New Stoplights on Wells St.

Wasting no time, the Department of Public Works has already began work on the conversion of Wells Street to a two-way street throughout downtown.  In particular, new street lights have gone up at the intersections of Milwaukee Street and Wells Street, and Jefferson Street and Wells Street

The city is evidently moving quickly to insure the street is ready before the Wisconsin Avenue bridge closing, because this two-way conversion will provide better access to multiple businesses in Westown that would otherwise be difficult to access during the closing.  This short-term need is certainly important and was the impetus for the change, but the long-term need is just as significant.

Eliminating this multi-lane, one-way expressway will improve downtown Milwaukee’s pedestrian and retail environment, while also improving access for people driving to their destinations.  As has been seen after the conversion of E. State Street, it will significantly reduce the rampant speeding that occurs regularly on Wells St. which will make the street more comfortable to cross and walk along.  Additionally, two-way streets eliminate the need to endlessly circle the block, while improving accessibility for people unfamiliar with the area.  Further, in conjunction with lower traveling speeds it will improve visibility to businesses along Wells Street making the street more desirable to retail locations, and in turn to pedestrians.  All are good reasons to consider converting the street back to two-ways, and when it’s all put together it is a simple choice, Wells Street can be oriented for speeding and a handful peak travel days or for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and business owners daily use.

Although there is a small possibility the street could revert to one-way travel after the Wisconsin Avenue bridge rebuild completion, it is more likely people will forget it was ever a one-way street.  Much of  State Street, Milwaukee Street, Jackson Street, Van Buren Street and Broadway have been converted to two-way streets in the past twenty years, and all have helped to improve downtown Milwaukee’s built environment, for the pedestrian, business owner, and even the person behind the wheel.  Seeing that none of these streets have been converted back to one-way streets, it is more than likely that Wells Street will have the same success.

Living Building. 538 S. 2nd Street, Milwaukee, WI

Not only is there a planned ground breaking ceremony this Thursday, May 19th, for the Milwaukee Fix, but also a ribbon cutting for the redesigned S. 2nd Street.  Both of these developments are groundbreaking events for Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Fix, a four-story, 30,000 square-foot building, is being developed by Kaufmann LeSage, and is the first new development along this stretch of road in quite some time.  The building itself is groundbreaking as it was designed to meet the Living Building Standard which includes requirements such as the building needs to be net zero energy, operate carbon neutral, and seeks to reach zero waste.  Additionally, the building has a long list of tenants lined up including the Clock Shadow Creamery, Aurora Walker’s Point Community Clinic, The Healing Center, and CORE El Centro.

The celebration will also feature a ribbon cutting of the newly redesigned S. 2nd Street, which again is groundbreaking in its own right because the redesign represents a shift from old ideas in traffic engineering to new ones.  In particular from concepts that always favored traffic speeds and flow, to ones that considers walkability, the role that the built environment plays in creating value, and to value other modes of transportation.  It took the combined efforts of local business and property owners, with the vital assistance of the Department of Public Works to accomplish this change, and here at UrbanMilwaukee.com we applaud this effort.

These efforts celebrate the continuation of economic development, and positive momentum in Walker’s Point, in particular on S. 2nd Street. Stop by the event on Thursday, May 19th, at the SE corner of Bruce and S. 2nd Street. and at the Milwaukee Brewing Company, to help the neighborhood, and the city, celebrate this progress.

Event Activities:

4:30 pm … Milwaukee Fix groundbreaking on the SE corner of Bruce and 2nd.
5:00 pm … Milwaukee Brewing Company doors open for celebration.
5:30 pm … S. 2nd St. ribbon cutting ceremony and speeches.
6:00-9:00 pm … Local music, food, beer, spirits and businesses.

Sabbatic

After years of working with the Department of Public Works, neighborhood residents, property owners, and business owners were able to convince the City of Milwaukee to redesign S. 2nd Street to fit the needs of the neighborhood.  To look beyond building freeways through our city, and instead to focus on people instead of cars, walkers instead of speeders, neighbors instead of commuters, and active businesses instead of boarded-up warehouses. The plan included ideas such as wider sidewalks, street trees, bike lanes, and the removing a lane of automobile traffic.

While construction has been on-going for several months now, the first stage of construction is complete and the second stage is underway.  The second stage includes the reconstruction of the eastern section of the roadway and sidewalk, and installing new grass, trees, and lighting.  Although the time during construction is difficult for local business, and is certainly an on-going struggle, the redesign was widely supported in the neighborhood.

Here at UrbanMilwaukee.com we’re happy to see these kind of quality of life, urban improvements moving along and want to do our part to help businesses through the construction. So please join us for our first UrbanMilwaukee.com S. 2nd Street Happy Hour.  We’ll be having it at Sabbatic on Friday, October 15th, 2010 starting at 5 pm.  Stop in for one before you head out for Gallery Night.

Proposed Redevelopment Site

This conversion project will involve more variables, than the E. State St. project as it has some differences from E. State St.  It is on the route of the planned Milwaukee Streetcar, the corner of Milwaukee St. and Wells St. has long been proposed as a site ready for a significant redevelopment, and it runs through Cathedral Square, an area of heavy evening pedestrian traffic.  Keeping these factors in mind, an important section of E. Wells St., is poised to become more of an activated street with pedestrians and transit riders in the near future, a dramatic change from its current use as a freeway.

