Revising the Ride

Downtown Madison’s many activities and events, from the Farmers’ Market to art fairs to football games, attract thousands of residents and tourists each weekend. This traffic keeps local restaurants and shops lining State Street and Capitol Square busy and thriving.

Recently, Ride the Drive—an event that closes off a six-mile loop of city streets in downtown Madison to open them to families, pedestrians, skaters and bicyclists—drew an estimated 25,000-30,000 participants downtown during the first weekend in June.

Despite the event’s successes, local businesses, downtown churches and neighborhood residents have raised concerns about the event’s negative impact on downtown’s traffic and pedestrian flow.

State Street and Capitol Square businesses depend on events like the Farmers’ Market and Cars on State to draw large crowds like the one pictured.

The event allows participants to enjoy typically busy thoroughfares, including John Nolen Drive and East Washington Avenue, within a car-free, safe community environment. It is organized by the City of Madison and the City of Madison Parks Division in collaboration with local sponsors.

While Ride the Drive draws large crowds downtown, the event’s unique characteristics—creating a six-mile loop on the isthmus, cutting off traffic and holding the event during business hours—creates confusion for tourists and residents entering the downtown area,  said Mary Carbine, executive director of Madison’s Central Business Improvement District (BID).

This confusion has consistently hurt local businesses over the past four Ride the Drive events, Carbine said.

When tourists have difficulties entering downtown and Madison residents purposely avoid the area, businesses suffer during typically visitor-intensive summer and fall weekends, she said.

Of the roughly 370 businesses on State Street and Capitol Square that make up the BID, 65 to 75 percent have reported decreased revenue during past Ride the Drive events, Carbine said.

These decreases range from 25 to 60 percent, and significantly impact businesses that depend on busy weekends to balance out weekdays and slower winter months, she explained.

Carbine collected these figures from the results of a survey distributed to the 370 businesses. The survey received a response rate of about 10 percent.

In consideration for these businesses, churches, neighborhoods, and travelers within and outside the six-mile loop, on June 1, Mayor Soglin canceled the Ride the Drive event scheduled for this fall, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.

Later, in a blog post on June 8, Mayor Soglin called on business leaders, city staff, residents, and others to work together to improve access downtown, writing, “I did not like the idea of canceling the second ride this year and it is not necessary if we can work quickly to agree on some adjustments.”

Since Mayor Soglin’s initial announcement, bicyclists, local bloggers, cycling industry personnel, business owners, and Madison residents have written letters and raised concerns about the future of the event.

The excitement has given Mayor Soglin’s decision a sense of “controversy” which pits businesses against cyclists.

But according to Hawk Schenkel, and BID board member and owner of Hawk’s Bar & Grill, this controversy misrepresents local businesses, which support Ride the Drive.

Rather, businesses seek to work with event organizers to tweak certain characteristics, leading to a successful event for all, he said.

“I’ve never heard a business say ‘I don’t like ride the drive,’ even businesses that are affected badly,” he said. “All businesses love the event; [they] just want Ride the Drive to be aware of businesses being hurt.”

Bike racks line the outsides of restaurants on State Street and Capitol Square where business owners support events like Ride the Drive, said Hawk Schenkel, owner of Hawk’s Bar & Grill.

To determine which characteristics of the event should be changed, last week the Parks Division superintendent began a series of meetings with event stakeholders, city organizers, local businesses, cycling industry representatives, and residents, Parks Division Community Services Manager Steven Doniger said.

The meetings will focus on finding solutions to move forward with the event, he said. Early talks have proposed plans to continue hosting the event twice a year, but once downtown and once in Madison neighborhoods rather than two downtown events.

“The goal is to find the best solution to offer this type of an event and still meet the goals of the city,” he said.

Doniger said that organizers have worked with businesses to improve the route, time, and street signage for the event since its inception in August 2009. The renewed discussions will focus on similar improvements.

For businesses, changing the route and date of the event remains an important concern, said Sandra Torkildson, owner of A Room of One’s Own Feminist Bookstore and president of the Greater State Street Business Association.

One option, opening up East Washington Avenue to vehicles, could help travelers and residents access downtown and prevent decreased profits for some businesses, Torkildson said. This change would also open access to Williamson Street businesses, whose two main access points—East Washington Avenue and John Nolen Drive—are cut off by the event’s route.

“Ride the Drive affects businesses but [businesses] aren’t anti-bike. We want to work with the city to find a route that makes downtown accessible so we can have the event but keep people coming downtown,” she said.

While Torkildson said some may brush off the importance of one bad business day, many State Street and Capitol Square businesses make the majority of their business during the busy months of August, September, and October when events and football games invite many travelers.

The previously scheduled Ride the Drive event this fall would have taken place on Sunday, September 25, a day after a home Badger football game and an important revenue day for businesses, Torklidson said.

On behalf of the Greater State Street Business Association, Sandra Torklidson, president of the group and owner of A Room of One’s Own, wrote a letter to Mayor Soglin concerning decreased downtown business during Ride the Drive.

While downtown restaurants and retail shops depend on football games and busy weekends to boost their sales, the cycling industry depends on Ride the Drive to increase its own business.

Many cycling businesses like Stray Cat Bicycles, a small company that sells single-speed bicycles, use Ride the Drive as an opportunity to market their brand and products, owner Travis Youman said.

During the event, Stray Cat Bicycles, which just opened this spring, offered test rides and information about their bicycles alongside many other cycling businesses, Youman said.

A peak in bicycling interest preceding and following Ride the Drive also leads to a marked increase in business, he said. This increase would likely diminish following the event’s cancellation.

To address these concerns, Youman drafted a letter to Mayor Soglin asking him to consider Ride the Drive’s impact on many different businesses, including its indirect positive effect on the cycling industry. He personally delivered this letter to the Mayor and posted it to the Stray Cat Bicycles’ blog.

Other cycling businesses and enthusiasts expressed similar sentiments, including Kathy Weaver, general manager at Williamson Bicycle Works on West Washington Avenue.

Weaver said when many people prepare their bicycles for Ride the Drive they need repairs, which leads to increased business for the store’s repair shop. Some even decide to invest in a new bicycle.

If the event remains canceled, Weaver said this will not only impact the cycling industry, but could also affect how people within and outside the state perceive Madison as a strong biking community.

This could then prevent bicycling events or shows from coming into Madison.

“A lot of people are disappointed that [Ride the Drive] is going away forever,” she said. “[There is] concern it will go away and not come back.”

Despite these concerns, representatives from the city, local businesses, the cycling industry and the Mayor expressed willingness to work together to create a Ride the Drive event successful for all entities.

“There needs to be continued input from everybody involved so [we] can work towards a solution,” Youman said. “We’ve only been doing this a couple years and it has gotten better each year… I have very high hopes that [Ride the Drive] will continue to improve and get better.”