A causeway runs through it

Madison’s southern gateway via John Nolen Drive is getting rebuilt

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The John Nolen Drive causeway is now an indispensable gateway to Madison, providing passage over Lake Monona for anyone traveling from south of the city to downtown and points north and east. But it’s relatively new on the scene, built less than 60 years ago. Before then, people driving from south of the city would have to travel around Lake Monona to reach downtown.

There had been passage over the lake by train since the 1850s, when, according to Historic Madison Inc., “one of the first railroads to reach Madison from the south” was built across Monona Bay. “For more than a century, until the construction of John Nolen Drive, the railroad causeways and bridges provided the only shortcut from the south side of the lake into Madison.”

Another fun fact, provided by Historic Madison: “Madison is one of the few places in the world where two railroad tracks cross each other over water.”

In Stuart Levitan’s Madison in the Sixties, the first mention of what was originally referred to as the “Monona Causeway” pops up on page 49, in a discussion on the 1961 mayoral race between Henry Reynolds and Robert “Bob” Nuckles, both former city council members. “Reynolds calls the Monona Causeway a priority; Nuckles does not,” writes Levitan.

Reynolds won and upon taking office on April 18, 1961, listed advancing the Monona Causeway among eight “immediate goals.” The idea for the causeway had first been proposed by urban planner John Nolen in 1911 and a full causeway was included in the city master plans that followed, Levitan writes.

Reynolds started to get things rolling but not all were in favor. People who were supporting the construction of Monona Terrace (yes, that project was discussed for decades in various iterations; in 1941 Madison voters approved funding for a municipal auditorium) feared a diversion to Olin Park if the causeway were built and some “lake-area residents” demanded a public hearing at the Public Service Commission, arguing the causeway would do environmental damage.

In January 1963, the PSC authorized construction of the causeway next to the railroad tracks and on April 2 of that year, Madison voters approved a $1 million bond to start building the project.

Sand was dredged from the bottom of the lake to construct the road and John Nolen opened as a two-lane causeway in 1967. In 1975 it was expanded to four lanes.

The causeway bridges, now in need of repair, spurred the city to move forward with a reconstruction of the entire causeway. It’s a well-traveled route, by car and bike. On average 43,700 cars use the causeway daily and about 4,500 bikes use the path, according to deputy city engineer Chris Petykowski. Isthmus sat down with Petykowski to get some answers on things we all might want to know when one of Madison’s busiest arteries is under construction.

Davidoff: When does life as we know it change in Madison? That is, when is groundbreaking for the John Nolen Drive reconstruction project?

Petykowski: Construction is expected to start Oct. 13.

What will happen then?

We will start having lane closures. The first step is to remove the medians and flip traffic over to one side of the causeway, the northbound lanes. Then we will begin removing the southbound bridges and replacing them.

The southbound bridges?

There are actually separate bridges. Right now there are three southbound and three northbound bridges. We’ll be replacing them with nine bridges — three northbound, three southbound and adding three more for the new pedestrian/bike path. The southerly bridges will be done by late spring/early summer 2026. That will mark the halfway point of the overall project.

Will people still be able to drive over the causeway?

Yes.

In both directions?

Yes, there will just be one lane in each direction.

Will people still be able to ride their bike or walk over the causeway? In both directions?

Yes, the bike lane will remain open for the first half of the project.

Why this project now?

The bridges are ending their useful service life and they needed to be replaced. That started the project. [We thought] if we’re rebuilding the bridges it makes sense to take care of the pavement as well.

What happens in the second half of the project?

When we flip traffic to the southbound lanes while rebuilding the northbound ones, the ped/bike path has to close. There’s no way around it because the bridges the paths are on need to be rebuilt.

What kinds of delays are expected and are there going to be any detour options?

Certainly there will be delays. Usually in the first month [of big construction projects] people figure it out. Then we usually see that people calibrate over time. People may start using Park Street or University Avenue from the west or Monona Drive and Atwood from the east to get downtown. I don’t think we have an actual time estimate as far as delays, but we’ll be constantly monitoring the signals and looking at backups. Construction people usually give us a heads up. It certainly is going to be slower, with one lane instead of two in each direction. It’s not dissimilar to when we rebuilt University Avenue a few years back.

Why start construction now?

The bridges are the one kind of work you can do over the winter. That’s why it was important to start this fall.

