The street was a conventional four-lane undivided road until 1974, when a proposal was passed by the City of Madison to turn it into a pedestrian mall.

The east–west road allows only city buses, fire apparatus, police cars, bicycles, delivery vehicles, and pedestrian traffic.

[3] Additionally, widespread looting and vandalism occurred on State Street in May and June 2020 as a result of protests and riots related to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

[5] Just as business owners on State Street began removing boarded up windows and barricades, the Shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha lead to further civil unrest in August and September 2020.

Since 2006, the State Street Halloween party, as a result of years of riotous behaviors, has become a city sanctioned event called "Freakfest" that is now headlined by nationally known musical acts.