County Gets Federal Funding For Buses, Roads

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recently announced $29 million in funding for Milwaukee County roads and buses.

The Milwaukee County Transit System is receiving $7.5 million to purchase new buses, which the county estimates will fund the replacement of 13 buses. The rest of the funding goes to the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to fund a variety of road projects on county trunk highways.

The state grants for this came from funding recieved through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. The state awarded the funding to the county through its Surface Transportation Program (STP). To use the grants, local governments must budget a funding match equivalent to 20% of the federal funds received.

“Thank you to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for delivering this federal funding to our community,” County Executive David Crowley said in a statement Tuesday. “I am equally grateful for champions like Governor Tony Evers, Senator Tammy Baldwin, and Representative Gwen Moore for continuing to advocate for Milwaukee County at the state and federal levels. Together, let’s continue working to create safer streets, grow our economy through expanding access to job opportunities, and make Milwaukee County a healthy, accessible place for all.”

The nearly $22 million in funding for road projects will pay for design and reconstruction of Silver Spring Road (between N. 124th St. and W. Oklahoma Ave.), Beloit Road (between S. 108th St. and W. Appleton Ave.), College Avenue (between S. 26th St. and S. Howell Ave.)  S. 76th St. (between W. Layton Ave. and W. Howard Ave.) and to rebuild a bridge on Layton Avenue crossing over W. Forest Home Ave.

The projects also present an opportunity to redesign the roadways so they are safer for drivers and pedestrians. Layton Avenue and 76th Street were both identified as “corridors of concern” for the number of traffic fatalities and injuries that occur along them. The county identified these corridors as part of a large planning effort, still underway, to design traffic safety interventions across the county.

The county plans to give special consideration to improving safety along these roads as it designs and reconstructs them with the federal funding.

“For Milwaukee County to have a modern and robust transportation network, we continually seek to provide infrastructure that also ensures the safety and well being of the traveling public,” said MCDOT Director Donna Brown-Martin.“Similarly, new buses for the MCTS fleet will support connectivity by moving more people timely and efficiently, while also reducing operational and maintenance costs through the replacement of vehicles past useful life standards.”

MCTS needs to replace approximately 150 buses over the next five years to keep up with its aging fleet. The system has struggled with a structural deficit for years, which has impacted the budget for bus replacements.

A bus typically reaches the end of its. useful life around 500,000 miles. Nearly one-third of the system’s fleet is ready to be replaced, as Urban Milwaukee previously reported. The transit system and county policymakers are trying to catch up on bus replacements, because the system is currently relying on the maintenance and repairs to keep buses running that would otherwise be retired.

Update: A previous version of this story said the construction along Silver Spring Road would be between N. 124th Street and W. Appleton Avenue. It will be between N. 124th St. and W. Oklahoma Avenue