I-94 Construction

Welcome to the second weekly installment of Eyes on Milwaukee, a new column running down what’s happening in urban Milwaukee.

Did Milwaukee Dodge a Bullet by Failing to Land Kohl’s HQ?

The relationship between Target and Minneapolis has recently shown that Milwaukee might have dodged a bullet by failing to land Kohl’s. Target recently announced they’re moving 3,900 jobs from their downtown headquarters to a suburban location. Curiously they’re also leasing an additional 200,000 square-feet of space downtown, and have acquired a handful of nearby parcels.

I know big projects are sexy, but give me 1,000 five-employee companies before one 5,000 employee company who demands large public subsidies.

New Highway Construction in Milwaukee County

The Hoan Bridge was known as the “Bridge to Nowhere” for a number of years, and with a proposed extension of the Lake Parkway could become known as the “Bridge to a 200 Million Dollar Highway that runs parallel to a 1.8 Billion Dollar Highway”. While I don’t see the new name catching on, the point still stands.

The proposed $207 million extension of the Lake Parkway (Wisconsin Highway 794) would add nearly six miles to the southern end of the highway. Supervisor Patricia Jursik has championed the plan, and views it as a first step towards extending the Lake Parkway the entire way to the Illinois state line.

Area residents will get a chance to comment on that concept at a public information meeting Wednesday at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, 901 15th Ave. The session will run from 6 to 8 p.m., mainly in open-house format, with a presentation and question-and-answer session starting at 6:30 p.m. – Journal Sentinel

Mobility is an important issue for the region, no question. I just can’t see the need to build a new freeway-grade highway in a very-low density corridor when there is a $1.8 billion project underway less than 3 miles west that will add a lane in each direction as well as a number of other congestion-reducing reconfigurations to existing interchanges and ramps.

It seems to me the more logical thing to do is to make smaller enhancements north and south, and focus on better connectivity with the recently expanded Interstate 94 to the west.

For what it’s worth, the projected capital costs of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail project were $232.7 million.

Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines Game of Musical Chairs Drawing to a Close

A lot is changing at General Mitchell these days, and that’s going to have ripple effects throughout Milwaukee. With Frontier slicing their daily departures from Milwaukee from 67 in 2011 to 20 by the summer of 2012, and reducing their workforce locally by up to 446 people, the door appears wide open for a new airline to brand itself as Milwaukee’s major airline.

Southwest Airlines is moving to take the mantle of Milwaukee’s major airline, at least for now, by paying to become the official airline of the Milwaukee Brewers.

No word yet on when the Frontier Airlines Center (formerly Midwest Airlines Center) becomes the Southwest Airlines Center.

Development News

The Potawatomi Casino Hotel was approved at the City Plan Commission on Monday and will move to the Zoning & Neighborhood Development Committee.

The East Library project, now to be known as The Standard at East Library, was also approved at City Plan Commission, but will go to the Public Works Committee (the building complies with zoning).

The owners of Casablanca won approval at the Historic Preservation Commission to erect a second-story.

The Highland Ave Pedestrian Bridge is closed (or technically speaking, open) until early March thanks to a failure of an operating valve in the bridge’s hydraulic system. Given that the Juneau Avenue Bridge is also closed, the closing is a significant inconvenience to Bradley Center event goers that arrive from east of the river and to the night-time bar patron between Old World Third Street and Water Street.

The single wind turbine the city built at the south end of the Port of Milwaukee is nearly ready for operation. It’s about half the size of the ones erected elsewhere in Wisconsin. The project was funded through a stimulus grant, the state’s Focus on Energy program, and We Energies.

The detailed plan development for the Milwaukee School of Engineering Parking Garage proposal for land that used to be in the Park East redevelopment corridor was approved by the Zoning & Neighborhood Development Committee as well as the full Common Council and is awaiting Tom Barrett’s John Hancock.

Openings and Closing

Good News

c. 1880 (which I’ve also seen titled Circa 1880), a restaurant focused on Wisconsin ingredients, is set to open at 1100 S. 1st Street in the former Marchese’s Olive Pit space.

Clutch, a previously mentioned bar/restaurant, will open as a tapas restaurant as early as late March in the former La Piazza space at 1504 E. North Ave owned by the Mandel Group. Siam “Sam” Saeng, who also co-owns Screaming Tuna in the Mandel-managed First Place on the River space is the owner of the new restaurant.

My Yo My!, a frozen yogurt shop, will open at 100 S. Water Street in Walker’s Point in early to mid-April says owner Ken Thompson.

Pizzeria Piccola, a Bartolotta group restaurant, has opened at Concourse C at General Mitchell. The menu is a somewhat smaller version of the other Pizzeria Piccola in the Wauwatosa village.

Sven’s Cafe should be opening any day now on N. Water Street in the former Steamer’s space according to their previously announced schedule.

The SURG restaurant group is taking over Bradford Beach starting this summer. The beach was formerly managed by the Hi-Hat Group.

