$4,200 a year.

According to the Oil Price Information Service the average U.S. family spent $4,200 on gasoline in 2011.  To put it in perspective, with that much money you could buy eight iPad 2s, or eight Trek 7.1 FX bicycles, or you might even purchase one expensive cruise to Dubai to see what your gas money is building.

What if you could cut your spending on gas substantially.  Would you?  Could you?

Here’s how:

The primary method to reduce spending on gasoline is to live in a dense walkable neighborhood that has shops and services within walking distance. Due to the degree of job sprawl that has occurred in the U.S. it might be difficult for your family to live, work, and play all in the same neighborhood, but living in a walkable neighborhood will still significantly reduce the need to drive because you will be able to replace some vehicle trips with walking trips.  For example, the ability to replace a three mile drive to the grocery store with a two block walk to the store is possible in a walkable neighborhood, but generally not possible in suburbia.  And it is the replacement of these additional trips, not just the commute to work, that can add up to substantial savings.

In addition to living in a walkable neighborhood another method to reduce spending on gasoline is to replace some automobile trips with bicycle trips.  Considering that 50% of all car trips are two miles or less, riding a bicycle for at least some of these trips is not only possible, but it is often more convenient.  Despite what some conservative bloggers may believe, it is in fact possible to carry groceries, run errands, and travel to business meetings on a bicycle.  Riding a bicycle for some trips expands the distance you can travel, beyond walking, and still allows you to avoid the high cost of gasoline.

Finally, to save money and cut down on trips to the gas station, you can use mass transit to replace automobile trips.  One year of bus rides on the Milwaukee County Transit System only costs $768.  Despite years of service cuts and fare increases, taking the bus for a variety of trips, be it commuting or just getting around, is still possible on MCTS and is still a great way to drive less and save more.

You and your family may not be able to go car-free, but quite simply to save on your gas bill live in a walkable neighborhood, ride a bike, and catch the bus.

The Moderne

As the US economy continued its slow recovery from the Great Recession, Milwaukee was left with a couple of failed development projects to complete, a changing real estate market, the opportunity to make small infrastructure changes, and questions about the future of transit.  In 2011, some of these ‘failed projects’ moved towards becoming successes, while the developers in town shifted from condominium development to apartments and hotels.  Small changes to the built environment came in the form of new bike infrastructure, and the conversion of streets to two-way traffic.  Although the Milwaukee County Transit System once again faced budget cuts, there was movement in bringing new modern transit service to Milwaukee in the form of express busing.

First Place on the River, Park Lafayette, and The Residences on Water all ended up in serious financial trouble, and in some cases in drawn out legal battles.  Park Lafayette, which had been considered by many a failure, became a turnaround success under the guidance of the Mandel Group in 2011 as it was converted from high-end condos to luxury apartments, and today it is 93% occupied.  Equally as impressive of a turnaround story is The Point on the River (formally First Place on the River).  The developer had run out of funding, and once the lending bank took over they brought in the  Mandel Group to complete the project.  Ever since, Mandel Group and Garrison Partners have been steadily selling units in the project, and while there were over 45 units available this time last year there are only 11 available for sale today.  The one significant project that has yet to be resolved is The Residences on Water, but signs indicate that the drawn out legal battle surrounding it is coming to a close.

The apartment market saw continued development through a strong reliance on WHEDA tax credits and other forms of  government financing (due to the weakened financial industry).  The construction of the Beerline B Apartments, which is being funded with WHEDA tax credits, nears completion.  Another WHEDA funded project, the 73-unit National City Lofts in Walker’s Point, began accepting tenants in October.  Although Mercy Housing Lakefront’s East Side apartment proposal received various city approvals, and appeared on the verge of moving forward, it failed to obtain WHEDA tax credits to support the funding of the project.  The second phase of The North End development, which will include two buildings and 155-units, gained approval for a $4.6 million loan from the City of Milwaukee and will utilize $26.9 million in WHEDA bonding to construct the project.  The most visible development in 2011 has been the construction of  the 30-story 203-unit apartment building, The Moderne.  It was financed with a $42.4 million loan from the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT), a $9.3 million loan by the City of Milwaukee, and $5 million private equity, and expects to be topping off in early 2012.

