LOOKING LIFELESS Wisconsin football losing streak extends to 4 games after shutout against Iowa SPORTS. C1
LOOKING LIFELESS Wisconsin football losing streak extends to 4 games after shutout against Iowa SPORTS. C1
LOOKING LIFELESS Wisconsin football losing streak extends to 4 games after shutout against Iowa SPORTS. C1
LOOKING LIFELESS Wisconsin football losing streak extends to 4 games after shutout against Iowa SPORTS. C1
Every day, about 48,000 vehicles travel along John Nolen Drive. There’s no telling how many drivers of those vehicles have noticed the electronic signs warning of impending road work. But it’s a safe bet that, starting Monday, a lot of them are in for a rude surprise.
The portion of John Nolen Drive that crosses Lake Monona will be reduced from two lanes in each direction to one so the deteriorating causeway can be reconstructed. The closures are scheduled run through the summer of 2027.
Do you have an alternate route planned during John Nolen construction?
The roughly $42 million reconstruction extends from South Broom Street to East Lakeside Street. It involves replacing six bridges, building three new bridges, expanding bike and pedestrian paths, making improvements to the Lake Monona shoreline, planting all new trees and reworking the South Broom Street and North Shore Drive intersections.
A sign on the southbound side of John Nolen Drive alerts drivers to the start Monday of a nearly two-year reconstruction of the causeway. The city has not designated any official detours, but planners urged drivers to find alternate routes or allow more time for their daily commutes.
About $33 million is coming from the federal government, with the rest of the reconstruction paid for by the city, said Aaron Canton, a city engineer.
“The biggest driver is replacement of the bridges on the causeway,” Canton said. “They’re nearing the end of their service life. They need to get replaced.”
The three bridges on the southbound side of John Nolen Drive were built in the 1960s, and the three bridges on the northbound side were added in 1975, said Tom Mohr, Madison’s assistant director of traffic engineering. The causeway was reconstructed in the 1990s, but the bridges were not replaced, he said.
“The causeway is artificial, filled-in land,” Canton said. “It’s settled over time. The settlement of the land has impacted the structural integrity of the bridges, so that sliding has deteriorated them maybe a little more quickly than we’d hoped for.”
Traffic moves north at the intersection of John Nolen Drive and East Lakeside Street, the southern end of the upcoming reconstruction. Drivers can expect delays starting this month as the causeway is reduced from two lanes in each direction to one.
The three new bridges will support separate bike and pedestrian paths, while the reconstructed roadway will result in narrower traffic lanes to reduce traffic speeds. And the North Shore Drive and South Broom Street intersections will be made more compact, shortening and simplifying the crosswalks.
Work will start on the causeway’s southbound side through the middle of next summer. The northbound side – which includes the Capital City Trail – will be reconstructed after the southbound side is complete.
Here’s what you need to know about the project.
Afternoon traffic crosses Lake Monona on John Nolen Drive. Starting Monday, crews will begin an ambitious two-year project to rebuild the causeway, including replacing six bridges and building three new ones for bikes and pedestrians. Traffic on the causeway will be reduced to one lane in each direction during construction.
The city expects work on the thoroughfare connecting the Beltline to Downtown to last until fall 2029. Thankfully, the work will be broken down into three phases, meaning stretches of the road won’t be under construction the entire time.
The first phase is the largest of the three, with work between Lakeside and Broom Streets. That phase is broken down into four stages, although with projects this large and Wisconsin weather as fickle as it is, city engineers can’t promise these dates will be strictly adhered to.
Stage 1 (October-November 2025): The first stage of the first phase is the smallest, as crews lay the groundwork for construction. North- and southbound lanes on John Nolen Drive will remain but are reduced to a single lane in either direction. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph. Traffic will be rerouted between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. for overnight construction on the road’s storm sewage system, with northbound traffic detoured to Olin Avenue, and southbound traffic detoured to North Shore Drive.
Stage 2 (November 2025-August 2026): Drivers will be unable to turn left onto John Nolen Drive from Broom Street. North Shore Drive and Broom Street will be closed periodically to all traffic for work on the railway lines. The closures will be staggered and last up to 60 days.