Ugly’s Pub and Grill will open this summer in the building where Asian Mart is currently located at 1125 N. Old World Third Street.

Von Trier is set to start serving food in early March in the form of “upscale small plates”. I hope the popcorn and pretzel sticks live on.

Bad News

Asian Market will close shortly. Owner Carmelino Capati is retiring.

Libiamo’s is closing on March 24th because of a “combination of a lot of things.” Major construction (or destruction) will begin sometime in the near future to remove the adjacent Schlitz Brewhouse building. Owner Dean Cannestra also owns and operates Nessun Dorma in Riverwest.

Rupena’s at the Milwaukee Public Market is closing at the end of February. The restaurant opened at the market in late 2008, and has another location at 7641 W. Beloit Road, West Allis. The Milwaukee Public Market is finalizing a deal with another vendor for the space.

Political and Election News

Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik is apparently scared of Patrick Farley. Farley is the Milwaukee County employee who wore a wire in the Johnny Thomas bribery case. Jursik remarked “Every time I get together with Pat Farley, guess what I’m wondering.”

I was completely, 100% wrong regarding who Angel Sanchez would support in the race for 12th District Alderman. Sanchez is supporting Witkowiak. The low-turnout primary breakdown was as follows: Perez 49%, Witkowiak 35.5%, and Sanchez 15.5%.

Photo of the Week

Milwaukee map by wrokic

Wisconsin Avenue Today from Google Maps

Today, Wisconsin Avenue includes two lanes in each direction as it crosses the Marquette University campus. In addition, it includes wide sidewalks, a sizable, attractively landscaped median complete with Marquette branding, and curb space for bus stops and parking. At the time of the proposal, Wisconsin Avenue had three lanes of traffic in each direction, which enabled traffic to speed through the Marquette campus. It also lacked the wider sidewalks, and only had a small median complete with run-of-the-mill street lights. It was far from a grand avenue, and did little to make the campus seem worthy of one’s attention. Wells and State streets were also a one-way street at the time (they were converted to two-way traffic from 11th to 27th streets in 2004), further painting the campus as a mere pass-through on the way in-and-out of downtown.

In April of 1994 at the direction of the Common Council, the City Engineer coordinated a study (see: Footnote 1) of the impacts of the proposed closures, primarily on the existing transportation system. The report contains three alternatives for handling the displaced traffic, No Build, Alternate Route, and Tunnel. Ultimately, the Common Council adopted none of these plans, but for the sake of debate let’s examine them.

Background

The study includes a large amount of data, the most important of which I have attempted to include  in the scanned images shown below in the photo gallery. Of note, the closure of Wisconsin Avenue would have not only directly impact more than 22,000 vehicles per day that used the very stretch at that time, but 1,081 bus trips, totaling 17% of MCTS’s total buses in operation at the time, and approximately 22,000 daily riders.

Given the odd path the proposal took through the Common Council, and how divided the community was on the issue, there are a substantial number of articles available in the Google News archives about the topic.

Of interest, at one point covering Interstate 43 with a plaza was discussed as part of the plan. Something we’ve discussed in the past.

No Build

The No Build alternative was merely that. Close the streets to vehicular traffic at a cost of $212,000, and not provide a new thoroughfare. Buses were anticipated to be rerouted down to Clybourn Street, with an anticipated loss of 416,300 rides a year for an annual impact of $1,109,100 to MCTS. The City was expected to lose $58,600 annually. Most significant, traffic was expected to climb on Wells Street by over 30%, and on Clybourn St by nearly 60%.

This option clearly would have been the cheapest when considering the capital costs of implementing it, but it likely would have produced highly undesirable results. The additional roadways would have seen a significant increase in traffic, which would have made them nearly as bad to cross as Wisconsin Avenue was at the time (and arguably defeated the purpose of the closure). In addition, the closures would have made it more difficult to access the campus, especially given that there was no plan to convert Wells Street to two-way traffic with this alternative. Confusion to general motorists as to why a street abruptly terminated would have been a persistent cause of backups.

Tunnel

The proposed Wisconsin Avenue tunnel with the closed Wisconsin Avenue above.

I can’t imagine a tunnel was ever a serious consideration, and digging through the archives of the Journal and Sentinel seem to confirm this. Never the less, the plan called for $30,070,000 to be expended for the construction of the tunnel as well as sewer and water infrastructure relocation. Not budgeted was relocation of utilities from the Wisconsin Gas Company, Wisconsin Electric Power Company, and Ameritech. Who would have been liable for the utility relocation if the tunnel was built? Your guess is as good as mine, but it bears a bit of similarity to the current debate over the utilities and the Milwaukee Streetcar, as well as a major road project that occurred next door and required millions in utility relocation expenses, the Marquette Interchange. While providing a vehicle-free street to those above, the tunnel was expected to cost the City $46,400 annually in lost revenue and operating/maintenance costs, as well as having caused MCTS to lose 93,275 rides a year for an annual impact of $176,550.

