The John Nolen Drive causeway is now an indispensable gateway to Madison, providing passage over Lake Monona for anyone traveling from south of the city to downtown and points north and east. But it’s relatively new on the scene, built less than 60 years ago. Before then, people driving from south of the city would have to travel around Lake Monona to reach downtown.
There had been passage over the lake by train since the 1850s, when, according to Historic Madison Inc., “one of the first railroads to reach Madison from the south” was built across Monona Bay. “For more than a century, until the construction of John Nolen Drive, the railroad causeways and bridges provided the only shortcut from the south side of the lake into Madison.”
Another fun fact, provided by Historic Madison: “Madison is one of the few places in the world where two railroad tracks cross each other over water.”…