City Making Progress on Reckless Driving

Last September, I wrote an op-ed demanding action from city leaders on reckless driving, which is often cited as the number one quality-of-life issue for Milwaukeeans. Since then, a new mayor has come into office for the first time in decades, and I thought it would be appropriate to review what has been done on this key issue nearly nine months after my plea.

I was impressed when Mayor Johnson introduced his STAND for Safe Streets reckless driving action plan. It contained many of the suggestions from neighborhood groups such as the Sherman Park Reckless Driving Committee. Led by Steve O’Connell of the Sherman Park Community Association, this committee has met at least monthly for over a year, coming up with concrete policy proposals that we believe will have a positive effect on this deadly scourge. Among them was to have the mayor declare reckless driving a public safety crisis, something that Mayor Johnson did as his first official action as mayor. This signaled to the city that he was serious about the issue.

But that wasn’t all. The mayor worked with the Fire & Police Commission to update the Milwaukee Police Department’s policy to tow unregistered vehicles that are engaged in reckless driving behavior, a major problem on our city streets. They are also working on an ordinance that would allow all reckless drivers to be declared a public nuisance, and have their cars seized. Unfortunately, the City Attorney’s office has stood in the way of this effort. Additionally, the mayor is using $8.5 million in property tax revenue from tax incremental financing districts to implement traffic calming infrastructure in reckless driving hot-spot areas such as Midtown.

Perhaps the most exciting recent development in the mayor’s fight against reckless driving is that the Common Council adopted a resolution to commit the City of Milwaukee to becoming a Vision Zero community. Vision Zero is a comprehensive approach to traffic safety that takes into account human error, and rather than writing off traffic related fatalities as the cost of doing business, reconfigures the system so that no one risks their lives to drive, bike, bus, or walk on city streets. Under a Vision Zero framework, traffic crashes and injuries will still occur, as humans will always be distracted and make mistakes while they drive, but the consequence will not be death or serious injury. Vision Zero, when successfully implemented, takes the responsibility for your safety away from each individual driver with competing interests and gives it to systems such as street design to slow traffic and eliminate the possibility that a driver can even travel in such a way that would result in a fatality.

This complements the Complete Streets policy that the city adopted in 2019 but that the Department of Public Works has had trouble sticking to. In fact, just last month, the Department of Public Works violated its Complete Streets directive which is supposed to give pedestrians and bicyclists the highest priority in new street design. The DPW is using an out-of-compliance design for the reconstruction of Vliet Street between N. 27th St. and N. 12th St. In order to obtain a federal grant with a quick turnaround time, the DPW decided to use a design they produced in 2017, prior to Complete Streets, as a part of their application. Unfortunately, it eliminates the possibility for a protected bike lane. It implements wide 11’ driving lanes and a 5’ painted bike lane, which as we all know, just equates to a 16’ driving lane. They are planning for curb extensions in a bid to eliminate the notorious “Milwaukee slide,” but with 16’ of right-of-way, that is sure to be useless. Its design speed is also 35 mph, which is nearly always fatal to pedestrians and bicyclists, despite having a 30 mph posted speed limit. In fact, just last year a female pedestrian was struck and killed at 14th and Vliet, two years ago a motorist was killed in a crash at 20th and Vliet, and five years ago another female pedestrian was killed at 17th and Vliet, all within the project area. This corridor is the suggested bike route for northwest side neighborhoods such as Sherman Park or Washington Park to access downtown amenities like the Deer District. This is an example of things that must change if Vision Zero is to be successful.

Thankfully, Mayor Johnson led the Common Council to eliminate the requirement that the DPW Commissioner be a professional engineer. As we already have a City Engineer, and multiple engineers work for the DPW, this requirement was redundant to say the least. Traffic engineers often prioritize the free flow and convenience of automobile traffic, with only a secondary concern for bicyclists and pedestrians, a philosophy at total odds with both Complete Streets and Vision Zero. We have a unique opportunity with the open Commissioner position to choose someone, possibly an outsider, who thinks with a Vision Zero and Complete Streets mindset and would not allow for wasted opportunities such as the Vliet Street reconstruction.

Another exciting aspect of Mayor Johnson’s Vision Zero plan is the appointment of a Reckless Driving Coordinator to the mayor’s office. This would be the dedicated point person that would oversee Vision Zero’s implementation and the city’s reckless driving response. There are many city departments and even divisions within the departments that can make getting things done quickly difficult. The Reckless Driving Coordinator will be instrumental in plunging sludge through the bureaucratic pipes in City Hall to ensure a coordinated response among all of the departments and divisions.

In conclusion, I am pleased with the action that Mayor Johnson and the Common Council has taken thus far on reckless driving. But an issue as big and pervasive as reckless driving does not get fixed in nine months. It will require continued pressure from neighborhood and community organizations to make sure we are advancing the ball. We are still dealing with with reckless driving as a public safety crisis — that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that it seems clear that this is now a top priority for the boss at City Hall. I look forward to seeing even more concrete action in the coming months.

Jordan Morales is a Sherman Park resident and Vice President of the Sherman Park Community Association. Follow him on Twitter @Morales4MKE.