Stage 3 (August 2026-June 2027): All traffic will shift to the southbound lanes, with one lane in each direction, as construction begins on the northbound side of John Nolen Drive. The Capital City Trail between Lakeside and Broom Street will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists, with a recommended detour around the west side of Monona Bay.
Stage 4 (June 2027-July 2027): One lane in both the north- and southbound sides will be open to traffic during resurfacing. The Capital City Trail will reopen, and the North Shore Drive and Broom Street intersections will reopen to all traffic with no restrictions.
Traffic barrels herald the start of construction on John Nolen Drive. The first phase will extend from South Broom Street to East Lakeside Street, in the distance above.
Motorists who use John Nolen Drive to get to and from Downtown can expect delays and should look for alternate routes. The city has not designated any official detours.
For drivers coming from the North and East sides, East Washington Avenue remains the most direct route into Downtown.
If you’re coming from the West or South sides, instead of taking the Beltline around to John Nolen, it’s probably better to take the Midvale Boulevard or Park Street exit, or skip the Beltline altogether and take Old Sauk Road or University Avenue through town.
“A portion is going to have to go another way,” Mohr said. “It’s really just up to every person to figure out what works best for them based on where they are, where they’re going.”
A preliminary traffic study by the city’s Engineering Division projects delays of up to seven minutes for northbound traffic on John Nolen Drive and 13-minute delays for southbound traffic.
“If you just change your time going to work by 15 minutes, that could
have a huge effect on the delay that you see,” Mohr said.
City engineers strongly discourage drivers using the Beltline from exiting on John Nolen Drive and cutting across to Park Street just before hitting the construction zone via Olin Avenue or Lakeside Street, two largely residential streets.
“If you’re looking for an alternative route, especially coming from the south, look for a different Beltline exit,” city engineer Aaron Canton said.
Beginning Monday, Oct. 13, drivers will be unable to turn left onto John Nolen Drive from Broom Street for the duration of the reconstruction. And in the summer, drivers will be unable to turn left onto North Shore Drive from John Nolen Drive.
About 48,000 vehicles drive on John Nolen Drive every day, and about 4,500 people use the adjacent path. Travel lanes will be reduced this month and the path closed starting next year for reconstruction of the causeway, which is expected to be complete in the summer of 2027.
Motorists aren’t the only ones about to have their travel plans interrupted. The portion of the Capital City Trail that runs along the causeway will also be closed for part of the reconstruction.
The good news: Cyclists can continue using the causeway for another year. But starting next August, cyclists, joggers and pedestrians will need to detour around Monona Bay, adding about two miles to their trip.
It’s all so crews can replace the existing bridges and build three additional bridges to support separate paths for bikes and pedestrians, farther from the roar and tumult of John Nolen Drive.
The new paths should open sometime in the summer of 2027.
Pedestrians will need to take different, and in some cases longer, routes to cross John Nolen while construction is underway starting next summer.
The intersections at North Shore Drive and South Broom Street will each be closed to pedestrians for railway construction beginning in the summer. Work
on each intersection will be staggered, with closures lasting up to 60 days, according to city engineers.
Pedestrians cross John Nolen Drive at the intersection of North Shore Drive. When the reconstruction is finished, the North Shore Drive and South Broom Street intersections will be more compact, with shorter and more simplified crosswalks.
Pedestrians crossing from the Capital City Trail will be detoured along North Shore Drive and onto West Wilson Street.
A new pathway along Brittingham Park will connect the Southwest Path off North Shore Drive to West Wilson Street to shorten the walking distance around the construction.
Even though all six bridges dividing Lake Monona from Monona Bay are being replaced and three new bridges for pedestrians and cyclists are going up, boaters who pass under those bridges are unlikely to see major disruptions, according to city engineers.
A channel for boats to cross from the bay to the lake will be maintained in the center of the bridges, Canton said.
To further ease boaters’ burden, a majority of the bridge work will be completed during the winter, when the only boats likely to be on the lake are ice boats.
The Capital City Trail, above, will remain accessible to bikes and pedestrians until sometime next summer, when work on the northbound side of the causeway will result in closing the path and directing users around Monona Bay.