Why this option was studied is unclear, because I can’t imagine a single scenario where Marquette, the City of Milwaukee, or the State of Wisconsin would have paid for this. Ironically, there were formerly tunnels under Wisconsin Avenue, but they were for pedestrians. They were in place from the 1930′s to the early 1970′s and were ultimately closed because of safety concerns.

While this option may have had the smallest impact on the city as a whole by still allowing traffic to flow in a near grid-like fashion through the area, I think it ultimately may have impeded access to the center of Marquette’s campus by forcing those coming by car, bus, or, at the time proposed, light rail to enter from the outside, instead of allowing street grid access to the heart of the campus today. All that in addition to the fact that the money just wasn’t there for this option.

Alternate Route

Long Diagonal Connector - Recommend Alternative

Multiple alternate routing options were studied, including a busway along Wells Street and a Short Diagonal Connector. Given that the Long Diagonal Connector with a two-way Wells Street was the recommendation of the study I will stick with discussing that. The Long Diagonal Connector was recommended because it had the smallest impact on traffic of all of the options proposed, while actually staying financially feasible, unlike the tunnel.

The Long Diagonal Connector would have pleased motorists greatly over the no-build option. It would have included the acquisition of property for a new roadway that connected West Wisconsin Avenue with Clybourn Street between 16th and 18th streets, allowing smooth access around the campus. It seems likely there would have be a great amount of political pressure applied to ensure this proposed road would be as free-flowing as possible, which in the long-run would have made Marquette seem like an island in the city by discouraging development facing it.

An additional part of the recommendation was to convert Wells Street into a two-way street from 10th or 11th to 16th or 17th streets, something that ultimately would not happen until State and Wells were both converted in 2004.

The diagonal street would have required the acquisition and demolition of buildings and parking lots, removing them from the tax-base, and no doubt influencing how and where Marquette has developed many of its recent campus additions.

The cost to build the Long Diagonal Connector and Two-Way Wells Street was estimated to be $9,840,000, with annual costs to the city of $82,900. The annual impact to MCTS was estimated to be $777,200, with a loss of 209,150 rides.

Conclusion

It’s easy to understand how the closure of Wisconsin Avenue might have seemed logical on the surface in the early 1990′s (see: Footnote 2). Wisconsin Avenue was a six-lane road, the university was struggling, the stigma of Dahmer hung over the campus (and city), Wells and State were one-way highways, and many of the new buildings along Wisconsin Avenue weren’t even on the drawing boards (Zilber Hall, Engineering Hall, the Blood Center, etc., etc.). Wisconsin Avenue was essentially a surface highway through the Marquette campus.

The proposal was sent back and forth from the full Common Council to committee multiple times, ultimately failing. At one point then-Mayor John Norquist offered his input publicly on the issue, but although his suggestions mirror how the configuration is today, even his suggestions were ignored for years.

The Avenue Commons proposal came down to one alderman in the end, with southside Alderman Robert Anderson changing his likely vote from a yes (which he voted in committee) to a no. He did so apparently at the suggestion of his wife, which angered some in the community. I’m pretty certain Anderson didn’t envision Wisconsin Avenue and Marquette interacting as they do today, but his change of heart has led to Marquette becoming a school that is well integrated into the city, and a far greater asset than it was before the proposal.

Street closures are generally a bad idea, the street grid exists to provide predictable, easy transportation for all vehicle types. Cutting off one piece not only makes that area harder to access, but increases stress on other areas of the grid. Couple that overarching philosophy with the street grids challenges near Marquette, including the vast amount of one-way streets, a number of abruptly terminating streets because of the hospital and campus, and the overwhelming barrier Interstates 43 and 94 create (and the lack of bridges that cross them), and it’s clear that closing that small stretch of Wisconsin Avenue would have seriously impeded the flow of thousands of bus riders and drivers.

It took time, until the Marquette University Campus Identity and Beautification was executed in the early 2000′s, but Marquette eventually got it right. Wisconsin Avenue is now the front-door to the campus, and an asset to the city. The street has been tweaked ever so slightly to remove a driving lane and calm traffic, streetscaping in the median has made clearly defined areas for pedestrian crossing making it safer for pedestrians and drivers, and signage has been installed to proclaim to all who cross that you are entering the Marquette campus, or rather “We Are. Marquette.”

Footnote 1 – For those interested, this report can be found at the Milwaukee Public Library. It is titled “Proposed West Wisconsin Avenue Closure – Feasibility, Cost, and Neighborhood Impact Report”. Some of the more wonk-ish reading you will ever do, but you might find it enjoyable. The scans presented in this article are from it.

Footnote 2 – The Milwaukee Sentinel (prior to the merger with the Journal) Editorial Board wrote a number of editorials endorsing the plan. They include (but aren’t limited to) editorials on April 18th, 1994, June 23rd, 1994, August 17th, 1994

Rendering of the Milwaukee Streetcar vehicle.

This week there are two important public meetings regarding the future of Milwaukee’s built environment.