Hotel development became a hot area of development and controversy in 2011.  The controversial Marriott Hotel project was approved by the city, and in part because of the debate more of the historic buildings than originally proposed will be saved.  Unlike the Marriott project, two other downtown hotels are being developed within historic structures without significant demolition.  A proposal that would develop a Hilton Gardens Hotel within the Historic Loyalty Building in downtown Milwaukee worked through legal issues allowing for construction to get underway.  At The Brewery, Gorman & Company has started the redevelopment of the former brewhouse building into a boutique hotel.

Alterra's On-Street Bicycle Corral

The built environment saw small, but important improvements in 2011.  Wells Street was finally converted to two-way traffic and carmaggedon didn’t follow.  The streetscaping of Broadway in the Historic Third Ward, which will tie the district together, is finally being completed.  Bay View saw Milwaukee’s first raised bike lane built, and on-street bike corrals began popping up on streets around the East Side.  S. 2nd Street, in Walker’s Point, re-opened with the new street redesign, and quickly saw numerous establishments add cafe seating, and a the construction of a new building, the Milwaukee Fix, get underway.

Transit both made steps forward and steps backwards in 2011.  As we believed would happen, cuts to mass transit funding were deep at the state level, and threatened to push MCTS off the cliff.  Although new County Executive Chris Abele worked to maintain transit service by converting some routes to express routes to save money, this still represented a net reduction in service.  At the same time, the Milwaukee Streetcar project was approved by the Common Council on a 10-5 vote this year and has now proceeded into final engineering.  Though as we feared a challenge is being made to Milwaukee’s local control.  Brett Healy, of Oconomowoc, has petitioned the Public Service Commission to rule that, despite local ordinance, the City of Milwaukee must pay the cost to re-locate utilities operating in the public rights-of-way necessitated by the streetcar construction.

In 2011 Milwaukee continued to face a difficult financial and political environment, but managed to move forward on improvements to the built environment, transit, and many significant development projects.

Gas Price in Milwaukee 3/10/2011

Recently, multiple attempts to cut or eliminate bicycle and pedestrian funding from the federal transportation budget have been proposed under the premise that these funds are needed to rebuild America’s infrastructure.   Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma attempted to “hold” the transportation extension to pass an amendment, which would have eliminated the funding for Transportation Enhancements program,  Congressman John Mica of Florida proposed eliminating the Transportation Enhancements and Recreational Trails program, and on this past Tuesday Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky attempted to divert these same funds to bridge repair.  So far all of these measures have failed.   The program in questions takes a small portion of the Highway Trust Fund to pay for bicycle and pedestrian facilities to improve accessibility, mobility, and develop multi-modal transportation systems in communities across the US.

Despite the stated reasons for these attempts at cutting bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure funding, these measures have simply been a distraction from the truth and fail to address the real issues.  To be perfectly clear, completely cutting the Transportation Enhancements program, about 2% of the transportation budget, will not make a dent in the massive shortfall needed to fund our bloated highway system, but it will reduce our quality of life.

Quite simply the problem is that the gas tax is too low.  Unfortunately, instead of working on a solution to our road funding woes we are arguing over the 2%, while ignoring the 98%.

The federal gas tax has been set at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993.  Robin Williams was staring in Mrs. Doubtfire, and the Chicago Bulls were just wrapping up their first three-peat.  It’s been awhile.  Having not been raised in years, the gas tax has not kept up with the rate of inflation, let alone the cost of new highway spending. The problem isn’t the pennies spent on biking, and pedestrian improvements.  The problem is the fact that no one wants to pay for that newer, bigger, better interchange, that extra lane to ‘reduce’ congestion, and that new off-ramp to Nowhere, USA.

Redirecting 2% of federal transportation funding isn’t how America will rebuild its infrastructure.  If America wants to rebuild its infrastructure it is time to raise the gas tax and index it to inflation.

Chris Socha, of The Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc., trying out the new bike corral at Cafe Hollander

Last week marked the installation of another on-street bike corral in Milwaukee.  The newest on-street bike corral is located at Cafe Hollander on Milwaukee’s East Side.  The first corral was installed by Alterra Coffee on Prospect Ave. and includes fencing that acts as a piece of public art.  The last two corrals installed, one at the Nomad and the latest one at Cafe Hollander, are of a simple design, but both add more parking for more people to use.  As with the other installations the business owner paid for the corral’s construction and installation, and in the case of the new Cafe Hollander corral it utilizes recycled bike staples.