Winter road construction is unusual in the Midwest, where the cold, snow and ice can slow working crews. But the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources required the bridge work be done in the colder months to minimize environmental impacts, Canton said.
Crews will first set up coffer dams around the bridges to create dry zones as they lay concrete and steel.
Each of the six roadway bridges will cost on average $2.3 million, and the new pathway bridges will cost about $1.7 million each, according to Canton.
The only Metro Transit bus route that runs on John Nolen Drive will maintain its regular path and schedule after traffic is reduced to a single lane in each direction.
Route 65 — which runs from downtown Fitchburg to the UW Health campus — will not be affected outside of potentially small detours around work zones, Metro Transit Chief Development Officer Mick Rusch told the State Journal.
“If for some reason things got to the point we couldn’t operate buses in a timely way through the reduced lanes of traffic, then we’d probably have to operate on Park Street, which would bypass Broom and Bassett,” Rusch said. “But, right now, we’re planning to travel on John Nolen and see how well we can maintain our schedules.”
Bicyclists ride on the Capital City Trail along John Nolen Drive. The trail is open for now but will close starting next summer while the causeway — and the adjacent path — is reconstructed.
Work on the Madison LakeWay project, an ambitious plan to reinvent 1.7 miles of the Lake Monona waterfront over decades, is expected to begin in 2027 as the first phase of the reconstruction of John Nolen Drive winds down.
After the reconstruction and the addition of separate bike and pedestrian paths, the $12 million first phase of the Madison LakeWay project calls for adding boardwalks and open space and increasing pedestrian access to the lake.
Elements of the LakeWay project, which aims to create more parkland and recreation opportunities along the waterfront through a series of phased improvements, were proposed in the early 1900s by John Nolen himself. The master plan for the project was developed by Denver-based design firm Sasaki through a city design competition and adopted by the City Council last year.
Pedestrians cross at the intersection of John Nolen Drive and North Shore Drive. The city designed changes to the North Shore and South Broom Street intersections to accommodate a bike and pedestrian underpass, but it currently has no plans to build one.
The city will plant trees along John Nolen Drive after construction, taking steps to keep the new trees healthier than the ones there today. The LakeWay project will add native perennials along the causeway in coordination with the city.
Not exactly.
The overhaul of John Nolen Drive between South Broom Street and East Lakeside Street is the first and most extensive of three planned phases to remake the Madison artery.
In the coming years, more reconstruction will extend all the way to the Beltline.
A second phase of reconstruction will extend from East Lakeside Street to East Olin Avenue. That phase is currently in design, with work tentatively scheduled to start in 2028.
An eventual third phase will complete the reconstruction from East Olin Avenue to the Beltline.
“I want every part of the state to be able to have the amenities that we’re lucky enough to have here in Dane County,” says state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison.
Wisconsin’s next governor will need a “spine of steel” to stand up to President Donald Trump’s administration, state Sen. Kelda Roys says. Which is why, she maintains, she’s the right person for the job.
The Madison Democrat also sees a golden opportunity to deliver something her party could only dream of lately: Taking control of the Senate for the first time in 16 years under new electoral maps. To fully realize that potential, Roys said, the occupant of the governor’s office needs experience with the Legislature.
“Finally, after a generation of being under the worst Republican gerrymander in the nation, we have a chance at real, accountable and responsive government at the state level in 2026,” Roys said.
“If we want to change the trajectory of the state to one that actually cares about how everyday Wisconsinites are doing and making it possible for people to thrive at every income level, not just at the very top, then we have to have a governor who can get things done.”
Roys’ first foray into elected office was in 2008, after the incumbent announced plans to retire after 30 years in the Assembly — longer than Roys had been alive. She won a six-way Democratic primary in that race to become the youngest representative at the time, at 29.
She served two terms in the state Assembly: one in which Democrats controlled the governor’s office, the Assembly and the Senate; the other under a Republican trifecta just two years later. Roys was the minority caucus chair when then-Gov. Scott Walker pushed through his signature anti-union legislation known as Act 10.
