you can't cut through the neighborhoods, either. Advice? TAKE THE BELTLINE!

(If we only had light rail...)

Road construction woes

How brutal is it now to drive through east campus? Drivers coming from the east side via Gorham Street or coming from the south via Broom Street have been feeling the pain of the construction of one of the busiest intersections downtown. It's just one lane on Gorham there, so cars turning left from Broom or coming down Gorham get severely bottle-necked. Most drivers have taken parallel streets (Gilman and Langdon), only to find themselves worst off (Gilman takes you back to that intersection, and Langdon is tight because of building construction).

Those coming up Broom and avoiding the intersection have tried Dayton Street, but that, too, is under construction near Randall where the new Union South is being built. The city never plans anything out well.

Move-out and graduation weekend (May 16-17) will be a complete cluster-fuck. Stay away from campus if you can that weekend!