At a minimum, stations must leave the state and go to the corners of Gorham and Johnson streets. In this way, the possibility of creating a great promenade along the entire length of State Street is preserved for the future. If the stations go to State Street, expanding a true pedestrian mall from the bustling Library Mall on the UW-Madison campus every six blocks to the State Capitol would be much more difficult for decades. This is because the expensive stations, although smaller than those originally offered, would still have 50-foot platforms in addition to long ramps. Large stations could lock bus lines in place.
Bus rapid transit is a great idea to improve Madison’s transit system. And to his credit, Rhodes-Conway got $ 80 million from the federal government to help pay for an east-west route through town. The more direct route with reserved lanes will be served by modern, larger capacity buses and welcoming stations which are expected to attract additional passengers while reducing car traffic on the congested Madison Isthmus.
But the new buses don’t have to – and shouldn’t – go down State Street, taking up a lot of space that would be better used by more people as a destination public park. Instead, buses should run on cross streets to State Street. That way, they can easily pick up passengers at the same corners they currently offer, but just at those corners and off State Street. A big development is proposed nearby anyway. The two new bus stations could be incorporated into these plans to create more space. The elimination of certain parking spaces for buses would be easily justified and the sidewalks could be widened.