Today there will be a meeting hosted by the Department of Transportation which will give residents a chance to ask questions and share opinions about the proposal to add a bike and pedestrian lane on the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge.  The meeting will be held in the DOT offices, 1001 W. St. Paul Ave., and starts at 5 p.m. The DOT planners presentation will begin at 5:15.

On Wednesday the 16th, the Federal Government will hold a Public Hearing on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Milwaukee Streetcar Project.  The meeting will be held in the Frontier Airlines Center, 410 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee First Floor, Room 101A-D (closest entrance is 4th Street & Wisconsin Avenue) and starts at 5:30 p.m.  The formal presentation will begin at 6:00 pm.

UrbanMilwaukee.com has long supported both of these projects (Bike the Hoan / Milwaukee Streetcar Project), and hopes the public comes out to show their support for these improvements to Milwaukee.

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.

This urbanist feels it is time for us to stop referring to our Interstates as “freeways” as they have never been, and never will be free, and begin collecting tolls on them.  Now the new funds shouldn’t be used to build bigger and bigger roads, but to allow for users of the Interstate system to pay more of the direct and indirect costs associated with highways.

It is often claimed that the Interstates are 100% paid for by user fees and that these fees cover all of the costs, but this isn’t true.  In 2007, Subsidyscope estimated that only 51% of the funds set aside for highway construction and maintenance came from user fees.  One glaring example of this subsidy is the simple fact that the federal highway fund has been bailed out with general funds multiple times over the years.  Additionally indirect costs and externalities are also not accounted for, such as air pollution (and the resulting health effects), blight, and the cost of congestion.

Tolling roads in Wisconsin might be possible today, because of two key changes to the landscape.  First, the technology of open road tolling has enabled states across the US to reduce the congestion and environmental issues associated with toll roads by minimizing the need to stop, while allowing users to pay more of the full cost of the highway system.  Secondly, the political opposition to toll roads in Wisconsin has weakened.  During the 2010 gubernatorial campaign Governor Walker, who had previously opposed all toll roads, expressed an openness to the creation of HOT lanes, which are essentially toll lanes.  Additionally, it was the right-wing leaning organization, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), that recently put out a report supporting new toll roads in Wisconsin.

It isn’t likely that the Walker administration and WPRI are concerned with the indirect costs or externalities brought upon by highways.  In fact it is far more likely they are interested in finding new funds for highway expansion, which is certainly a concern, but one that could be addressed in the long run.  But regardless of everyone’s motives, properly implemented tolling with the goal of paying for some, if not all, of these costs could be a positive for Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin.

Riding Over the Hoan Looks Tough - Photo by Brian Jacobson, courtesy of ThirdCoast Digest

Should the Hoan Bridge have a bike and pedestrian path or not?  According to comment section of the Journal Sentinel it appears that there are numerous ‘reasons’ why a bike lane should not be built on the Hoan Bridge, but are they really valid?

• It will be too windy, bicyclists will be blown off the bridge.
• The climb is too difficult for most bicyclists.
• It will be too dangerous.
• It will make automobile traffic congestion worse.
• It is illegal to have a bike lane on an Interstate.
• Nobody will use it during the winter.
• It will cost too much.

Certainly, wind impacts bicyclists ability to ride, but this is not a problem unique to the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee.  In fact people walk and bike over the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge regularly, so it seems the wind issue can be managed or is simply a lot of hot air.  Additionally, it should be noted that this past summer 7,000 bicyclists road over the Hoan, and not one of them was blown off.

From the ground the Hoan Bridge certainly looks like it would be a difficult climb, but again this past summer 7,000 bicyclists of all ages, including children, riding a wide range of bicycles, and of  all skill levels rode right on over it.  As one of those bicyclists, I can tell you it is not a difficult climb, in fact it is not nearly as difficult a climb as numerous of the hills located around Milwaukee that people bike over regularly.

Concerns over the safety of bicyclists are often raised, and safety should of course be a significant concern.  However, the design would not to simply paint a white stripe on the Interstate and designate a section for bicyclists.  The design would include concrete walls separating bicycle traffic from automobile traffic.  This separation would keep pedestrians and bicyclists out of automobile lanes, and of course keep automobiles out of the path, making it perfectly safe.

Some people, and one Milwaukee County Supervisor in particular, fear that removing an automobile lane would cause traffic backups and congestion.  The truth is the bridge carries just 40,000 cars a day, barely enough for it to qualify for Interstate status, and far from a two-lane highway’s capacity.  In fact the bridge likely never hits peak traffic levels, and it is also likely that the UPAF ride was among the most highly utilized couple of hours in the bridge’s history.  Further, on either end of the bridge travel lanes drop to two-lanes negating much of the value of the additional lane.  Finally, there have been numerous times when these lanes have been closed (as they are now) and traffic didn’t backup.  To make this perfectly clear, Dave Schlabowske took some videos on multiple days showing how traffic flows fine, during rush hour, without the additional traffic lane that would be removed for the bike trail.

