See What Boulevard Replacing I-794 in Downtown Would Look Like
Rethink I-794 launches augmented reality experience to picture impact of conversion.
Conceptual plan for replacement of Interstate 794 with boulevard. Rendering by John Everitt.
The Rethink 794 campaign, which is calling for a freeway-to-boulevard version of Interstate 794 through downtown Milwaukee, released a new way to explore its vision Tuesday morning.
The augmented reality experience allows individuals to hold up a smartphone near the elevated freeway and experience what it could look like if replaced by a boulevard.
“If Milwaukee knows what we could have had, it will be harder for [the Wisconsin Department of Transportation] to deny it,” said architectural designer John Everitt to Urban Milwaukee. “While some of the renderings are fanciful, their statement is not. This can be a very real future for Milwaukee. We are trying to get the public excited about the possibilities and to inspire other concerned residents to do their own dreaming.”
Smartphone users can scan a QR code or visit i794.com from seven spots along E. Clybourn Street to view the renderings. Moving the phone will pan the rendering in the direction of the phone, mirroring what the future might look like.
“[Three-hundred and sixty degree] augmented reality now lets Milwaukee understand these ideas in a more immersive experience,” said Everitt. “Since nearly everyone has a smartphone, they can walk to these exact spots on the map and transport themselves to this possible future in the same perspective as they stand—like a live before-and-after photo.”
WisDOT previously said it would release two design alternatives for further study this year. One is expected to be a freeway-to-boulevard replacement, while another would be a roadway narrowing. Both are expected to yield more land for public use or private development.
The coalition released its initial concept in October 2022. It has rallied support for its vision as WisDOT continues its public engagement process to replace the aging freeway structures, built in the 1970s.
In April, Mayor Cavalier Johnson endorsed a boulevard option. The 2040 Downtown Plan also calls for a boulevard replacement, if feasible.
The WisDOT project is only for the east-west segment of the freeway between the Hoan Bridge and N. 6th Street. Access to and from Downtown via the Hoan Bridge would remain.
Initial renderings by Rethink 794 explored a series of new high rises, public space and a wider Clybourn Street filling the freeway corridor. Everitt’s renderings showcase a different alternative with mid-rise buildings built in the style of Historic Third Ward structures and two levels of traffic to avoid car-vehicle conflicts.
Visible in the renderings are an expansion of the Milwaukee Public Market, protected pedestrian passages under car-oriented streets, new lakefront high rises and a six-lane E. Clybourn Street with protected bike lanes.
Can’t physically make it to I-794? The website allows you to experience the potential future without having to be there, you just don’t get the augmented reality experience of the existing sound, smells and freeway.
Everitt is no stranger to bold visions. In 2023 he released an extensive proposal showcasing how the historic railroad swing bridge between the Historic Third Ward and Harbor District could be repurposed as a public amenity.
WisDOT estimates that 26,600 vehicles make an end-to-end trip across the entire I-794 study area each day. More than double that total enters or exits the study area via a ramp and does not make an end-to-end trip, presumably to start or end a trip Downtown. Proponents of a boulevard have said a grid would better diffuse traffic across city streets and that removing the elevated structure would better connect Downtown while creating more land for public or private use.
Demo Video
Initial Rethink 794 Renderings
WisDOT Freeway Options
WisDOT Boulevard Options
WisDOT As-Is Rebuild
WisDOT 3D Renderings
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More about the Interstate 794 Rebuild
- Converting 794 To Boulevard Could Yield 3,000 Housing Units, $1.1 Billion in Development - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 21st, 2024
- See What Boulevard Replacing I-794 in Downtown Would Look Like - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 30th, 2024
- Mayor Backs Boulevard To Replace I-794 Downtown - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 16th, 2024
- Murphy’s Law: No, I-794 Won’t Be Eliminated - Bruce Murphy - Jan 31st, 2024
- Transportation: WisDOT Getting Closer to I-794 Project Recommendations - Graham Kilmer - Jan 24th, 2024
- Port Officials Have Concern With Potential I-794 Removal - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 13th, 2023
- Murphy’s Law: Park East Removal Didn’t ‘Devastate’ Downtown - Bruce Murphy - Aug 14th, 2023
- How Committed Is City To Tearing Down 794? - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 26th, 2023
- Transportation: State Wants Feedback On Plans For I-794 - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 18th, 2023
- Transportation: See The State’s Design Concepts For Replacing Or Rebuilding Interstate 794 - Jeramey Jannene - Jun 23rd, 2023
Read more about Interstate 794 Rebuild here
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I checked out Everitt’s renderings a couple months ago when they first came out and just took a peek at the augmented reality stuff…cool! Fanciful, yes, but they do get one to thinking about imagining possibilities.