The on-street bike corral pilot program, which was created by the City of Milwaukee and driven forward by Chris Socha, of The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. initially included these three corrals.  And clearly, the program has experienced strong support from the City of Milwaukee, Alterra Coffee, and the Lowlands Group, but with the first three bike corrals proposed under the city’s pilot program having all now been installed where’s next?

Our readers have suggested The Comet, Honey Pie, Riveria Maya, Fuel, The Tracks, Whole Foods, Bradley Center, City Hall, Alterra Foundry, Cafe Benelux, The Public Market, Old World Third St., 2nd St. and National Ave., Lincoln Ave. and Kinnickinnic Ave., and Oakland Ave near Locust St.  Any more?

Nomad's On-Street Bike Corral

Portland has 67 on-street bike corrals, while Milwaukee now has two.   With the latest being installed this past week at the Nomad on the Lower East Side.  The Nomad’s new bike corral is located in an unused space along Warren St., and just as Alterra’s on-street bike corral, its installation removed no automobile parking spots.  In fact this installation added a net of sixteen (it added nine bike racks, while one rack was removed from the sidewalk) new parking spots for customers of the Nomad and surrounding businesses, albeit bicycle parking spots.

Unlike Alterra’s bike corral, which in addition to its intended functional use acts as a piece of public art, this rack is simple and to the point.  Parking your bicycle here is secure, common, and provided.  The design of this installation (additional border markings yet to be installed) is  more typical of the design seen in cities such as Portland and Minneapolis, and we would expect to see this design installed around Milwaukee as new businesses choose to incorporate on-street bike corrals into their business plan.

It is our understanding that Milwaukee’s third bike corral is in the works, so as soon as it is installed we’ll let you know.  Additionally, we wanted to know from you, where might you think a new on-street bike corral could work?  Let us know via email or the comments below.

B-Cycle station in Madison, WI

Bike-sharing is coming to Milwaukee, or at least to Discovery World for a limited time.  On Thursday June 23rd, from 11am-2pm, B-Cycle, a partnership between Humana, Trek Bicycle and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, will be bringing their 5-bike, demonstration station to Discovery World.   Representatives of B-Cycle will give a presentation, allow people to test ride the B-Cycle bikes, and use an operational docking station.  B-Cycle has rolled out bike-sharing in Denver, Chicago, Des Moines, San Antonio, Kailua, Boulder, Madison, Omaha and Madison.

Bike-sharing can be an effective method of alternative transportation and can act as a pedestrian accelerator allowing the system to replace short automobile trips with bike rides reducing congestion and parking needs.  For example, a system here in Milwaukee would allow users to check out a bicycle to go to the grocery store, visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, or go to dinner on Milwaukee Street without getting in to an automobile.

Milwaukee’s neighboring cities of Minneapolis, Chicago, and Madison have recently implemented bike-sharing systems.   Just recently Madison installed a starter B-Cycle system of 300 bicycles.  Chicago started with a small system of 100 bicycles and six stations, but continues to expand the system.  And even very cold weather Minneapolis implemented a bike-sharing system.  A system that started with 65 stations with 700 bicycles, and due to high utilization added an additional 40 stations in short order.  Minneapolis, Chicago, and Madison show that even a cold weather city can implement a bike-sharing system, is Milwaukee next?

Alterra's On-Street Bicycle Corral

One of the competitive advantages of urban living is having activities that are useful in many areas of your life. Biking is great example of this; people can ride their bikes to work, or go for a pleasure ride on the weekend. Both Milwaukee and Madison are leaders in providing great biking options and have been recognized on Bicycling Magazine’s “America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities”. Milwaukee has created a vast amount of bike infrastructure from the Hank Aaron State Trail to the recent addition of an on-street bike corral at Alterra’s Prospect Ave. location. There are many events at CNU 19 planned to take advantage of Madison’s biking amenities, including daily fitness rides. On Wednesday, the Congress kicks off by blending urban theory with an enjoyable bike ride in an event called “Bike the Transect: Urban to Rural Link”.

