Your Input Sought For Reckless Driving Campaign

Cleanup after a single-vehicle crash on E. Mason St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

For the past two months, Milwaukee County transportation officials have traveled around municipalities listening to residents’ concerns about reckless driving.

August will be the final month of this information-gathering campaign, called the Safe Streets Roadshow. The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and the Chicago-based consultant working on the project, MUSE Community + Design, have announced the final dates.

These public meetings are the first step in a larger effort to study and eventually develop solutions to reckless driving across Milwaukee County. The goal of the Complete Communities Transportation Planning Project, as it’s called, is to create a comprehensive set of policies and practices — called a Safe Streets Action Plan —  that can be implemented by all 19 municipalities in the county to reduce reckless driving.

“This is a great opportunity for us to really prioritize how we might be able to address from an education as well as enforcement standpoint, looking at reckless driving,” Donna Brown-Martin, MCDOT Director has said.

These roadshow stops are an opportunity for county residents to provide their opinion and input directly to the transportation officials and consultants who will be developing the plan.

“A few high-level takeaways include drivers feeling more anxious and a perception of speeding and distracted driving as leading factors in crashes,” MCDOT reported after the meetings in June. “Participants suggested safe street solutions to slow traffic such as implementing protected bike lanes, lowering speed limits, and installing more speed bumps.”

There are five more opportunities for residents to get involved in August. The roadshow’s final stop will be a Spanish-language meeting in Milwaukee on Aug. 24.

The Complete Communities project is being funded through a $188,000 federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The county is providing approximately $47,000 in matching funding.

August Meetings

Thursday, Aug. 3 

• St. Francis Civic Center, 3400 E. Howard Ave., at 2 p.m.
• South Milwaukee Municipal Building, 2424 N. 15th St., at 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 9

• Oak Creek Public Library, 8040 S. 6th St., at 2 p.m.
• Kosciuszko Community Center, 2201 S. 7th St., at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 10

• Whitefish Bay Public Library, 5420 N. Marlborough Dr., at 2 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 18

• Friendship Circle Cafe & Bakery (Fox Point), 8649 N. Port Washington Rd., at 1 p.m.
• West Milwaukee Intermediate School, 5104 W. Greenfield Ave., at 5 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 24 (En Español)

• Sacred Heart Center, 1545 S. Layton Blvd., at 6 p.m.