County Announces Reckless Driving Listening Tour

Car crash on N. Water St. Photo by Michael Horne.

The first stage in a large planning project focused on reckless driving and multi-modal transportation safety begins this month.

The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has announced a “Safe Streets Roadshow” that will travel around every municipality in the county to hear residents’ concerns and thoughts about reckless driving.

The project will provide local government leaders an opportunity to study solutions to reckless driving in terms of both “education and enforcement,” according to Donna Brown-Martin, MCTDOT director.

“Reckless driving has reached crisis levels in Milwaukee County. Our pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers demand and deserve an effective plan to increase multimodal safety,” MCDOT said in a statement. “Milwaukee County’s vision to be the healthiest county in Wisconsin by achieving racial equity cannot be achieved without taking a new approach to transportation safety, addressing the root causes of reckless driving, and protecting our most vulnerable roadway users.”

This public input campaign marks the beginning of the county’s work on its Complete Communities Transportation Planning Project. The goal is to develop a set of policies and practices that can be implemented across the county to improve multi-modal transportation safety.

“To address this crisis, we must all work together,” Brown-Martin said in a statement. “Milwaukee County is excited to coordinate this opportunity through the Complete Communities Transportation Planning Project in partnership with our municipalities and a diverse group of stakeholders.”

MCDOT has hired the Chicago-based MUSE Community + Design for the project. The department also wants buy-in from all 19 municipalities in the county and so far has received letters of support from 16 of them. Along with local government input, transportation industry professionals, non-profits, advocates and community leaders will have influence on the planning process through formal advisory committees and work groups being set up.

The Safe Streets Roadshow will first go to Brown Deer (Brown Deer Dolan Community Center, 4355 W. Bradley Rd.) and Greenfield (Greenfield Public Library 5310 W. Layton Ave.) on Thursday, June 8 for community input meetings. The entire Complete Communities project is expected to be finished by the end of 2024.

The project is funded through a $188,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $47,000 from the county.

Safe Streets Roadshow meetings

• Brown Deer – June 8, 2 p.m. –  Brown Deer Dolan Community Center, 4355 W. Bradley Rd.
• Greenfield – June 8, 6 p.m. –  Greenfield Public Library, 5310 W. Layton Ave.
• Cudahy – June 9, 2 p.m. –  Cudahy Family Library, 3500 Library Dr.
• Greendale – June 14, 6 p.m. –  Greendale Safety Center, 5911 W. Grange Ave.
• Shorewood – June 15, 6 p.m. –  Shorewood Village Center, 3920 N. Murray Ave.
• Glendale – July 12, 6 p.m. – Glendale City Hall, 5909 N. Milwaukee River Pkwy.
• Bayside – July 13, 2 p.m. –  Bayside Village Hall, 9075 N. Regent Rd.
• Wauwatosa – July 13, 6 p.m. –  Wauwatosa City Hall, 7725 W. North Ave.
• Hales Corners – July 19, 6 p.m. –  Open Flame Restaurant, 5081 S. 108th St.
• West Allis – July 22, 10 a.m. –  West Allis Public Library, 7421 W. National Ave.
• Fox Point – Aug. 8, 7 p.m. –  Fox Point Village Hall, 7200 N. Santa Monica Blvd.
• St. Francis – Aug. 3, 2 p.m. –  St. Francis Civic Center, 3400 E. Howard Ave.
• South Milwaukee – Aug. 3, 5 p.m. –  South Milwaukee Municipal Building, 2424 15th Ave.
• Oak Creek – Aug. 9, 2 p.m. –  Oak Creek Public Library, 8040 S. 6th St.
• Whitefish Bay – Aug. 10, 2 p.m. –  Whitefish Bay Public Library Meeting Room, 5420 N. Marlborough Dr.
• Franklin – TBD
• Milwaukee 1 – TBD
• Milwaukee 2 – TBD
• River Hills – TBD
• West Milwaukee – TBD