The city will reduce vehicle lanes and build a protected multi-use trail including bioswales and other water retention features on its ‘secret highway.’
An underused stretch of a Milwaukee road will be transformed into “an environmentally and people-friendly corridor,” writes Jeramey Jannene in Urban Milwaukee.
The strip is located on 1st Street, sandwiched between the Kinnickinnic River and a steep hill. As Jannene explains, “There are no sidewalks or pedestrian accommodations to be found on the approximately half-mile, four-lane stretch, and there is little traffic. There are no homes or businesses. The only driveway is a chained-off ramp to a Deep Tunnel access point.” Now, the city has announced it will reduce vehicle lanes from four to two and add a 10-foot-wide pedestrian and bike path and bioswale.
The design will increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists and also improve drainage by reducing paved surface area. “The bioswales and other environmental features are expected to add almost 91,000 gallons of storm water storage capacity, and 40 trees are expected to be planted.”
The project is funded in part by grants from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes program.
FULL STORY: Milwaukee Will Shrink Its Secret Highway
Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
Milwaukee Announces 60 Traffic Calming Projects for 2025
The city has successfully reduced traffic deaths and aims to eliminate them completely within the next decade.
Milwaukee Traffic Safety Projects To Receive $8.5 Million in TIF Funds
The city hopes to combat a growing reckless driving 'crisis' with traffic calming, bike lanes, and other projects aimed at improving roadway safety.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association