The Transect is part of the New Urbanism Lexicon and it refers to rural to urban land-use patterns. A simple example is thinking of Wisconsin State Parks as a transect zone 1: nature preserve and downtown Milwaukee as a transect zone 6: urban core, and everything in-between varying from a T-1 to a T-6. Biking through these urban zones makes it is possible to show how urban design works for a variety of urban densities. Building placement, street design, public spaces, sidewalks, and landscape all have changing characters at different densities, which are apparent to the trained eye. Part of the ride will also be to enjoy John Nolen’s plan of Madison first hand before the scheduled sessions about John Nolen at the Congress.

The New Urbanism approach to mobility is to provide equal priority to all modes of transportation, so it is natural that bicyclists are interested in CNU principles that balance bike mobility with the automobile. Providing bike lanes and independent bike paths can help to foster a sense of community by creating opportunities for social interaction. The many questions that lay at the intersection of bike advocacy and urban design are the subject of a breakout session on Thursday titled “New Urbanism and the Bicycle: A Dialogue”.

Practicing urban design and architecture is by its nature an exercise in Humanism. Pedestrians and bicyclists experience the public realm in a more intimate way than do people in mechanized modes of transit. There are many similarities between bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly places, these similarities, the differences, and how to create them in car-centric environments will be the topic of a Friday breakout session “Peds and Pedalers: the Walking and Biking Connection”.

To those who enjoy the use of their bikes there is little question as to the value of a bike-friendly city. A Saturday breakout session “Bikeability: What’s it Worth?” will explore how to measure the value that it brings to a community and how to communicate this value to the teams involved in creating urban places.

Milwaukee has shown tremendous leadership in developing as a bike friendly city; it is an aspect of the city that many residents take advantage of and enjoy. The CNU is great opportunity to showcase the bikeability of Wisconsin’s cities, as well as explore how to maintain and advance the leadership role that Milwaukee and Madison have taken in this aspect of creating human centric cities.

Guest Post by: Dr. Matthew Trussoni

Dr. Matthew Trussoni, AIA, PE is an Assistant Professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering

Alterra's On-Street Bicycle Corral

Cities such as Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Minneapolis have installed on-street bike parking in recent years, and now you can add Milwaukee to the list. The  loading zone in front of Alterra’s 2211 N. Prospect Ave. location is Milwaukee’s first on-street bicycle parking corral.  Designed by Chris Socha, of The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. and fabricated by Ryan Foat, Principal of Oxbow Studio LLC., the bike corral goes far beyond that of simply an installation of bike racks, it adds an element of public art to the street and improves the built environment.

This installation adds intrigue and functionality to the built environment, and is Milwaukee’s newest city comfort.  It makes better use of public space, and in fact has economic value to Alterra and neighboring businesses, as this bike corral can hold at least twenty bicycles (customers) at a time instead of just one car.   Its utility was clear when almost immediately after it opened up on Friday numerous bikes began filling the racks.  Additionally, this installation keeps the sidewalk clear for pedestrians and allows for more space to be dedicated for cafe seating at retail establishments.

I’m sure some will only see it as a bike rack, but in addition to being an improvement to Milwaukee’s built environment, this installation is part of a continuing trend.  The City of Milwaukee has seen ridership increase over 250% over the past five years, and now businesses like Alterra are looking to improve their bike infrastructure to make Milwaukee a better place and improve their bottom line.  Clearly, biking as a form of commuting, running errands, and a part of every day life is on the rise in Milwaukee, and we at UrbanMilwaukee.com expect to see this trend continue.

Alterra's On-Street Bike Parking

Back on Park(ING) Day we wrote about the possibility of on-street bike corrals and how small changes to the built environment can help make for a better, more interesting Milwaukee.  But to create those small changes we need the City of Milwaukee and local businesses to work together to get things rolling.  Alterra is doing just that.  Alterra is working with the city to develop an on-street bike corral at Alterra’s Prospect Avenue location that will allow customers to safely and securely park their bicycle in a parking spot in front of the business.

On-street bike parking, similar to this proposal, has been tried in other cities such as Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.  These cities have implemented on-street bike parking facilities because bike corrals help with traffic calming, provide a 10-to-1 customer to parking space ratio, improve the outdoor seating environment, welcome bike riders to an establishment, clear the sidewalks for pedestrians, and act as de facto curb extensions.  With this project Milwaukee will be added to the list of forward-looking, innovative cities that are exploring multi-modal transportation options, improving the built environment, and working towards better utilization of pavement.

