Revitalize Broadway with Street Improvements
Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
Broadway
Broadway is the center of the action in the Third Ward, it works for business, pedestrians, and even automobiles. But just across I-794 it is a wasteland of surface parking lots and empty storefronts. While there are surely numerous factors in place that have hurt the vitality of this street, an area that can be addressed by the city to make it more attractive to business is to improve the pedestrian environment. Specifically the section of Broadway between Wisconsin Ave. and I-794 is vital because by improving these few blocks it would knit together downtown and the Third Ward.
Improving this section of Broadway will not only improve connectivity for pedestrians, but automobiles as well. The first improvement to this block should be to make it a two-way street all the way into the Third Ward. This will immediately bring new traffic on to the street which will help to make it more desirable location for retail business. The second and more infrastructure intensive improvement would be to remove a travel lane to create a center island with street trees. Now this may on the surface seem like a radical change but it really isn’t all that different from what is seen on the other side of I-794. Further, by placing the trees in the center as opposed to in the more common location of the sidewalks, it will create a environment different than other blocks in East Town. This island would narrow the streets and create a visual appearance that encourages drivers to slow down. The reduced speeds and improved appearance would create a safer more enjoyable environment for pedestrians, which again would encourage more retail activity. Finally, as the trees mature they would act as a screen partially blocking out views of I-794, once again enhancing the appeal of the entire area. The combination of reducing lanes, creating the island, and making the street two-ways through to the Third Ward could help spark the redevelopment of this part of downtown Milwaukee.
Of course beyond completing this street additional measures such as a TIF may be required to encourage the redevelopment of surface lots that border Broadway between Michigan St. and I-794, but the street improvements would play a significant role in bringing retail back to Broadway.
To get an idea of what this change could look like, I’ve included a small gallery of photos of the Pioneer Square area of Seattle, WA as well as photos of the current shape of Broadway in Milwaukee.
-
-
-
-
-
-
The incubator could be located along this stretch of Broadway.
-
-
-
Categories:
Wow, that’s a bleak streetscape. Clearly improvements are warranted. Hope the city can pull it off. Of course, you’ll then need the right kind of development to take advantage of it.
Yea, what’s really sad is there are actually some great buildings there that with the improvements, and some sort of funding could really become a great district.
I like your idea of making the entire stretch two-way, but the 794 on-ramp is problematic and I don’t know if it would be feasible because of that. Removing the on-ramp takes care of that issue and also alleviates the occasional traffic jams during the 5pm commute, which would make converting Broadway into an attractive one-lane street all the easier. It’s too bad the simplest answer isn’t the easiest to accomplish 🙂
Rob, Oh I have no fear that it couldn’t be made two-ways, The absolute worst case scenario is you close access to the ramp from Broadway, but you could still get on from Clybourn on that very same ramp (they both have access there). That said I don’t believe you have to close anything, just pull out the angle parking under the freeway and correct the light timing.
How about installing the protected bike lanes that would make Milwaukee a nicer place for pedal power.
How about some of these on the edges of the sidewalk http://www.wausautile.com/media/projects/Molasky8.jpg (they are from Wausau Tile) I think we could just set them on the sidewalk 18 inches from the curb and it would make an amazing improvement without spending a ton of money.
and they would serve as a nice visual separator between the surface lots and the street which would make the street more attractive.
Luke, I definitely believe we should be installing more cycletracks (curb separated bike lanes), but I wasn’t sure this street was where to put them, though of course they are a good idea as well…. My next complete streets article covering a couple more downtown streets will included.
Those do look like nice planters.
Dave, you’re right. I went by there this morning and it’s really not as difficult to change as I thought it might be. It seems like an easy alteration, too, since there’s really nothing costly about switching it up.
I think adding a bike lane/cycle track to Milwaukee St. would be a better idea since it runs to the Fifth Ward and north to Water St. Something would need to be done about the cobblestone at the intersection of Mason & Milwaukee — as nice as it looks, it’s a little hazardous when you’re riding your bike over it.
As a daily bicyclist, I’m not a fan of curb-seperated bike lanes. These lanes give the illusion of safety by providing what feels like complete seperation from cars. But should a bicyclist riding in them have to swerve suddenly to avoid broken glass, a pothole or a pedestrian, they may hit the curb seperating them from cars and — “whamo!” — they could end up rubber side up in the middle of the street. Moreover, these lanes create more conflict points at intersections by reducing bicyclists’ maneuverability.
The intersection problem is solved by bringing the track to the traffic lane at the intersection, they are doing this in New York right now. Further it seems to me Copenhagen shows us that the implementation of cycletracks (as well as other items) can really encourage more ridership (like 33% of trips!). Yes, there are some disadvantages but I believe that curb separated lanes add more benefits than a line painted on the street.