To accomplish this properly, focusing on the pedestrian environment needs to be given higher priority than peak automobile traffic days.  The design should make the daily experience more enjoyable to pedestrians by removing a travel lane, converting the street to two-way traffic, possibly adding curb-separated or standard bike lanes, and adding the streetcar and its tracks.  Potentially curb bump-outs and enhanced materials could be utilized at the Jefferson St. and Jackson St. intersections to enhance the square, and streetcar stops need to be designed to fit the character of the area.

If done correctly, reconfiguring this street for two-way traffic, with pedestrians in mind, can improve safety and connectivity, build upon neighborhood assets, all the while building a pedestrian-friendly environment conducive to growth of the neighborhood.

The goal behind the plan is to help create an identity or brand for the area, to bring more life and vibrancy to the business district, and in turn spur further economic development in the area. Clearly, this is not just a good idea, but one that could help transform a street into the next vibrant Milwaukee district. This complete street design could be the little push this area needs to get it over the top. For example, projects such as the recently redeveloped Everit Knitting Company building could reap the benefits of this improved design because the area would become visual more appealing, offering a feeling of safety and security instead of deindustrializing deterioration which could help attract tenants that may have otherwise been uncertain of the area. With the help of graphic artist Kieran Sweeney the stark difference between the current street and just one example of what could be accomplished is shown below.

Before:

After:

Despite the desires of local property and business owners, somewhere within the walls of City Hall, possibly within the Department of Public Works, or likely on the freeway to Madison this idea has encountered one large speed bump. This speed bump isn’t because it isn’t a great idea or one worthy of effort, it surely is, but because of the funding mechanism which is intended to be used to fund the repaving of S. 2nd St. In this case it appears a future 2nd St. repaving project will utilize state funds which unfortunately come with design guidelines inconsistent with an urban environment, because these guidelines are based on traffic count baselines developed solely to facilitate motorized travel. These guidelines include things like high speed turn lanes, multiple travel lanes, wide roads, little or no streetscaping, and the elimination of “vehicular obstacles” (trees) all of which are generally speaking road features designed for Brookfield, not for a walkable urban environment. Although, WisDOT regulations and the fear of losing out on funding is holding this concept back at this time, Alderman Bauman has shown with his efforts on State St., that it is possible to direct state road funds towards more creative uses than new asphalt.

Hopefully, state and local officials will realize the value of rebuilding S. 2nd St. as more than an automobile sewer, so that it can spur economic development and become an example of how streets should be rebuilt throughout the City of Milwaukee.

The 2007-08 Winter has not had periodic melts which would normally allow residents to clean their yards throughout the winter.  Litter and pet wastes have accumulated and been covered by snow.  The upcoming thaw will reveal these items.

Besides being unsightly, adverse health conditions can occur if litter and pet wastes are not removed.  Beginning on Monday, March 17th, the City of Milwaukee will engage in an aggressive campaign to inspect and clean properties.

The City cannot do this alone.  All City residents are asked to clean their yards and remove litter and pet waste.  Bag the litter and debris and place it in the garbage cart.

If the amount of items does not fit in the collection cart, please take them to the self-help stations located at either 6660 N. Industrial Rd. or 3811 W. Lincoln Ave.  Current hours of operation are Monday-Saturday 7:00am-3:00pm.  Spring and summer hours will begin April 6th: Monday-Saturday 7:00am-6:00pm and Sunday 9:00am-3:00pm.

Inspectors from the Department of Neighborhood Services will be out in neighborhoods soon and will issue orders for garbage nuisances.   Please be part of the solution to this year’s litter issue:  clean up your yard.   Property owners are ultimately responsible for the yards of the properties they own.  Please save yourself the expense of requiring the City to have your yard cleaned. If it is in your yard, it is your responsibility no matter who left it there.

Consider organizing a neighborhood or block clean-up.  Contact Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful at 272-5462 for more information,  supplies and reward cards.  This would be a great opportunity to assist elderly or infirm neighbors who have difficulty cleaning their own yards.

Thank you for helping clean up Milwaukee. 

Enjoy Spring!

As a side note, it’ll cost $120,000 out of the city’s contingency fund.  I don’t drive (read: ride) enough, and haven’t been biking lately to know if this is money well spent.

About 100 solar shelters will be installed next year by the company that has the contract for shelter advertising. The installation will save the city an estimated $20,000 in electricity costs every year, according to Heramb.

I don’t know if they’ve considered this, but what if you turned these solar powered bus stops into a decentralized grid of power centers?  Why stop at just powering the light at the bus stop?  Why not power all the street lights on the block?  Why not power the new electronic parking meter LUKE too?

Imagine all Department of Public Works property throughout the city of Milwaukee being powered by a money-saving distributed network of solar panels on top of MCTS bus stops.
I would imagine Milwaukee could save a lot of money doing this and improving on an idea started by our friends to the south.