Marathon to disrupt campus traffic

An estimated 3,000 Mad City Marathon runners will wind their way through parts of the UW–Madison campus and the UW Arboretum Sunday, May 30. Motorists should be on the lookout for runners and be aware of some temporary street closures.

Campus-area streets that will be closed during the event include: Babcock Drive from University Avenue to Linden Drive; Linden Drive from Babcock Drive to Elm Drive; Elm Drive to Observatory Drive; and Breese Terrace from Old University Avenue to Crazylegs Lane and Oakland Avenue.

When the largest number of runners is present, Observatory Drive will be open to westbound traffic only. When numbers begin to decrease, the eastbound lane will be opened.

Several other streets in the campus area are on the route, and will have at least one lane open to traffic at all times. Those include North Lake Street, North Park Street, University Avenue, Walnut Street and Old University Avenue.

In the UW Arboretum, traffic on McCaffrey Drive (also known as Arboretum Drive) will be restricted to eastbound only (from Seminole Highway). Westbound traffic (from the Mills Street side) will be prohibited during the run, which should end by mid-afternoon.

The marathon begins at 7:30 a.m. at Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and then heads to the north side. The first runners are expected to reach the campus around 8 a.m. or shortly thereafter.