Alterra’s project is a great step forward, but to continue the momentum, more will need to be done to change how parking spaces are viewed and to formalize a legal and affordable process to allow installations such as these within the City of Milwaukee.  For example, in Portland a formal process has been adopted for the creation of on-street bike corrals, and now more than 60 of these facilities have been installed.   One possible solution would be to make the approval process similar to that of outdoor street dining, by making it a special privilege, which would include a minimal annual fee and straightforward guidelines.

Early renderings of the bike corral were published on OnMilwaukee.com, but the project has continued to be refined and improved.  The updated renderings, by Chris Socha of Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc., are shown below:

North end of the new Beerline Trail

On Wednesday evening, the opening of the Beerline Trail was celebrated with a ceremonial walk from Gordon Park to the Wheelhouse property. The 4000-foot, paved trail connects the Beerline neighborhood, North Avenue Dam Pedestrian Bridge, Commerce Street, and Humboldt Avenue bridge through the river corridor to Gordon Park and much of Riverwest. The trail will facilitate a better connection for non-motorized travelers between the downtown area and Riverwest. The trail also turns a former railroad corridor into a welcoming and accessible way for visitors to interact with the Milwaukee River.

The effort to build the trail dates back to 2002, and was a partnership between the River Revitalization Foundation, Milwaukee County Parks department, Riverwest Neighborhood Association, National Park Service, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The project required a number of different sponsors to happen. Labor has been provided by the City of Milwaukee’s Earn and Learn Milwaukee program, allowing high school students to get paid work experience.  An Eagle Scout project included the construction of a pathway from the future trail down to the river’s west bank and low lying trails. Over 1,000 trees have been planted in the corridor since 2002, including 60 the past week. The tree planting has been done in conjunction with the removal of buckthorn, an invasive species.  A significant land acquisition was made recently on the south end of the trail, as the River Revitalization Foundation acquired the 2.8 acre former Melanec’s Wheelhouse restaurant property for $1.4 million.  The DNR awarded the foundation a $700,000 stewardship grant, and MMSD paid the foundation $400,000 for the a conservation easement restricting development on the property. The foundation will demolish the building and parking lot to turn the land into a park space. The boat landing will be preserved thanks to a $100,000 donation from the Kiwanis Club.

The trail is an excellent addition to the city, and is yet another small piece that fills a gap in Milwaukee’s pedestrian infrastructure that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

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’s first bicycle plan came out in 1993. Since that time the city has realized most of the plan’s major recommendations and has added over 115 miles of bicycle lanes and routes to the city. The new plan lays out a Vision for Milwaukee 2020. That would include adding over 170 miles of new on-street bike infrastructure and almost 7 miles of new paved trails.

Of note, within these new lane miles the addition of Bike Boulevards is a design feature that Milwaukee hasn’t utilized in the past.  Bike Boulevards makes residential streets safer for residents and bicyclist alike by slowly automobile traffic with traffic calming measures while allowing bicycle traffic to move quickly through the neighborhood.  In addition to new Bike Boulevards the city will also experiment with Raised Bike Lanes.  Raised Bike Lanes create an element of safety and separation by elevating the riding surface slightly from the automobile lane.  For more information here is a video of Bike Boulevard’s:

Bike Sharing

The plan is broken out into two areas of recommendations.  Facility Recommendations, which focuses on the physical infrastructure, and Program Recommendations which focuses on encouragement and safety efforts.  Some highlights from the Facility Recommendations include the previously mention Bike Boulevards and Raised Bike Lanes as well the testing of bicycle boxes, providing ample bicycle parking throughout Milwaukee, and even the creation of officially designated places for mountain biking and BMX riding.  Within Program Recommendations the suggestion of piloting a bike-sharing system stands out as does working towards better enforcement of existing traffic laws for both motorists and bicyclists.

The plan still needs to be approved by the Common Council and signed by the Mayor.  To learn more about the plan there is a a public information meeting Wednesday July 14 from 4pm-7pm, with a presentation at 5pm, in the first floor conference room of the Zeidler Municipal Bldg., at 841 N Broadway.  Additionally, Dave Schlabowske, City of Milwaukee Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, is running a great series of articles on the Bicycle Plan on his blog Over the Bars in Milwaukee.