After undergoing months of scrutiny, the State Street Design Project heard the sound of the starting gun Tuesday when it gained unanimous approval by the City Council.
The Council set the project off and running by authorizing the city to solicit construction proposals and to create a plan for a sample block, near the Civic Center, based on those designs.
\All citizens can take a look [at the sample block] and provide feedback to us,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
Council members stressed that their resolution does not commit the city to spend money on anything but the test block, design plans and an environmental assessment.
The city will try to draw the $50,000 earmarked for the test area from the $900,000 federal subsidy obtained by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. According to Mayor Sue Bauman, the city has asked Baldwin and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis, to secure another $2 million for the project.
After expressing concern about the cost of the overall project when it first came before the council, Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, said the new plan was fiscally responsible, but added she has some concerns over specific details contained within the project.
""There are several places along the way where [designers] have to come back to us for approval,"" she said.
As part of the provision, a study was commissioned to consider what Verveer called the ""perennial April issue"" of restricting bus service on State Street. Verveer said many citizens object to having buses on State Street because they create noise and pollution.
City planners will explore the possibilities of creating a pedestrian mall by terminating bus service on the 100 block of State Street.
Madison Metro's General Manager, Catherine Debo, said that even if Metro changed the bus routes, buses would still run two-thirds of the way around the square, eliminating only the segment of the square running from West Washington Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue.
""We would still be able to use the square as a transfer site'this portion of the square is key to the system,"" she said.
In other business, as of press time the council had not voted on a resolution supported by Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, that would require all Madison landlords to accept Section 8 vouchers as payment from low-income residents.
""I've been enthusiastic about this. There's a bunch of community work in support of it,"" he said in a previous avenue. ""All we're saying is look at these people like everyone else.\
