Madison Reporter

The planned ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Autumn Ridge Path on December 17, 2024, has been canceled. A new date will be announced if the event is rescheduled.

The City of Madison had initially invited the public to a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for December 12, 2024, at 4346 Commercial Avenue on Madison’s east side. The event was intended to celebrate the completion of the city's latest multi-use path, known as Autumn Ridge.

This path aims to establish a shared-use connection between Milwaukee Street and Commercial Avenue, located north of Highway 30. It includes a newly constructed bridge over Highway 30 designed to enhance safety and accessibility for non-motorized transportation across the highway. This infrastructure improvement seeks to better connect neighborhoods divided by Highway 30.

The Autumn Ridge Path is part of an expansion of the local bike network. It links various areas through local streets, including connections to an existing overpass over Stoughton Road at Portland Parkway, through Eastmorland neighborhood paths leading to Garver Path, and further extending to the Capital City Trail and downtown Madison. Future plans include expanding this network further northeast.

Starting from its southern end, the project features reconstruction of an existing path in Hiestand Park to widen it to ten feet. It then proceeds through city-owned greenway property east of Hiestand Park and connects via Stein Avenue to a new segment adjacent to Thompson Road ramp off Highway 30. The path ascends alongside this ramp until reaching a new bridge overpass over Highway 30 before descending onto Ziegler Road.

The funding for Autumn Ridge Path comes primarily from a federal grant totaling $2.5 million, covering most project costs with additional city funding amounting to $2 million. Construction began in June 2024 with significant efforts focused on creating the bridge overpass featuring three prefabricated trusses spanning Highway 30 and Commercial Avenue along with a multi-span loop on its northern approach.

Members of the media who plan on attending any future events are asked to RSVP by contacting Hannah Mohelnitzky via email.