During those months, her office became a refuge for opponents to the legislation, as hearings dragged into the overnight hours. She split her time between the Capitol and UW Hospital, where her father was being cared for by nurses about to lose their collective bargaining rights.
Both proposals would require ticket sellers to show the full prices of the tickets, so that fans aren’t stuck with sticker shock when they go …
Roys left the Assembly in 2012 to pursue a run for Congress, losing to U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan in the Democratic primary. In 2018, she launched her first bid for governor, coming in third in a field of eight Democrats.
She has served in the Senate since 2021, when she succeeded former Sen. Fred Risser, who holds the record as the longest-serving state representative in the nation.
In her time as a lobbyist and lawmaker, Roys points to several accomplishments, including criminal justice reforms, measures to protect reproductive rights and banning certain plastics in baby bottles. This session, she was a part of an effort to get a bipartisan bill allowing advanced practice nurses to operate independently to the governor’s desk, after years of failed attempts and sometimes being the only Democrat trying to get it there.
Asked to reflect on who have been the most effective governors in recent history, Roys mentions Walker and former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson. Both spent time in the Legislature, Roys said, and were experienced in navigating it.
“They were able to really effectuate so much of what they wanted and get it passed into law so it was durable,” Roys said. “That’s really, really important, because so much of the work we have to do is undoing the harms over the last 15 years. But we also have the chance to really build something new and much better, and make Wisconsin a place where people want to flock to because they’re like, ‘I can thrive here.’”
Wisconsin’s most effective recent governors have been Scott Walker and Tommy Thompson, says Madison Democrat Kelda Roys. Both previously served in the Legislature, so they “were able to really effectuate so much of what they wanted and get it passed into law so it was durable,” she said.
A mother of five, including two stepdaughters, Roys was born in Marshfield and spent her early years living in a former one-room schoolhouse her parents renovated near Medford. She remembers a “beautiful, rural childhood” where her nearest neighbors were Amish.
The family later relocated to Madison when Roys was in elementary school, as her father wanted to join then-police Chief David Couper’s force where he was exploring revolutionary ideas in community policing. Under Couper’s two-decade leadership, police officers were assigned to neighborhoods and de-escalation was promoted over the use of force.
After graduating from East High School, Roys attended New York University, where she studied theater and political science and got her real estate license at 19 to pay her way through college. She returned home to study law at UW-Madison.
Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to seek re-election in 2026 sets the stage for the first open race for Wisconsin's executive office in 16 years.
An interest in politics has been central to her life, Roys said. She has vivid memories of going to Democratic Party events with her parents as a child, as they encouraged her and her three sisters to be engaged citizens. In high school, she volunteered with Planned Parenthood. Later, while in law school, she worked with the Wisconsin Innocence Project and founded an American Civil Liberties Union student alliance chapter.
Her activism was born of a realization that not everyone had parents with a college degree or were able to attend high-quality public schools.
“My parents really drilled into us that sense of gratitude, and that the world is an unfair place, and that we have a role in trying to alleviate that when we can,” she said.
After law school, Roys said, she had an opportunity to become an attorney in military justice but turned it down because she didn’t want to enforce “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the former Defense Department policy that barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from military service. Instead, she was hired as the executive director of Wisconsin’s chapter of National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, or NARAL.
The cuts to federal public radio and television grants are expected to hit rural radio and TV stations harder than their urban counterparts.
Her work there involved expanding access to abortion and ensuring “reproductive justice” by reducing infant mortality rates and increasing access to contraception and sex education.
Although she still considers herself a “Medford Democrat,” she’s not bothered by the Republican epithet “Madison Democrat.”
“I’m also really proud to be part of a community that is really thriving and growing, and I think that I want every part of the state to be able to have the amenities that we’re lucky enough to have here in Dane County,” Roys said. “No matter who you are or where you’re from, you deserve to have the freedom to thrive.”
Roys’ top priorities as governor involve giving the moderate wage earners a leg up. She finds it unacceptable that many people who feel they’ve done everything right still can’t afford to purchase a home or have a family.
To begin to address that, she said, the state needs to undo Act 10 and strengthen worker protections, ensuring all employees can join a union and bargain for better wages.
