Streetcar Track Steel Has Arrived
City receives first of 474 80-foot long segments, soon to be installed on streets.
The first shipments of steel that will form the actual track for the Milwaukee Streetcar have arrived. The segments, 52 rails delivered via flat-bed truck from Indiana, are being stored in the curb lane near the Wisconsin Department of Transportation office at 1001 W. St. Paul Ave.
Ultimately the city will accept delivery of 474 80-foot long, 3,067 pound segments that will be stored at five spots in the curb lane on city streets. Those steel rails will then be welded together into 320-foot long spans by a nationally-traveling team that specializes in electric flash butt welding. The steel is expected to be fully delivered by the end of the month.
The first construction of the guideway system is planned for April on a stretch of W. St. Paul Ave. from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to N. Plankinton Ave. Construction work will involve cutting an 8-foot wide and 2-foot deep segment of the street out and installing the steel rails and new concrete. On streets like W. St. Paul Ave. where the streetcar will operate in both directions two cuts will be made, while N. Milwaukee St. and N. Broadway will only see one cut because the streetcar will only operate in one direction.
Construction on the streetcar system is being led by Kiewet Infrastructure. Utility work in advance of the actual streetcar guideway construction is already well underway, with crews hired by We Energies and other utilities working at a number of spots along the route.
Public operation on the initial route connecting the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and Westown with the Historic Third Ward, East Town and the Lower East Side is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018 following route testing. The lakefront line extension is expected to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2019.
For more information on the project’s construction timeline and details see our February article “Streetcar Construction Starts in April.”
More about the Milwaukee Streetcar
For more project details, including the project timeline, financing, route and possible extensions, see our extensive past coverage.
- Plats and Parcels: Lakefront Streetcar Extension Scheduled for June 2022 Opening - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 6th, 2020
- Transportation: Should Milwaukee Stop The Hop? - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 13th, 2020
- Transportation: The Hop Now Wears a Mask - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 18th, 2020
- Eyes on Milwaukee: Is A Couture Deal Finally Coming? - Jeramey Jannene - May 13th, 2020
- Transportation: SUV Driver Runs Into The Hop - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 28th, 2020
- Transportation: Streetcar Kiosks Could Bring In $500,000 Annually - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 20th, 2020
- Thanks A Million, Hop Riders! - The Hop - Feb 19th, 2020
- Transportation: We Energies Will Sponsor Streetcar - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 10th, 2020
- Transportation: Streetcar Ridership Up in January Versus 2019 - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 7th, 2020
- Transportation: Streetcar Ridership Up in December - Jeramey Jannene - Jan 14th, 2020
Read more about Milwaukee Streetcar here