Are We There Yet?

Any day now, locals hope to be using all three lanes on
their way to and from work. 10/19/19 dwm photo

M - the county highway that wraps around Lake Mendota - has been under construction north of Verona for nearly two years.

Just north of Oregon, M heads west and north to Verona, then straight north into Madison where it bends east, north, and back to the east where M ends at the intersection with State Highway 113.

It's a busy road.  The section outside of town was a quiet, two-lane country road for decades.  But it could no longer handle all the traffic.

Lots of people drive in and out of Verona working at Epic.  Others live west or south of town and pass through on their to Madison.  I've mostly avoided County M since the orange barrels moved in, only trying it on weekend mornings.

You would think installing a major four to six lane road would be enough construction.  You would be wrong.  At one point this past summer - there was only one way in or out of Verona that wasn't having work done - locals I've talked with agree the work needs to be done, but we are ready for it to end.

County M and Midtown Road - two left-turn lanes in all
directions with turn lights.  Previously, only one left turn
had their own signal. 10/19/19 (dwm)

Heavy rain last summer - a tough winter and more heavy rain this year has thrown a lot of hurdles at the hundreds of men and women working on this stretch causing delays.

One highlight is the installation of a bike path the length of the project including tunnels under two busy intersections.

I've been to the right of the white line on the old, two-lane version of County M; I'm looking forward to using the new, improved, and safer bike trail soon.

We are almost there.