Although, it may seem on its surface that bicyclists shouldn’t be on Interstates, the reality is that bicyclists are allowed on Interstates unless otherwise posted, which often enough individual states decided to post a restriction.  But, in the case of federally funded bridges it is actually the case that bicycle and pedestrian considerations are required by the United States Code (U.S.C.) and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in Title 23—Highways, Title 49—Transportation, and Title 42—The Public Health and Welfare.  Additionally, there are examples such as Interstate 90 in Seattle which currently has a bike lane on it, with few or no issues.

There is no doubt that during the winter bicycle traffic will drop off.  But winter isn’t twelve months of the year, and bicycling isn’t a summer only activity.  Further, people have no issue with other outdoor winter activities including skiing, sledding, or ice skating, and every year more and more year-round bike commuters are entering our roads, myself included.

The most serious of these ‘issues’ revolves around cost.  Certainly, if the new bike trail is to cost $100 million it maybe shouldn’t be built, but if it is a small portion of a $300 million re-decking project, it is worth the cost.

There are plenty of valid reasons to build the bike lane, including enhanced tourism, healthy living, improved air quality, congestion reduction, and improved connectivity to name just a few.  So enough with the excuses already, add the bike lane to the Hoan Bridge.

A View from Underneath I-794

Walking from downtown to the Historic Third Ward can be an uncomfortable experience.  I-794 and the sea of surface parking lots on Water St., Broadway, and Milwaukee St. create an isolated and intimidating dead spot that deters pedestrians from walking between the two districts.  At night, it’s worse, because the bridge creates a darkened tunnel that fosters the perception of danger and distance.  Quite simply, I-794 disconnects the Historic Third Ward from downtown Milwaukee.

Thankfully, there is an effort underway to resolve the issue.  The City of Milwaukee in collaboration with the Historic Third Ward and the Milwaukee Downtown BID will be launching a design competition, known as Brighten the Passage, with the goal of turning this unforgiving wasteland in to an asset.  This concept of turning a blighting freeway overpass into somewhat of amenity is not unheard of, in fact Toronto recently broke ground on a $4.7 million project, which will create an urban park.  The park will have landscaped walkways, sports playgrounds and even cafes under the overpass creating an inviting environment for pedestrians to traverse.  On a smaller, more affordable, scale this is what the Brighten the Passage effort is intending to do.

The competition is open to students and design practitioners of any discipline and experience.  Design solutions could include ideas such as lighting, public art, landscaping, various forms of programming, while being creative, cost effective, and requiring minimal maintenance.  The solution should create an inviting pedestrian experience that feels safe at all hours, and shortens the perceived distance between the neighborhoods.

The Hoan Bridge

In June thousands of bicyclists will be riding over the Hoan Bridge during the UPAF Miller Lite Ride for the Arts, many of which will be signing up because it will be such a rare opportunity as the bridge isn’t currently accessible to bicyclists.  These bicyclists are coming from around the Midwest, and some like myself plan to stop and take a few pictures on the way, much like any tourist would do if giving the chance.  A chance, an opportunity, that the State of Wisconsin should explore.

This opportunity is for the State of Wisconsin to include the development of bike and pedestrian infrastructure as part of the project to create a new tourist destination for the State of Wisconsin.  At a time when the proposed State of Wisconsin budget calls for a $1 million boost in the tourism department in 2012 and an additional $2.4 million increase in 2013, likely for increased advertising with marginal returns, a better use of these funds would be to create a new tourist destination that could be a draw for many years to come.  Of course few if any people visit Milwaukee with the hope of driving over the Hoan Bridge, but if they could walk or bike over it, with the ability to stop and take pictures this would be a pretty rare, unique experience desirable to visitors of Wisconsin.  As community activist Bill Sell points on his website, Bike the Hoan, “Chicago has nothing like this bridge.”

Although we at UrbanMilwaukee.com believe the Hoan Bridge and the Lake Interchange should be be radically adjusted to allow further development in the Historic Third Ward and downtown Milwaukee it appears these options are off the table.  In lieu of realizing the potentially enormous benefits to the taxbase, creating this new tourist destination and resident amenity, could at least offer some payback to the City of Milwaukee.

Cincinnati's Planned Freeway Cap Park

For cost reasons, it’s most efficient to cover a trenched freeway rather than to replace an elevated freeway with a tunnel (as Boston did). In Dallas construction of a five-acre park over a trenched freeway (Woodall Rodgers Freeway) will connect downtown Dallas with the thriving Uptown neighborhood. The connection will be further enhanced with the expansion of the M-Line Streetcar through the park.

In 1976 Seattle completed Freeway Park, a 5.2 acre park that covered part of their newly completed freeway. The park has recently been reinvented following a 2002 murder and a number of other crimes. The park is adjacent to the city’s convention center in the heart of the city. Phoenix has a tunneled Interstate 10 and built a park on top (Margaret T. Hance Park).

