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 ground breaking events for Milwaukee.

Momentum, development, and a touch of new life on South 2nd Street in Walker’s Point? Yes. The complete street redesign for S. 2nd St., was just the start. Although there is still work to be completed, the street has re-opened to two-way traffic, the bike lanes have been painted, the grass has been planted, and the wider sidewalks are in place. And now there are signs of new life on the street.

Kaufmann LeSage, led by Juli Kaufmann, plans to develop a four-story 30,000 square foot environmentally-friendly commercial building, located at 538 S. 2nd Street in the Historic Walker’s Point Neighborhood. The project, known as the Milwaukee Fix,will take green development to the next level, going beyond LEED standards.

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.

2010 appears to be the summer of road construction, more so than any summer in recent memory anyhow. The S. 2nd Street project, which was approved in December 2009 by the Common Council despite Alderman Dudzik’s last minute attempt to derail the project, officially gets going today.

The proposed improvement of S. 2nd Street, in Walker’s Point, was up for approval at the December 22nd meeting of the Milwaukee Common Council. The improvement would involve a complete street reconstruction, narrowing the street to 50 feet from 58 feet, reducing the street to one travel lane in each direction, widened sidewalks, bike lanes, street trees, improved lighting, and other amenities designed to make the street more appeal to pedestrians.

For over a year business owners, property owners, and residents in Walker’s Point have worked to have S. 2nd Street rebuilt with people in mind. The plan, as UrbanMilwaukee.com has covered in past, includes narrowing the street from 58 feet to 50 feet, removing travel lanes, and adding bike lanes, street trees, and new lighting with the goal of creating a street conducive to multiple modes of transportation, be it walking, biking, or driving.

“The right of way doesn’t just belong to cars,” he said. “It belongs to pedestrians and bicyclists as well.”

– U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

This past Friday a public meeting was held to discuss the reconstruction of S. 2nd Street in Walker’s Point from National Ave. north to the train tracks. As had been proposed here at UrbanMilwaukee.com, and more importantly fought for by business owners in Walker’s Point, the reconstruction will now include many features of a complete street.

The June 24th, 2009 Public Works Committee Meeting was a good day for the efforts to rebuild S. 2nd street as a complete street. The Department of Public Works presented three options as possibilities for the rebuilding of S. 2nd Street. The first option was to simply resurface the street, with essentially no pedestrian improvements. The second option would resurface the street at the same width, but would included painted bike lanes, reduced travels lanes, and street trees. However it is the third option that is closest to a complete street.