Scarecrows and Bike/Walk Safety Education

If you are walking, biking or driving past the Post Office, you will notice two scarecrows occupying the corner there, created by the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) for the Chamber of Commerce’s annual fall Scarecrow event.

“Pedestrian Pete” and “Biker Belle” are downtown as part of a safety education campaign to highlight Bike/Walk Rules of the Road. Please cast your vote in one of two ways to show your support. Thank You!

1. Click on zip06.com/scarecrow and scroll down to the Bike Pedestrian Advisory Committee entry
2. OR scan the QR code on the sign on the ground between Pete and Belle

Bike/Walk Master Plan

Madison BPAC was formed by the Town of Madison in January, 2018. It’s primary charge from the Board of Selectmen is to create a long-term Bike/Walk Master Plan for the town. The goal of the plan is to improve the town’s facilities and infrastructure to make biking and walking in Madison safer and easier, and to promote public participation in the planning process. Several steps have been taken toward that end:

• Implement a Complete Streets Policy for the town of Madison
• Create a survey to identify current bike/walk use, needs, and priorities for improvements
• Inventory the current state of our roads and current bike/walk accessibility in Madison
• Develop maps to use as visual aids within the Master Plan

All of these initiatives will be incorporated to help create the Madison Bike/Walk Master Plan.

Complete Streets

A Complete Streets Policy that was drafted by BPAC and presented to the BOS on May 14, was unanimously approved and adopted by the town on May 29, 2018.

By having a Complete Streets Policy, Madison commits to considering possible bike/walk improvements prior to commencing any road work project.

If you are interested in learning more about Complete Streets, you can find links to the CS Policy and a Keynote/PowerPoint presentation about CS at our website: https://www.madisonct.org/bike

Bike Rodeo Roundup for Bike Safety Education

Kicking off an initiative for Bicycle Safety in June 2018, Sam Hauser of Madison Troop 490, a Madison BPAC Student Advisor, used his Eagle Scout project to teach bicycle safety to youngsters and support Madison BPAC. Children learned about bike safety and the rules of the road while riding their bikes through a course of traffic cones and obstacles that featured various side areas of interest and learning. The North Madison Volunteer Fire Company added to the fun by letting the children climb into their firetruck, and Zane’s Cycles was on hand as a generous sponsor. For more information and pictures, go to our website: https://www.madisonct.org/bike

Outreach and Survey

Also in June 2018, Madison BPAC started an Outreach campaign to spread the word about BPAC and get input from residents via a survey. Word of the survey was spread via various social media and news outlets, and over 500 Madison BPAC brochures were distributed to town establishments and at various town events. If you are receiving this email, you took the survey and checked YES for more information. The Survey was a big success, generating 580 responses in 4 months. We received many many great suggestions for improving biking and walking in Madison and were gratified by the enthusiastic response from residents. All survey entrants were entered into a drawing to win a FitBit Versa Smartwatch at the Bauer Festival on October 13 

Thank you for your interest in Madison BPAC!