State To Reveal New I-794 Cost Estimates
Upcoming meetings will update land use and costs for freeway replacement options.
Interstate 794 between Downtown and the Historic Third Ward. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The debate over the future of Interstate 794 through downtown Milwaukee is set to enter a new phase later this month as state transportation officials unveil new analysis and seek additional public input.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced Tuesday it will host two public involvement meetings for the I-794 Lake Interchange Study, offering residents a chance to review updated findings and weigh in on competing design options for the aging freeway corridor.
According to the agency, new materials presented at the meetings will include updated freight analysis, land use market studies and estimated project costs for each of the three alternatives.
The analysis is expected to build on earlier traffic modeling that has already drawn scrutiny from boulevard proponents and concerns from suburban commuters.
The open house-style meetings are scheduled for Thursday, April 30, and Tuesday, May 5. Both sessions will run from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will include informational displays and opportunities to speak directly with project staff.
The meetings come as WisDOT continues evaluating three primary alternatives for the corridor between the Marquette Interchange and the Hoan Bridge: rebuilding the elevated freeway as it exists today, reconstructing it with modifications, or removing it in favor of a surface-level boulevard.
The roughly one-mile-long elevated segment, constructed in the 1970s, has reached the point where replacement is required because of its age and condition.
Advocates with the Rethink 794 coalition have continued to push for a boulevard alternative, arguing it could reconnect neighborhoods and unlock significant redevelopment potential. Opponents, including some business groups and south suburban commuters, warn that removing the freeway could worsen congestion on nearby routes, particularly Interstate 43, and shift more traffic onto local streets.
The upcoming meetings also follow a series of “Walk & Roll” events organized by boulevard supporters aimed at building public awareness and influencing the conversation ahead of a key decision.
Materials presented at the meetings will be posted online following the events. A formal recommendation on a preferred alternative is expected later this year. Design work on the reconstruction is expected to be completed by 2030, with construction timing subject to the availability of funding.
The project, which early estimates indicated could cost $300 million, would rebuild the elevated freeway between N. Water Street and the Hoan Bridge. In 2022, the Rethink 794 coalition called on WisDOT to study replacing the freeway between N. 6th Street and the Hoan Bridge with a boulevard. WisDOT reviewed multiple boulevard concepts and has included one option in its final four alternatives. Under all scenarios, the Hoan Bridge would remain.
Meeting Schedule
Thursday, April 30
Milwaukee Marriott Downtown
625 N. Milwaukee St.
4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 5
St. Francis High School
4225 S. Lake Dr.
4 to 7 p.m.
April 2025 Design Alternatives
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More about the Interstate 794 Rebuild
- State To Reveal New I-794 Cost Estimates - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 7th, 2026
- 794 Teardown Advocates To Host Walking Tour - Jeramey Jannene - Mar 30th, 2026
- Real Estate Group Casts Doubt on I-794 Removal Plan - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 11th, 2025
- See How State Thinks Traffic Would Change With I-794 Removal - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 5th, 2025
- Public Meetings Upcoming On Possible I-794 Removal, Replacement - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 17th, 2025
- WisDOT Unveils Four Options To Rebuild I-794 - Jeramey Jannene - May 30th, 2025
- Open House Scheduled On Revised Plans To Replace I-794 - Jeramey Jannene - May 9th, 2025
- UWM Students Design A Future Without I-794 - Jeramey Jannene - May 2nd, 2025
- See New Options To Slim I-794 in Downtown or Make It A Boulevard - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 2nd, 2025
- Freeway-to-Boulevard Option Still On Table for 794 Rebuild - Jeramey Jannene - Jan 30th, 2025
Read more about Interstate 794 Rebuild here
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WISDOT is already a biased organization, with their dated traffic assessments and overengineered solutions – I am sure they shudder at the idea of anything other than a freeway in that corridor. It should really be called the department of roads, stroads, and freeways. They only cater to one form of transportation.
The main argument for keeping that freeway stretch has always been projected growth in trucking. It’s anecdotal, yes, but I’ve _never_ seen trucks on the Hoan bridge. If WisDOT is to be taken sriously, they’d collect and share those numbers. Until then, the Hoan is just a super convenient commute for southern suburbans that comes at the expense of high-value growth for the city.
A lot of the success of and reinvestment in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood is tied to its accessibility. It would be foolish to impede that so that some heavily subsidized developers could get a few new parcels downtown. And people in older industrial suburbs like Cudahy and South Milwaukee are being dissed as if they were exurbanites in Richfield or Grafton demanding larger roads. What’s the problem rebuilding 794 as is? It’s a road that services many people (and trucks too, as I well know when I’m often stuck behind one getting on at Carferry Dr.). If there’s so much interest in building Downtown, why is that land created by that crazy intersection at Clybourn and Lincoln Memorial Dr. still sitting empty years after it was created for Johnson Controls?
Expected cost of $300 billion will likely be approaching $1 billion by the time any shovel ever hits the ground.
And completely agree with previous post about some secret pent up demand for vacant parcels downtown to develop.
Is it really believable that some secret group of real estate developers are sitting on billions of dollars…. just waiting for the government to decide whether or not to tear down an expressway, …while at the same time there are dozens of vacant lots / parking lots covering downtown that could be developed today if there was money to be made??
The fact is that money only wants to reproduce and make more money. It never sits around for years doing nothing…
And if they tear down 794 it is guaranteed that parking lots will cover the land for at least 20 years or more. The Park East plan forbade any lots to be zoned for parking, which is why multiple parcels have had their land removed from the official boundary of the Park East redevelopment.
The plans and documents for the Park East are a must read for anyone who wants to be informed about the 794 discussion.
At least back then there was serious thought and time put into a comprehensive plan for redevelopment before they removed the Park East. …vs today with 794… politicians/ the mayor / are all jumping on the bandwagon just to get a few more thumbs up on their FB page.
Park East docs and plans are all on city of mke website for anyone that wants to learn about it.
…. And lastly, The “potential development” dollar estimates of 794 land are completely unreal. The guy included the value of the fiserve arena in his calculation how how much development he expects if 794 is removed. and to my knowledge there isn’t another $500 million dollar sports arena on deck for the city of mke.
A second grader could spot this error in logic… And it’s curious that nobody at all ever even considers this when reporting on the status of the 794 decision.
The land around and 794 would probably be worth more than the Park East Freeway strip by quite a bit. Right now, the freeway lowers the land value around it discouraging development. It’s why the city has had to put so much effort into getting any developments adjacent to it. It’s why the closer you get to the freeway, the more the urban fabric disintegrates into a sea of parking lots/structures. People don’t like to live next to urban freeways unless they have to.
Also, anyone who says this is being rushed is completely unserious. We won’t even have a preferred alternative until the 2030s.