County Planning A Third BRT Line

MCTS Connect 1 at Wisconsin Avenue Stop. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County will likely begin planning a third bus rapid transit line in 2024.

County Executive David Crowley included $50,000 in his proposed 2024 budget for a feasibility study of a transit enhancement along Route 18, which described the project as the “next phase towards development of a rapid transit network.”

Route 18 runs east and west between Downtown Milwaukee and the border of West Allis and Waukesha County. The route primarily runs along W. National Avenue and W. Greenfield Avenue. “The feasibility study will determine viability of pursuing transit enhancements in the corridor, leading to engineering/design and ultimately leveraging federal funds towards construction,” Crowley’s budget notes.

A feasibility study is the first step in the federal grant process the county has used to develop two bus rapid transit projects. The first, called Connect 1, launched this summer. The second, which is planned to run north and south along 27th Street Corridor, is undergoing environmental review and detail planning and design; construction on the $148 million project is expected to begin in 2026. The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission has conducted the feasibility studies for the previous two projects.

The budget notes that, according to 2020 Census Data, within one quarter-mile of the route there are 32,700 county residents, 27,400 jobs and more than 5,000 businesses; 18% of residents live below the federal poverty line and 53% are Hispanic or Latino; 46% of households have access to only one car and 15% do not have access to a car.

The funding proposed for the 2024 budget represents a local match for a $200,000 federal grant. The county has used the federal Small Starts Grant program to fund prior bus rapid transit projects. The county is still working through all the steps necessary to secure the grant award for the 18-mile 27th Street Corridor project, but Milwaukee County Department of Transportation Director Donna Brown-Martin has expressed confidence the county will recieve the funding.

Officials expect the National Avenue corridor will be eligible for state Transit Mitigation funding, as it will likely be impacted by the nearby I-94 east-west expansion project.