Roys also wants people to have the option to obtain health care through the state’s benefits and retirement systems for employees. That could encourage more people to start their own businesses, she said. She also supports paid family and medical leave for all employees.
Monitors found no youth inmates were confined to their rooms for more than three days and they were getting sufficient time outside of their cells.
“After I left the assembly, I started my own small business, and I feel so lucky and grateful I had the chance to do that,” she said. “A lot of people would love to do that and can’t because they’re tied to a pension system or health insurance and they can’t afford it.”
Roys also wants to increase funding to the state’s public K-12 schools to end the cycle of districts going to referendum every few years to close budget gaps. And she plans to campaign on investing more in early childhood education and higher education.
Roys will face a crowded Democratic field next August, when a primary will decide who will go up against the Republican nominee in November.
They include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee-area union advocate Ryan Strnad, State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, former Assembly member Brett Hulsey and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation director Missy Hughes.
On the Republican side, the field includes U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst and Washington County executive and Army National Guard veteran Josh Schoemann.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Gaza ceasefire held on its second day as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to their neighborhoods Saturday and Israelis cheered Monday’s expected release of remaining hostages.
“Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go,” Mahmoud al-Shandoghli said in Gaza City as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of war. A boy climbed debris to raise the Palestinian flag.
Israelis applauded U.S. President Donald Trump, and some booed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner addressed a crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv that many hoped would be the last.
People rally Saturday in support of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, at a plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Israelis hugged and took selfies. Many waved U.S. flags. Kushner said they would celebrate Monday, when Israel’s military said the 48 hostages still in Gaza would be freed. He also noted the “suffering” in Gaza.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel’s government believes about 20 of the hostages remain alive.
Israel’s ensuing offensive killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.
The war triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
About 200 U.S. troops arrived in Israel to monitor the ceasefire with Hamas. They will set up a center to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance.
“This great effort will be achieved with no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command. Witkoff, Kushner and Cooper met with senior U.S. and Israeli military officials in Gaza.
The Egyptian presidency in a statement late Saturday said Trump will co-chair a “peace summit” there Monday on Gaza and the wider Middle East. Earlier, France confirmed that President Emmanuel Macron would visit Egypt on Monday.
A copy of the signed ceasefire says Hamas must share all information related to any bodies of hostages that are not released within the first 72 hours, and that Israel will provide information about the remains of deceased Palestinians from Gaza held in Israel.
The photo of the document was obtained by The Associated Press and its veracity was confirmed by two officials, including one whose country was a signatory. Both requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. The U.S. did not confirm whether it was authentic.
Hamas and Israel will share the information through a mechanism supported by mediators and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It will also ensure all hostages are exhumed and released.
The agreement says mediators and the ICRC will facilitate the exchange of the hostages and prisoners without public ceremonies or media coverage.
Israel is to free about 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences, as well as about 1,700 people seized from Gaza the past two years and held without charge. The Israel Prison Service said prisoners were transferred to deportation facilities at Ofer and Ktzi’ot prisons, “awaiting instructions from the political echelon.”
Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow aid into famine-stricken Gaza. A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public, said Israel approved expanded aid deliveries starting Sunday.
The World Food Program said it was ready to restore 145 food distribution points. Before Israel sealed off Gaza in March, U.N. agencies provided food at 400 distribution points.
Though the timeline remains unclear, Palestinians will be able to access food at more locations than they could through the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operated four locations after taking over distribution in May.
About 170,000 metric tons of food aid were positioned in neighboring countries awaiting Israeli permission.
Questions remain about who will govern Gaza after Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in the ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended the previous ceasefire in March, suggested Israel could resume its offensive if Hamas fails to disarm. He has pledged that the next stage would bring Hamas’ disarmament.
The scale of Gaza’s destruction will become clearer if the truce holds and the death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are found.
A displaced Palestinian boy carries a board Saturday as he walks along the heavily damaged Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City.
Trump’s initial 20-point plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza, though the timeline is unclear.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday called for the
Gaza deployment of an international force authorized by the U.N. Security Council.
The Israeli military said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.
