A Final Public Meeting On Converting Stadium Freeway to Boulevard

Wisconsin Highway 175. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A final public meeting on the potential conversion of the Stadium Freeway to a boulevard will be held Wednesday evening.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is expected to present three alternatives for replacing the aging freeway spur, part of Wisconsin Highway 175, with a boulevard.

More than 10 alternative design options were released last spring for replacing the 1.8-mile freeway spur that runs between W. Wisconsin and W. Lisbon avenues with a boulevard.

Included among the 2024 options are concepts to build a boulevard on the eastern or western side of the current alignment, creating space for new development or public amenities, as well as design concepts to place the freeway into a tunnel, terminate it further south at W. Lloyd or W. State streets, or replace it with two one-way streets.

“The study team will share the latest alternatives based on input from stakeholders and the public,” says a meeting announcement from WisDOT. Launched in 2022, the Reimagining WIS 175 study is being led by WisDOT with support from the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County. The city is studying land use impacts and possibilities related to a reconfiguration.

Many of the 2024 options would require refilling portions of the trench that was dug to construct the highway in 1962. They would almost all yield more than two dozen acres of land for future uses.

Unlike the Interstate 794 effort in Downtown, a final preferred alternative is not expected to be selected. “A final report will be prepared to document the analysis conducted and findings, which may inform an environmental review if funded,” says a WisDOT statement. If funded, construction could occur in 2030.

In 2022, both Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley endorsed major changes to the roadway. “Now is the time to correct the flawed infrastructure of our predecessors,” said Johnson at a press conference. “The time for change is always now,” said Crowley.

The six-lane roadway separates the Washington Heights neighborhood on the west from the Washington Park neighborhood to the east. It terminates just south of W. North Ave. in the Uptown neighborhood. The spur runs north from the Stadium Interchange, which would be reconfigured into a diverging-diamond interchange as part of the $1.8 billion project to expand Interstate 94. The Stadium Freeway was originally planned as part of a largely unbuilt network of freeway loops that would encircle Milwaukee.

North of Wisconsin Avenue, the spur sees 71,000 vehicles per day according to 2022 WisDOT data. The traffic volume falls to 57,300 vehicles per day north of W. Vliet St. The parallel Interstate 41 and Interstate 43 corridors each see in excess of 150,000 vehicles per day. The existing Stadium Freeway has a speed limit of 50 miles per hour.

According to a January update provided to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, two public meetings in 2024 revealed substantial interest in connectivity improvements across key points of the freeway and along the roadway itself. Those providing feedback indicated an interest in improved pedestrian safety and multi-modal connections, such as biking, walking or bus access.

An open-house style meeting will welcome attendees to provide feedback at any point during the meeting.

Meeting Details

Wednesday, April 2
4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Washington Park Senior Center
4420 W. Vliet St.

2024 South Design Alternatives

2024 North Design Alternatives

2024 South Cross Streets

2024 North Cross Streets

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