Milwaukee Road to Get Complete Streets Upgrades

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.