A number of other cities have plans in place to cap freeways. Cincinnati has pilings in place to build a park over Fort Washington Way that would connect downtown with their redeveloping riverfront (UrbanCincy review of the proposal). The Los Angeles area has a number of plans in various states of completion to cap freeways everywhere from downtown to Hollywood. Oak Park, IL has studied capping the Eisenhower Expressway. St. Louis has a design competition underway to redevelop the grounds around the Gateway Arch, with a number of the designers recommending capping the freeway, and the City to River movement recommending replacing the freeway with a boulevard.

A Freeway Cap Park in Milwaukee

A cap over Interstate 43? It's an idea that's happening elsewhere in the country.

How could a freeway cap be utilized in Milwaukee? The most logical spot to build one is north of the Marquette Interchange over Interstate 43 connecting Westown and Avenues West. It could stretch as far north as the Winnebago Street bridge.

The benefits? A freeway cap park would finally make Marquette University feel like it’s part of downtown, instead of just outside of it. This might cause future Marquette student housing (be it built by the university or private interests) to be built in Westown. If the park cap was built far enough north, it’s possible that The Brewery redevelopment might cause a positive spillover effect onto the neighborhood west of it that’s currently underutilized. It also may encourage may infill development in the eastern portions of Avenues West as the park would eliminate the gorge that currently separates the neighborhood from downtown.

Taking the pessimistic viewpoint, a Interstate 43 freeway cap park might not produce much benefit for a number of reasons though. For one, they’re really expensive  to build (~$500 square-foot) so the city would need to recoup a lot of value from new development. Unfortunately, despite the park likely being an attractive space, there isn’t a whole lot of land for development in the area. The Milwaukee County Courthouse consumes much of the east side I-43 as it traverses downtown, drastically limiting the amount of higher value land for redevelopment. The land that isn’t the Courthouse east of the freeway is park land that is already underutilized that likely couldn’t be redeveloped because of it’s proximity to the courthouse.

On the west side of I-43 there is likewise a shortage of land for redevelopment. Aurora Sinai Medical Center occupies most of the land. The parcel north of the medical center that could be redeveloped is unfortunately located just across the potential park from the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (more commonly, “the jail”) handicapping it’s value.

Outside of the area where the capped park could be built, there is likely too much available land in downtown Milwaukee over the next 10 years to effectively return value on the park. The Park East Freeway removal has left a lot of land in county hands, which they’ve been unsuccessful in selling. The Milwaukee Intermodal Station has generated more demand in that area, along with the planned Milwaukee Streetcar and potential Post Office relocation, that’s a lot of land that is set to become available soon. The recently unveiled Downtown Plan also plans for more development near the lakefront and redeveloping MacArthur Square to include potential development sites.

There would be a large amount of value to be captured if the elevated Interstate 794 was to be removed or lowered east of the river, but the lack of political will to do anything other than redeck the Hoan Bridge appears to have doomed any discussion of that issue.

Cities like Dallas and Cincinnati seem poised to capture a lot of value with the cap parks, but they’re using them to connect two thriving neighborhoods. Avenues West, despite a highly laudable continued series of investments by Marquette is not as strong as Uptown in Dallas. Avenues West and Westown will be stronger in the future, and at that point there will be more value to capture with a park to bridge the gap, but until then it would be wise for the focus to be on infill development.

While there are benefits to building the freeway cap park, ultimately Milwaukee is best to invest elsewhere at this time. Building a freeway cap park will likely someday be a good idea, but it doesn’t seem economically feasible in the next 10 to 20 years. Investing and improving connection tools (the Streetcar, the Riverwalk) as well as generating more infill development in the areas outlined by the Downtown Plan appear to be the most promising way for the city to generate a solid return-on-investment with new development.

What roundabout is drawing the most ire in the region?  Perhaps the first one built in Milwaukee at the south end of the Sixth Street Viaduct? Nope, cars, buses, and trucks sail through that roundabout smoothly.  The one at Canal and 25th in the Menomonee Valley after Brewer games? No post-game traffic jams there.

The most hated roundabout in the area lies at the Moorland Road off-ramps on Interstate 43 in New Berlin. The numbers don’t lie, there have been more car accidents at that intersection since the roundabout was implemented.

With 49 crashes at the I-43 and Moorland/Rock Ridge roads roundabout since it opened in November 2007 while still under construction, it’s not a stretch to say things got off to a bumpy start.

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The old freeway intersection had 29 crashes in nearly eight years before the roundabout, according to New Berlin Police Chief Joseph Rieder. And the Moorland-Rock Ridge roads intersection had 13 crashes between June 2002 and November 2007.

Why have there been more accidents? The most likely reason is the intersection was under construction during a significant portion of that time.  Second, and something for which data isn’t readily available, a number of people are likely being introduced to roundabouts for the first time. It would be interesting to see how many of the 49 crashes involved a first-time roundabout driver.

But there is a significant detail about the accidents that is being largely glanced over in the reports on Moorland Road, accidents that involve injuries are becoming a thing of the past. From 2002-2007, one of the two intersections that was combined to create the Moorland Road/Rock Ridge roundabout had 54% of its accidents end with an injury. The new roundabout only has 6% of accidents that end in an injury.

