Five Milwaukee Suburbs Launch Data-Driven Traffic Calming Projects

Pinned on concrete curb bump-outs on W. Congress Street at N. 55th Street. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Five Milwaukee County municipalities are launching traffic calming projects this week.

Greendale, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, West Allis and Wauwatosa joined Milwaukee County leaders Monday morning to announce a series of temporary traffic calming measures designed to collect data and bolster planning for more comprehensive traffic safety interventions.

“What we are demonstrating with this temporary equipment is the need for permanent infrastructure,” said Jeff Sponcia, a planning program manager for the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT).

The projects are part of a countywide push to invest in road safety infrastructure. MCDOT has spent the past few years engaged in an extensive planning process to a comprehensive traffic safety plan. The plan examines infrastructure interventions across every municipality in the county and is intended to be used as the basis for federal funding applications.

The Village of Shorewood is installing temporary traffic circles at two intersections along N. Murray Avenue (E. Kensington Boulevard and E. Beverly Rd.), curb extensions at two intersections on E. Kensington Boulevard (N. Larkin St. and N. Bartlett Ave.), and a temporary speed table at the intersection of N. Morris Blvd. and E Pinedale Court.

South Milwaukee will temporarily narrow Chicago Avenue at its intersection with Oak Street. Traffic barrels, cones and lighted signage will be used to slow-down traffic near the intersection and warn of pedestrian crossings.

Wauwatosa and West Allis will both study dangerous intersections with new traffic cameras, called near-miss cameras. Wauwatosa is placing the cameras at the intersection of Menomonee River Parkway and Swan Boulevard in April and the intersection of N. Wauwatosa Avenue and W. North Avenue in May. West Allis is placing the cameras at the intersection of S. 60th Street and W. Lincoln Avenue.

The Village of Greendale is setting up speed trailers and signage on W. Loomis Road at intersections with Horizon Drive and S. 68th Street. Later in the month, the equipment will be moved to S. 76th Street and the Root River Parkway.

“[The municipalities] want to show not only to their residents but their [local elected officials] that investing in traffic calming like this on a permanent basis will pay off,” Sponcia said.

The data collected from these projects can also be used to develop plans — using the county’s comprehensive plan as a starting point — for safety projects to submit for federal funding.

The overarching goal of traffic calming measures, even temporary ones, is to eventually eliminate traffic deaths entirely, Sponcia said. In 2024, the county formally committed to a Vision Zero policy, which commits to eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2037. The City of Milwaukee is currently soliciting feedback on its 100-action-item plan to implement its Vision Zero policy, a parallel effort to the Milwaukee County initiative.

“The combination of all these efforts all over the county over time will help us as a county to get closer to Vision Zero,” Sponcia said.