I’m for the complete boulevard option. It simply makes sense to me given how underutilized this stretch of Interstate is. Totally on board with the potential of a true boulevard connected to the broader grid being able to handle traffic.
This said, I am aware that it took a generation to full up the Park Freeway land and, even so, some still remains in the Deer District and at the bend of north Water Street. I’m definitely not opposed to a skyscraper or two but wonder what’s going to go inside. Commercial is on life support right now and wonder what the limit for residential will be. I hope someone with influence is thinking about how much of this newly developable property can be quickly developed–create momentum. Otherwise, I fear it will take another 20-25 years, and I probably won’t be around, then.
I’m on board with Everitt’s focus on mid-rise buildings and also on the amenity of a (fanciful) pedestrian and bike path. Developing land increases property tax revenue. So does creating amenities in the area that people can enjoy. They increase the surrounding property.
It will be an interesting next few months!
Question: Who would own the cleared property. The State? City? A mix? Beyond the mere fanciful (and I love it!) it seems the owner(s) would be key determiners in what to do next.
@Franklin Furter – Following the removal of the Park East Freeway, Milwaukee County was given ownership (as an arm of the state).
Makes sense, thanks.
Yeah, that first rendering is NOT a boulevard, it’s a park. Two entirely different things.
Maintain I-794 “AS IS”.
Why:
I-794 serves southeastern Milwaukee County: Bay View; Saint Francis; Cudahy and South Milwaukee.
The majority of I-794 traffic is traveling to/from I-94 West, I-43 North & I-94 South.
Why not:
Dismantling this Interstate section will force all west/east bound traffic into downtown.
Multiple Lobbyists are pushing this agenda for corporate profits. Including, but not limited to the Road Builders Association and the Real Estate Industry. They donate to multiple politicians, who have tpower and connections to push this through.
Restaurants & hotels increase income inequality with low wage jobs. The “Living Wage” in WI is $18 per hour.
Allowing developers access this land is a boondoggle.
Tremendous tax dollars have been spent building luxury towers near the Lakefront using “Tax Incremental Districts” (TID).
The developers make millions, while no property taxes are paid for years.
Enough already!
@Retired_Resident, yeah, it’s a bit confusing, but it appears Everitt’s vision includes making Clybourn a boulevard and also creating a park-like, East-West, pedestrian/bike path between Clybourn and St. Paul. Creative, to say the least… We’ll see!
I spent much of my teen years in Bayview/St. Francis and get the communities down there. That said, I’m finding the argument that people from the southern lakeshore communities need this freeway to get to the western ‘burbs and vice versa a bit tortured. Actually, they do not. All they need to do is take another few minutes to take 41 around or, at worst, take 43 up to 94 and then on over. Boom…mission accomplished.
They do not have the right or the need to use downtown as a thoroughfare. I suspect this group of commuters is much smaller than the trip totals being reported–they are a subset of those totals. And, a drop in the bucket compared to the metro area’s 1.5 million population. The very minor “inconvenience” of the few from what they are used to doing does not outweigh the benefits of the many, and the desire of Milwaukee for this common sense change. Increasing property taxes is important to the City budget. Building on undeveloped land helps. If freeway traffic is really a problem on the South Side, expand 41. If abuse of TIF funding is a problem, then fix that, don’t prevent development. If someone thinks developers are scamming municipalities, then address that. Don’t use this project as a proxy for whatever other problems might exist.
Such a funny thing how Milwaukeeans think they have significant rush hours and bad traffic. A few years ago, rush hour was estimated to be an average of 22 minutes over the period of something like an hour and a half. Nothing compared to most other large U.S. cities. And now, post-pandemic, traffic is even less.
Some may not have seen Everitt’s plans from a couple months ago upon which the augmented reality renderings are based, so I thought I’d just plop them, here:
https://everittarchitecture.com/794
Again, fanciful, right? But what I found breathtaking was the blending of indoors and outdoors a la reuse of the freeway bridge and an ambitiously envisioned Hop Station.
It is funny 145 was supposed to get torn down too but developers have not interest in it. It is all about developers getting access to real estate. There won’t be parks and open spaces for public use.