35th Street Bike-Bus Study Planned

Bike-Bus only lane in downtown Pittsburgh. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Similar to protected bike lanes that recently went up along E. North Avenue, temporary infrastructure will be set up along the 35th Street corridor to study a potential protected bike and bus lane.

The study will involve two separate study periods of one month each. Temporary bollards and signage will be installed along the road between W. Vliet Street and W. National Avenue. giving local residents and travelers an idea of how the road’s infrastructure could be changed to better support multi-modal transportation.

The study is being conducted thanks to a $400,000 federal grant awarded to the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). The funding was part of the new Areas of Persistent Poverty grant program being administered by the Federal Transit Administration. Milwaukee is one of a few communities across the state selected to test out this new program, said Donna Brown-Martin, MCDOT Executive Director.

“Milwaukee County is receiving a welcome investment to a long overlooked area of the Milwaukee community that has experienced segregation, isolation and has been subjected to auto-centric infrastructure for decades,” Brown-Martin told Milwaukee County supervisors during a meeting of the Committee on Transportation and Transit earlier this month.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) currently operates two bus routes along the 35th street corridor: Routes 30 and 35. These buses provide more than 1,000 daily rides on average along 35th Street, Brown-Martin said, but “with its current infrastructure and operation, 35th Street is not designed to prioritize bus service.”  

The addition of a dedicated lane for bus and bicycle travel should increase bus ridership, reduce auto traffic and generally calm the street, Brown-Martin said. The area targeted for the study currently has four lanes of travel, with two in each direction and no protected bicycle or bus lanes. There are only painted bike lanes along one-eighth of a mile in the corridor.

“The environment for multi-modal users is dangerous, to say the least,” Brown-Martin said.

Motorists sometimes reach speeds as high as 60 mph, she noted, and Wisconsin Department crash data shows there have been six fatalities, 20 serious injuries and more than 100 minor injuries from crashes over the past five years. “It’s risky to be out there, even as a motorist,” she said.

The feasibility study will employ temporary infrastructure including bollards, jersey barriers, signage, lighting and traffic cones to affect traffic and demonstrate the possibilities of a dedicated bike and bus lane. Nearby residents and business owners, as well as travelers through the corridor, will have several ways to provide feedback on how the changes affect their commutes and quality of life, Brown-Martin said.

MCDOT is going after $40,000 in county funding to provide the local match for the federal grant. If the 2024 budget includes the funding, the study will take begin in 2024 and conclude near the end of the year.