Group Will Audit City’s Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure

More help is on the way to assist the Department of Public Works (DPW) in improving pedestrian and cyclist safety.

National nonprofit mobility consultancy City Thread will conduct an audit of Milwaukee’s current practices of building pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure and create an action plan for the city.

“There’s overwhelming public support for building networks of bike lanes, trails, parks, sidewalks, and open space, but cities get stuck when the build-out gets bogged down by politics and budget negotiations,” said City Thread partner Kyle Wagenschutz in a statement announcing the grant. “We’re excited to work with a great mix of cities that have stepped up to lead the way to a healthier, better connected and sustainable world.”

Milwaukee is one of nine cities that will receive the support, valued at $50,000. The other grantees are Cleveland, Indianapolis, Syracuse, Tucson, Gulfport, MS, Santa Rosa, CA, Petaluma, CA and Bainbridge Island, WA.

“Despite transportation’s central role in climate solutions, most cities won’t see their mobility network plans implemented for another generation (that’s right, 50 – 80 years). We can’t afford to move at the current pace,” said City Thread partner Sara Studdard. “City Thread’s approach helps cities move swiftly to reorganize city streets and give everyone more options to get where they need to go that don’t contribute to congestion, pollution, and extreme weather.”

The grant builds on Milwaukee’s move to join the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). The organization provides technical assistance and a peer-to-peer exchange of best practices on street design to its member cities.

Starting July 1, all DPW employees were required to first consult NACTO guidance during project development regardless of the project’s funding source. The formal membership is intended to augment what is publicly available and provide more support.

As acting mayor, Cavalier Johnson declared reckless driving a public safety crisis as his first act in office. He backed the city’s 2018 Complete Streets policy and, in 2022, worked with the council to adopt a Vision Zero policy focused on eliminating traffic fatalities. The city is now hiring a Vision Zero czar to work out of the mayor’s office. A multi-modal transportation team exists within DPW.

The city has allocated more money in recent years for mobility improvements and to combat reckless driving, but council members have called for faster implementation and safe streets advocates have called for improvements beyond plastic bollards.

The 2023 city budget includes a first-of-its-kind $500,000 protected bike lane fund. The multi-modal unit was funded with $1.3 million in borrowing. Other projects, such as building new infrastructure on N. Van Buren St. and E. North Ave., are being funded with tax incremental financing districts.

City Thread is based in Denver and its third partner is national biking consultant Zoe Kircos. The group previously helped five cities build a combined 335 miles of bike lanes in two years. Its latest effort, in which Milwaukee is participating, is called the Accelerated Mobility Playbook. The playbook program is funded by SRAM, a Chicago-based bicycle component manufacturer, and Wend Collective, a Denver-based social impact fund.