Urban Milwaukee » Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee Approves New Milwaukee Bike Plan

Dave Reid — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:36:50 +0000

Bike Racks

The Bicycle Master Plan was presented to the Public Safety Committee at the September 16th, 2010 meeting. Its goal is to encourage safe riding, increase ridership, and to make bicycling safe for beginning riders. Alderman Kovac, a sponsor of the legislation, put it well saying that the plan, “is for more timid riders.” To accomplish the goals laid out in the plan it proposes an eventual $8.63 million investment in new bike infrastructure, as well as support for safety and enforcement programs. At this point no funding has been budgeted as the plan is simply a guide for the city to follow when paving projects come up. Further, it will assist the city in obtaining grants as they become available. New infrastructure will include striping new bike lanes, building bike boulevards, adding new trails, as well as innovative new concepts such as bike boxes, raised bike lanes, and a pilot bike-sharing system.

Dave Schlabowske, City of Milwaukee Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator explained that “the bicycle story is really a good one,” as ridership in Milwaukee has risen following the previous bicycle plan.

Alderman Witkowski asked about the potential side benefits of bike lanes, in particular he was hinting at its traffic calming impacts. Jeff Polenske, City Engineer, explained that adding bike lanes “provides a little bit greater order,” and that “some look at it as a means of traffic calming.” Alderman Witkowski followed up that his experience has been that the perceived narrowing caused by adding bike lanes has gotten people to drive a little closer (slow down) to the speed limit.

The plan was approved unanimously and will now go before the full Common Council.

Milwaukee Police District Boundaries Redrawn – Will Affect New UWM Dorm

Jeramey Jannene — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:36:16 +0000

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has had his new police district boundaries approved by the Common Council Public Safety Committee. The new boundaries will have the most significant affects on the East and South sides of Milwaukee.

A looming issue with the construction of the new UWM dorm on the Hometown site on North Avenue was that it it will sit on the dividing line of the first and fifth districts. Concerns were raised at the public meetings preceding the approval of the dorm that policing may be an issue in the area. The new boundaries should eliminate any potential communication issues by placing officers near the new dorm in the same district.

The existing UWM Riverview Residence Hall will be now be in District 5, which will encompass all of the Riverwest, Brewers Hill, and Harambee neighborhoods as well as a few more neighborhoods to the northwest. While the existing Riverview Residence Hall was originally on the North Avenue dividing line as well, it did not draw the same concerns from neighbors as no one lives south of the dorm until you hit Commerce Street and the Beerline B neighborhood.

Old Districts

New Districts

Larry Sandler at the Journal Sentinel has more information on the South Side redistricting.

Public Safety Committee June 19th, 2008 Meeting Notes

Dave Reid — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:49:35 +0000

Resolution 080295, sponsored by Alderman Bauman, is the next in a line of files where he has worked to improve the pedestrian experience within the City of Milwaukee. The resolution would complete the conversion of Wells Street to two-ways which he explained would improve the pedestrian environment by slowing traffic. Additionally he pointed out other benefits of two-way streets including that it will “help in connection with retail and commercial activity on the streets”. The portion had been left uncompleted due to property owner concerns as well as concerns over road configurations that would not of been ideal in connection with existing highway ramps. These ramps have since been removed during the Marquette Interchange reconstruction and are no longer a concern of the Department of Public Works. This file was held to allow for more details regarding cost but it appeared to have broad support on the committee.

A second file sponsored by Alderman Bauman was file 080294 which proposed the re-striping of West Saint Paul Ave. to improve safety during winter conditions and access to the Intermodal Station. These changes became needed after West Saint Paul Ave. was recently converted to two-way access. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Public Safety Committee March 26th, 2008 Meeting Notes

Dave Reid — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:17:47 +0000

Resolution 071566 recommended converting a one block stretch of North Broadway between East Michigan Street and East Clybourn Street from one-way to two-way. Alderman Bauman commented that “many of the property owners as well as prospective developers of what ought to be considered prime real estate have indicated to us that the absence of two way operation, even modified two-way operation of the type being proposed here, is a significant impediment to their ability to develop that property.” Although this conversion will increase street access to a portion of North Broadway it does not convert the block of North Broadway underneath I794 to two-way leaving a gap in the connection between Downtown and the Third Ward. This resolution was passed by the Committee and will move on to the full Common Council for approval.