Months-long downtown streets project to begin next week  

The city Traffic Engineering Division has two construction projects planned for the Outer Loop that will begin next week, according to the city.

City Traffic Engineer David Dryer said in a news release that construction is projected to last about seven weeks for work on Fairchild and Mifflin streets and more than three months for work on Webster Street.

Fairchild Street & Mifflin Street 

Reconstruction of Fairchild Street between Mifflin Street and West Washington Avenue will begin on Monday, according to the city and Raymond P Cattell Inc.

Traffic will be reduced to one lane on this block until the completion of the project in mid-May.

Madison traffic engineering division said part of West Mifflin Street will be closed Friday for about 8.5 hours.

West Mifflin Street between North Broom and North Henry streets will be closed from 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The closure id due to the moving of a construction crane, the division said in a news release Thursday.

The division said motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes to avoid delays.

Lakes blanketed with algae, as if covered by a thick film of green paint, are a common sight in Madison summers. Organizations, individuals, and county government representatives have all been working to address the algae, but until now they mostly approached the problem separately.

The cause for clean water took another step forward with the creation of a task force meant to help coordinate efforts to reduce phosphorus -- and thus reduce toxic algae blooms that arise from phosphorus pollution -- in the Yahara Watershed. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi signed the county resolution on Feb. 25 authorizing the formation of the Clear Lakes Task Force.

“From the county executive’s perspective, this is probably the most exciting public policy effort that’s under way right now in Dane County,” said Josh Wescott, the county executive’s chief of staff.