Q. Why does the street numbering on Highland Avenue seem so confusing? UW Hospital is 600, the Health Sciences Learning Center is 750, the American Family Children's Hospital is 1655, and across the street the Waisman Center is 1500. And where does Highland end?A. The general rule in Madison is that on north-south streets, addresses on the east side are odd and those on the west side are even. On east-west streets, the south side is odd; the north side even.
For streets that curve, as Highland does around the UW-Madison medical complex, the rule is applied as the orientation of the street changes, said Gary Brown, campus planning director for the university.
UW Hospital and the Health Sciences Learning Center, on the west side of north-south Highland, have even numbers. The Waisman Center, on the north side of east-west Highland, also has an even number.
The children's hospital, on the east side of north-south Highland, has an odd number. (So, too, does the new Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research, at 1111, on the south side of east-west Highland; the second and third towers of the institute also will have odd numbers, likely in the 1200s and 1300s, Brown said.)
The progression of numbers jumps significantly between buildings to leave room for possible future buildings or parking lots and because "it's not really an exact science like it is on a residential street," Brown said.
Highland, which begins at Regent Street, ends at University Bay Drive, at the top of the hill just west of the children's hospital.
-- David Wahlberg
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