County Holding Public Workshops For Traffic Safety Projects

Closed slip on W. Highland Boulevard at N. 27th Street. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County transportation officials are in the home stretch of a planning effort they’ve worked on for more than two years.

As they prepare to turn their plans into projects and secure federal funding, the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is holding five community workshops to collect feedback from county residents on plans to improve safety in various “corridors of concern” officials have identified during planning. The meetings will be held in September and October.

The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed into law in 2022, created a $5 billion pool of funds for road safety projects across the U.S. The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is leading a countywide project planning road safety projects that would be eligible for this funding.

“I am encouraging community members to attend one of our upcoming workshops to provide input about making our roads safer for all who use them – because lives depend on it,” County Executive David Crowley said in a statement.

There are several steps a community must work through to be eligible for the funding. Crowley recently checked one off the list when he signed a Vision Zero declaration, which commits the county to zero deaths or serious injuries on roadways by 2037. MCDOT is creating a countywide plan so local communities do not submit a patchwork of traffic safety proposals to the federal government.

“We’re not looking to rubber stamp any one community’s approach to how to deal with reckless driving or how to address zero deaths in Wisconsin,” Donna Brown-Martin, the director of MCDOT, explained to county board supervisors in July 2022. “But we’re looking to pull all of those ideas together and develop a plan.”

MCDOT has collected public input and traffic safety data at various stages in the planning effort. The latest round of meetings will inform what projects are submitted to the federal government for funding. At each meeting, officials will present potential safety interventions for nearby transportation corridors.

Meetings

Northwest Side Meeting

• Tuesday, September 24, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. 
• Milwaukee Public Library, Good Hope Branch, 7715 Good Hope Rd. 
• Featured Corridors of Concern:  N. 60th Street, N. 76th Street, N. 91st Street-N. 92nd Street, Good Hope Road, Mayfair Road-N. Lovers Lane Road, Silver Spring Drive

North Shore Meeting

• Wednesday, September 25, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Whitefish Bay Public Library, 5420 N. Marlborough Dr. 
• Featured Corridors of Concern:  Green Bay Avenue, N. Lake Drive, Port Washington Road, Silver Spring Drive, Teutonia Avenue

Near North Side Meeting 

• Tuesday, October 1, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Gee’s Clippers, 2200 N. Doctor M.L.K. Jr. Dr.
• Featured Corridors of Concern:  Capitol Drive, Fond du Lac Avenue, Hampton Avenue, North Avenue, Sherman Boulevard, 27th Street

Southwest Side Meeting

• Saturday, October 12, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 
• West Allis Farmer’s Market, 6501 W. National Ave. 
• Featured Corridors of Concern:  S. 60th Street-Hawley Road, S. 76th Street, S. 92nd Street, S. 108th Street, Miller Park Way, National Avenue 

South Side Meeting 

• Tuesday, October 15, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. 
• Milwaukee Public Library, Mitchell Street Branch, 906 W. Historic Mitchell St. 
• Featured Corridors of Concern:  27th Street-Layton Boulevard, S. Lake Drive, Layton Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, National Avenue