Biden Visiting Milwaukee Wednesday, Staying Overnight

President Joe Biden addresses the crowd at Ingeteam in Milwaukee on Aug. 15, 2023. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Two things are clear: President Joe Biden is coming to Milwaukee Wednesday and he’s planning to spend the night.

But beyond that little is known about the president’s upcoming visit.

“The President will deliver remarks on how his investments are rebuilding our communities and creating good-paying jobs. After, the President will participate in a campaign event,” says week-ahead guidance from the White House issued Sunday night. Biden will then leave Milwaukee on Thursday morning for Saginaw, Michigan.

The White House has not announced where Biden will be speaking or where he’ll be sleeping. There is one odds-on favorite: the Pfister Hotel. Starting with William McKinley in 1899, almost every president has spent at least one night at the hotel (Barack Obama is a notable exception). Biden previously stayed at the hotel during his time as vice president. Others stayed while they were on the campaign trail.

Similarly, the White House has not announced where Biden will be speaking.

There is one specific thing he could be coming to discuss: the Reconnecting Communities grant program. News of grant awards started to come out Monday morning, with individual Senators and Representatives announcing awards, like $450 million for a freeway covering in Portland. The U.S. Department of Transportation has yet to release a full list of winners.

Milwaukee has applied for two study grants in the past. In 2023, its applications to study a freeway-to-boulevard conversion of Wisconsin Highway 175 and a freeway covering between The Brewery District and Hillside neighborhoods were rejected.

But in September 2023, Department of Public Works official Mary Sizemore told the Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee that the city intended to apply again for a different project. The latest project would be to reconstruct 6th Street between W. North and W. National avenues. The redesign of the central portion of the street was also singled out as a catalytic project in the recently-approved 2040 Downtown Plan.

Sixth Street was expanded in the 1960s and several buildings along it were demolished. The street is a key arterial link between the city’s north and south sides, but is substantially overbuilt for its current traffic volume. The Downtown Plan proposes the addition of traffic-calming features and other pedestrian and bike-friendly amenities. Sizemore told the committee that the city was in the conceptual stage for planning, but that the newer portion over the Menomonee Valley wouldn’t be reconstructed.

A DPW spokesperson confirmed that the city did apply for at least one grant in the latest round, but declined to identify what or how many projects in advance of a grant announcement.

Biden has already visited Milwaukee twice in the past year. He touted a “small business boom” in December during a visit to the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce. In August, he promoted ‘Bidennomics’ during a visit to Ingeteam. His most recent visit to Wisconsin, a key battleground state in the upcoming election, was to Superior in January. Vice President Kamala Harris has also come to Wisconsin several times, including a stop in Madison last week.