City Approves Funding For Pedestrian Plaza, Protected Bike Lane

The Common Council unanimously signed off Tuesday on a proposal to allocate up to $3.8 million to a series of pedestrian and bicycle improvements to North Avenue on Milwaukee’s East Side.

Increased tax revenue from three new East Side apartment buildings would provide the majority of the funding needed for the creation of a pedestrian plaza at E. Ivanhoe Pl. as well as possibly raised intersections and protected bicycle lane segments along E. North Ave.

“The reason we are looking at this particular area is it’s on the top 10 of the pedestrian high-injury network,” said Department of City Development senior economic development specialist Dan Casanova to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Dec. 6. He said the city, under the direction of Mayor Cavalier Johnson, would use the tax incremental financing strategy where possible to make traffic safety improvements.

The effort would be focused on the intersection of N. Farwell Ave. and E. North Ave., one of the city’s 10 most-dangerous intersections according to a 2019 pedestrian plan and the busiest pedestrian intersection studied by the city.

A portion of E. Ivanhoe Pl., which leads into the Farwell Ave. intersection, would become a pedestrian plaza. The one-way street is between Crossroads Collective food hall and Hooligan’s Super Bar. The project was first contemplated in the 2009 Northeast Side Area Comprehensive Plan and Tim Gokhman, managing director of Crossroads-owner New Land Enterprises, has publicly championed the plan for at least four years.

The Kubala Washatko Architects and engineering firm GRAEF are working on the project design, which runs along E. North Ave. from N. Humboldt Ave. in Riverwest to N. Lake Dr. near Lake Michigan.

“They suggested a series of bump outs, protected bike lanes, special treatments of important intersections and new crosswalks throughout this corridor,” said Casanova. Conceptual designs shown to the committee include raised intersections at N. Cambridge Ave. and N. Farwell Ave. The strategy is designed to cause drivers to reduce speeds, creating a safer crossing environment for pedestrians.

Bicycle lanes protected by parking, similar to what is seen on E. Kilbourn Ave., would be added on the north side of the street under the plan. The consultants’ study found that the 50-foot-wide street isn’t big enough to implement the strategy on both sides. The eastbound southside of the street could see a buffered bike lane, where three feet of space is created between the travel and bike lane by eliminating 12 parking spaces. The choice to put the protected lane on the north is because it would result in fewer parking spaces eliminated.

The study says the recommended vision “assumes minimal changes made to the existing traffic configuration” including the preservation of turn lanes and maintaining existing lane widths.

In lieu of the protected bike lane configuration, the study suggests more curb bump outs could be added. The bump outs are extensions of the sidewalk into the street that reduce pedestrian crossing distances and discourage speeding.

Another option contemplated is the reconfiguration of segments of E. Kenilworth Pl. (west of Farwell Ave.), E. North Ave. (between Prospect and Farwell avenues) and N. Bartlett Ave. (north of North Ave.) into curbless shared streets where a variety of design strategies would deemphasize automobile traffic priority in favor of a plaza-like design conducive to uses, including large sidewalk cafes, events and cycling.

The study suggests a phased approach that would allow for different options to be tried before more substantial configuration changes are made.

“This project basically does everything that’s within my vision for the future of this area,” said area Alderman Jonathan Brostoff, referencing new ‘affordable’ housing and pedestrian safety improvements. “It’s exactly in line with the future of the 3rd District and I’m thrilled we are able to move forward with it.”

Brostoff thanked The East Side Business Improvement District and executive director David Smulyan for “going out of its way to knock this one out of the park.”

The pedestrian plaza proposed would only cover half of E. Ivanhoe Pl. between N. Prospect Ave. and N. Farwell Ave. The eastern portion would be converted to a two-way street, allowing continued motor vehicle access to the Educators Credit Union drive-through window.

Development Projects Make Effort Feasible

Three proposals are all moving forward, albeit at different speeds.

Ryan Pattee and Shar Borg have started demolition on three buildings at 1504 E. North Ave. to create a 0.86-acre development site for a car-lite, 56-unit apartment building. Kendall Breunig of Sunset Investors is moving to redevelop a former dairy plant, 1617-1633 E. North Ave. to 17 apartments. Developer Tim Olson recently demolished the old Judge’s Irish Pub building at 1431 E. North Ave., and could develop an apartment building on the 0.49-acre site.

The developers will not see a direct benefit from the creation of the tax incremental financing district, with the city instead using the structure to temporarily sequester the increased property tax revenue to pay for public improvements. The existing tax revenue from the site will continue to flow to the property taxing entities.

The city would use a provision in state law that allows TIF districts to pay for public improvements within a half mile of their boundaries.

“Initially $2.5 million could be funded by the development that we are confident is going to concur, and an additional $1.3 million could be funded if there is enough development to create enough increment,” said Casanova.

An additional $100,000 would be allocated to fund DCD’s existing Commercial Corridor programs within the allowable area; those programs include reimbursable facade and signage grants designed to attract or retain commercial tenants.

The city is breaking up the infrastructure allocation into phases because of uncertainty with the three projects. The Pattee-Borg project is under construction and the Sunset Investors project is moving towards a groundbreaking, but the redevelopment of the Judge’s site is far more conceptual and no plans have been formally introduced. For the purposes of planning the TIF district, the city assumed Olson would develop a 35-unit apartment building by 2027.

The TIF district is expected to pay off all of its costs by 2042.

Conceptual Plans and Photos

Copies of the study’s conceptual designs and narrative are available on Urban Milwaukee.