How? Well that’s the simple and thankfully repeatable part, roundabouts work by moving all of the cars in the same direction, eliminating the dangerous t-bone crash.

So while the new roundabout has necessitated the need for a few bumpers to be touched up, it’s eliminated numerous trips to the doctor. And it’s likely the need for bumper repair will fade with time as drivers become more accustomed to the intersections.

Despite NIMBY opposition in suburbs and urban neighborhoods alike, it’s clear roundabouts are an effective way to improve intersection safety for drivers.

“… it reduces the Lake Parkway into a conduit useful only for reaching downtown.”

Yes, my plan did take the existing, iconic Hoan Bridge and drop it to the ground as a conduit to downtown.  Patrick reports that 2/3′s of the cars on the Hoan Bridge actually use it for just that.  That’s 66% of the drivers using it just how I proposed to keep it.  With a polling number like that, a referendum among Hoan drivers for my plan looks like it would win in a landslide.

What do the other cars do?  Well they possibly go slightly west to Marquette or the Menomonee Valley, or they drive across some of the most expensive real estate in the state to reach Waukesha County.  According to Patrick’s stat, that’s 1/3 of the trips across the Hoan and 794 that likely start in a suburb of Milwaukee, go right through downtown Milwaukee, and end up in somewhere west of Milwaukee, like Waukesha County.

Now if you draw a line on a map from Cudahy to Waukesha you’ll notice it doesn’t go through downtown Milwaukee. Also, if you look at a photo of downtown Milwaukee you’ll notice there are big buildings, signifying amongst many other things, that the land is valuable.  However, the land immediately adjacent to the freeway is used for parking as the buildings turn their back on the concrete wall. My plan would replace the east-west freeway with a boulevard that would allow this land to be developed similar to the land immediately north and south of it (a large boost the Park East didn’t have). At the same time, my plan would still ensure quick and easy access to downtown jobs.

What my plan didn’t do was maintain the “Milwaukee bypass” that connects the southern suburbs with Waukesha County through downtown Milwaukee.  We have some different “suggestions” for that, including extending Interstate 894 east through St. Francis and Cudahy to reach the Lakefront Parkway.  That will still maintain what suburban commuters feel is critical freeway access to the western world.  I’ll explore possible routes for that in a future article.

Between being paranoid about a roundabout, changing my plans to eliminate the western part of 794 downtown, and spelling my name wrong again (Jeramey, not Jeremy), Patrick makes a few really good points.  Sixty-six percent of riders would not have their commute impaired, as the bridge would guide them their ultimate destination.  It will be nice for the City of Milwaukee to add to its tax base instead of serve as a bypass (something the Public Policy Forum probably thinks is a good thing after the study they recently released).  And my favorite…

“One hates to break it to the urbanists: The center of Milwaukee is not the center of the universe.”

To which my only response can be yes, that’s true, but why are you so determined to have people drive through it then?

The Setup

Before considering the merits of either proposal, it’s important to understand why and how the debate started in the first place. On August 22nd, 2008, The Business Journal of Milwaukee floated a trial balloon for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) quoting Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi discussing the feasibility of tearing down the bridge.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was quick to follow with more attention to the issue, including react quotes from south side politicians.

Why did WisDOT broach the issue in such a way? Proposing eliminating a part of the interstate system isn’t exactly business as usual for WisDOT.  The department has lead a $810 million reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange, is in process spending $1.9 billion expanding and rebuilding I-94 to the state line, and is lining up plans to expand the Zoo Interchange at a potential cost of $2.3 billion.  Par for the course for WisDOT would be expanding the capacity of the bridge, adding off-ramps, and spending more than the project before. Eliminating a section of a federally-designated Interstate highway just isn’t a plan that would likely emerge from WisDOT, let alone one that they would float as a trial balloon.

The Hoan Bridge as seen from the US Bank Center top floor. The bridge itself is rather narrow, but it's the ramps at the end that consume all the space.

So where did the discussion truly originate?  The United States Department of Transportation.  The only logical scenario is that the federal transportation department has informed WisDOT that they wish to remove the federal designation from the bridge. One would presume that the facts that the bridge needs to be redecked and that interstate-level federal support won’t be available to financially support the redecking would spur one into proposing different ideas that would reduce the total lifetime cost of the highway.  If the federal government really is looking to remove the designation, WisDOT’s search for options seems rational.

Why would the U.S. DOT’s Federal Highway Administration look to remove that interstate designation?  Perhaps because traffic counts are too low at 40,000 vehicles per day.  Maybe because they’re looking to remove spurs as a way to save money.  It’s possible that the FHWA is merely looking to reduce the total mileage of the system as a way to save money, especially with sections that are due to be reconstructed soon.  It’s also possible that Wisconsin, by funding the Lake Park Highway has shown a willingness to fund the stub, and the FHWA is just looking to save money by giving Wisconsin the rest of the stretch from the Marquette Interchange. I don’t have an exact answer, but all signs point to a behind-the-scenes force prompting WisDOT’s action on the Hoan Bridge.

