The replacement of the Hoan Bridge and its associated freeway ramps with a grade level route offers many opportunities but will also require the rerouting of a portion of the 40,000 motorists that travel over the Hoan Bridge each day. Although 40,000 motorists seems like a lot of traffic, history has shown in both the removal of the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco and the Park East Freeway here in Milwaukee that traffic patterns will change and the grid system will be able to support the rerouted traffic.

To put this rerouted traffic on to the grid a few changes will be required to link the Lake Parkway in to the system. First I-794 should be replaced with an at grade extension of the Lake Parkway. Although this will undoubtedly cause the loss of federal dollars it will also reduce some of the traffic taking this route merely by removing the interstate from maps. The road itself could be rebuilt as a parkway which would run in the current footprint of the freeway and then turn west to connect with Greenfield Avenue across a new lift bridge. Although once across the river the majority of the traffic would follow S. 1st Street into downtown, with the addition of a rebuilt S. Barclay Street and a new lift bridge connecting Walkers Point to the Third Ward the traffic could find a multiple of routes into downtown. To facilitate this rebuilding of the grid some properties on both sides of the river will need to be acquired but this is surly less expensive than a complete rebuild.

Specifically in order to connect across the river to Greenfield Avenue a road connecting to the new bridge would require the relocation of Kaszube’s Park and the acquisition of some surrounding property. This relocation could actually offer an opportunity to create a larger park that could be better separated from industrial properties in the area. This new park could be developed as a greenbelt running between the parkway and the lakefront. Further the remains of the freeway demolition could be utilized to create an expanded park much like the new Lakeshore State Park.

This is just one idea of how to possibly replace the Hoan Bridge and create a better Milwaukee in the process. Surely the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (”Wisconsin DOT”) will be investigating a variety of options in the coming months but hopefully the Wisconsin DOT will look at this as more than a demolition project and find a way to work with the city to build a better Milwaukee.
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Resolution 080271 would authorize the land sale of nineteen City of Milwaukee (RACM) properties to create three mixed-use developments within the Haymarket Square neighborhood. These three development would consist of the Sixth Street Market, Vineyard Place, and Walnut Hill. Sixth Street Market will contain an approximately 5,000 square foot food and convenience market. Vineyard Place will be a two-story building consisting of five live-work condominiums. Walnut Hill will be a four-story mixed-use building with first floor retail and on upper floors a mixture of office and residential units. Although the purchase prices was some $100,000 under the original asking price set in the City of Milwaukee’s Request for Proposal (RFP) this project is actually the combination of two separate RFP responders so it appears to be a win-win situation for the City of Milwaukee and all interested parties. Further this project is targeting a 30% Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) goal which is higher than the City of Milwaukee’s guidelines for similar projects that utilize public financing. This resolution was approved by the committee and will now go before the full Common Council.

Alderman Zielinski brought forward resolution 051036 at the request of the majority of property owners in the area to create a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay Zone in Bay View along South Shore Drive. The intent of the overlay zone is to preserve the neighborhood in its current state which this resolution will achieve but it does appear to have significant impacts on both development and environmental issues. Impacts of this resolution include the prevention of new buildings higher than forty feet, prevention of flat roofs which may make developing green roofs more difficult and require a Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) request, and has limited the maximum lot coverage to 25% of the parcel which will severely limit density. This resolution was approved by the committee and will now go before the full Common Council.

Movement may finally be occurring towards completion of the Marine Terminal Loft’s Riverwal. Resolution 080267 updated the agreement with the City of Milwaukee regarding the portion that would connect to MIAD. Further it was pointed out that the Mandel Group has received a “concrete” or legitimate bid regarding construction costs which should allow the project to move forward. This resolution was approved by the committee and will now go before the full Common Council.

Resolution 080195 which relates to storm water management regulations and that had been refered to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee after approval at the Public Works Committee was held to the call of the chair with no discussion.