“The intersection has long been a barrier between the east side and the downtown, along with being a snarling route for traffic passing through,” says Covert. “Decking the roadway would address both of those issues.”

The Madison Design Professionals Workgroup in 2010 first proposed lowering a portion of John Nolen Drive to expand Law Park and connect the downtown to the lakefront as part of their "Design Visions for the City of Madison Downtown Plan." Those recommendations included filling the Lake Monona shoreline to create more park space.

But when the City Council adopted a new Downtown Plan in 2012 it removed any recommendation to fill the lake amid environmental concerns. This new plan gets around the question of lake fill by creating new open space out of the highway corridor.

“I know people have been talking about some sort of bridge connection from downtown to the lake but why not look bigger at this?” says Covert.