How is WisDOT handling this?  It would appear they’re content to let groups in Milwaukee fight it out, perhaps in hopes of raising some funds for any necessary work from the city of Milwaukee in TIF dollars or another form.  They’ve committed to studying the process, commissioning HNTB to conduct the study.

What Could Be Gained?

Assuming that the bridge will lose its interstate status regardless of which action is picked locally, there is a lot that could be gained by more sensible planning of the southside connection.  The plans released by HNTB indicating a potential for billions of dollars in real estate development are clearly an over exaggeration.  When examining the Hoan Bridge footprint, it’s pretty clear that the south end of the bridge in Bay View isn’t ripe for any form of development, nor certainly is Jones Island.  And while Walker’s Point has seen a proposal or two as of late (Rivianna being the best example), the odds of a large amount of development occurring in all of Walker’s Point in the ten to twenty years are relatively slim.  Sure Bay View and Walker’s Point will see development happen, but reconfiguring the bridge to better connect with either neighborhood will do little to help that at this point in time.  There is one area where reconfiguration of the highway could yield large gains.

Reconfiguring the North End of the Hoan Bridge

The north end of Interstate 794 as it turns to head west towards the Marquette Interchange occupies some of the most expensive real estate in the city.  Development on the north end of the bridge hasn’t been inhibited as much by the bridge itself as it by the overbuilt ramps that are part of the partially completed Lake Interchange that was designed when the Lake Freeway was planned to continue up the lakefront and connect with the Park East Freeway.

The Lake Interchange simply isn’t needed anymore (nor was it ever), and a solution that encompasses the needs of southside commuters and Milwaukee.  The Third Ward and East Town contain undoubtedly the most expensive office space in the city.  It’s no wonder that residents to the south want to protect the Hoan, it ensures access to the highest paying jobs in the city outside of Miller Park and the Bradley Center.  It’s time to look at reconfiguring the bridge as a way to connect residents to those jobs (and to the countless nearby cultural amenities), and as a way to grow the availability of jobs and amenities at the north end of the Hoan.

The red-framed land is the land that would made available for redevelopment as a result of the bridge reconfiguration. The blue illustrates the street-level boulevard that would replace the elevated freeway.

How can that be done?  Simply land the bridge earlier.  Currently the bridge comes down to ground level at Michigan Street.  If possible from an engineering perspective, leaving the iconic, existing bridge in place and dropping the ramp at a faster rate would yield these savings without the sacrifice of any buildings or stages at the Maier Festival Park.  It would likewise not noticeably lengthen the southside to downtown commute.  Drivers that use the Hoan would still have quick access to downtown over largely the same bridge, but would enter a reconfigured street grid that would diffuse them to their downtown destination.

Lowering Interstate 794 from the Milwaukee River to the east with a smooth-flowing street-level boulevard would finally unite East Town with the Third Ward.  This would open the land inbetween to development with stunning lake views, and logically unite the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World with the boutique-laden Third Ward.  Furthermore, building an lower and more attractive bridge would further encourage development near the western reclaimed lane, which unlike the other reclaimed land would be deprived of a lakeview.  Depending on how far south the Hoan Bridge can be landed, up to 500,00 square feet of land could be opened for development.  Chicago Street probably represents the most opportunistic position, with St. Paul Avenue being the easiest position outside of a reconfigured Michigan St.

What About the Park East Issues?

The Hoan Bridge as it comes into downtown, as seen from the Chase Tower. The green lines indicate the massing of a new street-level boulevard, while the blue lines reflect the current space consumed by the elevated freeway. The red line shows a reconfigured trajectory towards the ground.

This land is far more valuable than the reclaimed land from the Park East Freeway based on location alone.  It’s closer to the lake, and inbetween two economically healthy neighborhoods.  To compare the potential of a development like this to the Park East is borderline apples to oranges.  Projects like the canceled Palomar hotel and condo development would certainly happen in the land made available between the Third Ward and East Town, likely without any public financial assistance.  One of the same challenges that faces the Park East unfortunately rears its head with Milwaukee County being the land holder, but with a better plan from the start the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development can be put in charge of managing the land sales.

What’s The Result?

At the end of the day, as the above illustration shows, access is still ensured to downtown via 794 and the Hoan Bridge.  Provided the configuration can be made to work, the iconic bridge that people have come to know and love is preserved, and it’s still very easy to get from the southern suburbs and Bay View into downtown.  Nothing that prevents access from the southside to downtown.  Worst-case scenario is a slightly lower Hoan that maintains the same look and feel as the previous bridge, yet comes to the ground quicker than the current bridge.  The only traveler affected is the one looking to use Interstate 794 from the southern suburbs to head west to Waukesha and beyond, they would have to instead start their journey heading west to get on I-94, an extremely minor inconvenience.  The plan blends the desires of the Save the Hoan coalition and Alderman Robert Bauman.  The benefit?  More than 500,000 square feet of new land for development, and a more attractive and interconnected lakefront. Nothing to sneeze at when it comes to developing a healthier Milwaukee.