What area will the reconstruction project cover?

Lakeside Street to Broom Street. Technically it starts a bit north of Lakeside and ends north of Broom, but it does not go all the way to Monona Terrace or the Beltline — those are later stages we have planned.

What exactly is included in Phase 1 of the project?

We’ll be replacing all the bridges, replacing all of the pavement, creating a new separated ped and bike path (10 feet of bike lane and six feet for pedestrians). We’re also reconstructing the Broom Street and North Shore Drive intersections. We’ll be doing some enhancements to the geometry to make them safer for peds and bikes to cross.

Wasn’t an overpass once considered for the North Shore Drive crossing?

We did a feasibility study of underpasses and overpasses, but nothing along those lines is being programmed. We are significantly widening the crossings at that intersection and have some changes planned for the timing of signals. There currently is no path on the westerly side of North Shore Drive or John Nolen Drive from Bedford to Broom streets. We will install that path with the first half of the project.

When does construction start on the new multi-use path?

Somewhere late summer 2026, and lasting to the spring of 2027. It will be the same time when traffic is flipped to the southbound lanes.

When completed, how will different uses be separated on the path?

The way we have it designated there is 10 feet for bikes and six feet for the walking path. And then there is a little gravel space adjacent to the walking path where joggers can go. On the current path, people usually jog right next to the path so we went ahead and put that in.

Is a speed limit being considered for the bike path part?

There have been discussions about that in the past but nothing specific to this project. We don’t have any plans for a speed limit.

During construction, where will bikers and walkers be detoured to?

They will be rerouted around Monona Bay. We have done that a few times. It’s a long detour. This is just for the second half of the project.

Where will the new path run from?

Lakeside to Broom streets.

Where is the extra space coming from to construct separate paths?

There used to be an eight-foot shoulder that we’re getting rid of. We had 12-foot car lanes that are now becoming 11- and 10-foot-lanes. And the median is getting skinnied up.

What is the cost of the reconstruction project?

All told it’s about a $42 million project for phase 1. The city is going to come in between $8 and $9 million and there is about $33 million in federal funds coming from a couple of different sources (bridge funds, a surface transportation block grant).

Is this money secure or threatened by federal cuts coming out of Washington, D.C.?

Wisconsin DOT has a signed contract. People feel secure the money is coming.

What is phase 2 of the project?

This will involve replacing all the pavement from Lakeside down to Olin Avenue. It’s [tentatively] scheduled for 2028. As we go through the public engagement project there might be other things added, but we’re just getting started on that design.

What about that dock and overlook near Olin Park affording a view of Madison’s skyline?

The Parks Department has that scheduled to bid out next fall. And their budget for 2026 includes money for Phase 1 of their project [the LakeWay shoreline redevelopment project]. We’ve been constantly working together to make sure our projects complement each other and that we are being efficient with the funds. Their goal is to start as soon as the roadway project is wrapping up.

That reminds me. The rock shoreline is getting a rebuild with our project. We’ll be taking away the old ones and replacing them. We get a lot of erosion because the rocks are failing and not protecting the shoreline and that makes the shoreline more vulnerable.

What about trees?

We have about 120 trees planned, but it won’t happen ‘til the very end. We’ll be using a “terrace support system,” plastic structures that enhance root growing, when planting these new trees.

Where are the trees going to be planted?

They are mostly going in the space between the road and the path. We’re planting them wherever they fit.

What kind of trees?

We are not sure of the species yet.

Will any of the current trees be lost due to construction?

There will be quite a few removals. Staff from engineering, forestry and parks walked the site together to decide which were worth saving. Some of the trees out there now are stressed. We are hopeful with the new project that these new root enhancements will be able to build a really nice canopy out there.

Any wildlife concerns? What about the woodchucks?

In the design phase, the project goes through a review from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S Fish & Wildlife for protected species. The bat and rusty patched bee are protected and we have specifications in the contract to deal with those issues. For other unprotected wildlife, the general practice is the vibrations and noise of the equipment alert the wildlife and there is ample time to move away. This would be true for the woodchucks on the shoreline, since the stones gets replaced very slowly and incrementally. And the new shoreline stones provide habitat again as the equipment moves along.

City and state officials provided the latest overview of the causeway project in a Zoom public meeting on Sept. 22. A recording can be found on the project’s website at cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/john-nolen-drive.