MADISON (WKOW) — Shake the Lake is a huge summer party that takes a lot of work behind the scenes.
If you’re going, expect to see Madison Police officers out in force.
“There’s a significant drain on our staffing,” Captain Jason Freedman, with the Madison Police Department said. “We’re in the triple digits between our various different units operating, we’re also being supported by not only other city agencies but county will have boat patrol.”
MPD will even deploy two drones to help with everything from finding lost kids, to directing emergency crews toward people who need help.
Of the city departments making sure Shake the Lake goes smoothly, MPD bares the brunt of the staffing challenges.
When it comes to taking care of trash, manning the parks along the shore, and all the other behind the scenes tasks, dozens of smaller city departments share the load.
“Since we’ve been doing Shake the Lake for five years, it’s definitely routine but it’s delightfully routine,” Katie Crawley with the City of Madison said. “For the rest of the city, it’s work but it’s a collaborative effort.”
One of those teams is the City Traffic Engineering Department that has worked with MPD to lessen the effect of the congestion.
Even though a major portion of John Nolen Drive will be closed, increasing traffic around the Isthmus, the city says don’t avoid downtown, much of it will still be accessible.
“The last message that we want to send out is to avoid the area unless you’re coming to Shake the Lake because there’s all sorts of things going on downtown and we want to make sure people understand that,” Crawley said.
All they ask for is patience.
More details on the event are available here.
WKOW 27 News