Corridor Infill, Street Design, and Streetscape

Despite a successful business environment along Monona Drive, problems have emerged that raise concerns about the business corridor's future and the ease with which residents from the adjacent neighborhoods can access and circulate across and along the corridor. These problems have largely evidenced themselves as traffic issues; chiefly, traffic congestion, traffic speed, high number of accidents, and an inhospitable environment for other modes (transit and bike) wanting to share the road with cars.

While many studies have already been completed for the Monona Drive corridor, they have focused on the transportation element of the road. The technical and precise transportation solutions (which past studies have proposed) took into account the road's regional travel demand, but did not focus on local travel demand and the way people from the adjacent neighborhoods move within and across the corridor.

The Cities of Monona and Madison, with Monona taking a lead role, initiated the Monona Drive Corridor Study. The BUILD Program provided a grant of $25,000 in 2001 to fund the study. The Monona Drive Corridor Study gave equal weight to transportation and livability issues, and a corridor with holistic redevelopment was the goal of the study.

The Corridor Study involved residents and stakeholders through a "Vision Workshop," a survey, interviews and public meetings. From the planning process key goals emerged: Create a town center on the TIF district site between Owen and Frost Woods Roads. Provide pedestrian connections and landscaping along Monona Drive. Address the consolidation of curb cuts along Monona Drive.

The resulting Corridor Plan included recommendations and concept designs for a boulevard design for the southern section Monona Drive, a new "Town Center" developed at the vacant site of a former grocery store, and storefront design improvements to increase attractiveness and parking functionality.

A complete summary of the plan can be found at: http://www.co.dane.wi.us/plandev/build/pdf/mononasummary.pdf

One of the cornerstones of the resulting Monona Corridor Study was the recommendation for a "Town Center" development on the vacant 4.85 acre site of the former Kohl's store, across from Frost Woods. The Town Center development would frame the street with buildings housing a mix of uses, including retail and residential, in an attractive, pedestrian-friendly environment.

When Horizon Development approached the City with the intent of developing senior housing and retail on the Kohl's site, the City used the Town Center framework to guide the discussions. The resulting development of 122 units of senior housing (more than half developed as affordable using tax credits) and 16,000 square feet of retail follows the Town Center concepts. The retail building will front and set close to Monona Drive. The two senior buildings, along with the retail building, will establish building faces along Frost Woods Road. Parking is internal. The mix of uses allows seniors and neighbors to walk to new stores and other nearby destinations. On-site stormwater management will alleviate run-off issues from the previous large surface parking lot. The City of Monona supported the development with approximately $800,000 in Tax Increment Financing.

The Monona Corridor Study, and the subsequent Frost Woods Commons development, set the stage for another mixed-use project on Monona Drive in 2004. Just south of Frost Woods Commons and across Monona Drive, the City of Monona assembled a number of parcels; some vacant and some with older, single-story buildings. The City used more than $1 million in Tax Increment Financing to purchase the properties, relocate businesses and prepare the site. The new development, Woodlands Condominiums and Watertower Plaza, will cost $10 million. Developer Bert Slinde plans to construct 24 residential units in two 14,000 square foot buildings facing the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, with additional commercial and residential space along Monona Drive.

Planning for the improvement of Monona Drive continues, in preparation for reconstruction of the roadway in approximately 2007. Dane County recently awarded a second BUILD grant of $10,000 to develop design guidelines for Monona Drive streetscape in 2004.
 

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Last Modified: September 17th, 2004