Milwaukee Wants To Buy 30th Street Line, Railroad Says No

The 30th Street corridor, looking north from the W. North Avenue bridge. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Alderman Robert Bauman, City Attorney Evan Goyke and several partners have long had a big vision for leveraging a rail line through the heart of Milwaukee’s North Side as a corridor for bikers, walkers and, possibly, mass transit.

Now, the Common Council is poised to direct the city officials to explore buying the 30th Street Corridor rail line.

“This file originates from observations I’ve been making over 25 years as to the great potential which the 30th Street rail corridor and right of way has for multiple types of development, including the continued operation of freight trains,” said Bauman to the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee Tuesday morning.

Owning the corridor would give the city maximum flexibility in incorporating new uses. The proposal comes as the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation is embarking on a feasibility study for a 6.7-mile trail through the corridor, which runs from roughly W. Wisconsin Avenue north to W. Hampton Avenue.

But there is one immediate snag. Its owner, Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR) parent company Watco, doesn’t want to sell.

“The WSOR is not interested in selling any portion of this right of way for non-freight purposes and as such the corridor is not for sale,” wrote Watco associate vice president Ken Lucht to the Common Council. In the past decade, the railroad acquired the line from Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) after leasing it for several years.

“That’s fine, that’s a reaction I would have anticipated,” said Bauman. “But essentially, I think this is well worth exploring. This has been done by other cities and done successfully to accommodate continued private freight rail… as well as accommodate bike infrastructure or walking paths or potential rail-based transit.” He cited Austin, Texas as a “great example,” where the city and transit system purchased a 162-mile line for $9.3 million in the 1980s and now operate a 32-mile commuter rail system and trail network along the most urban portion of the corridor.

Goyke said Watco’s letter opened the door. “They did, for the first time, outline in writing all of their visions for the corridor, most of which we also share,” he said before ticking off a list that included more industrial customers, more trains, less illegal dumping and a multi-modal facility. “We are partners in all of those goals.”

But he said most people aren’t aware of the grade-separated corridor’s value, nor that it even exists. Near its southern end, approximately 1.2 miles of the corridor is below grade with city streets crossing above. To the north, bridges are used to cross city streets. More than 20 bridges are included in the corridor and there are only a handful of at-grade street crossings.

“If wanted to [build] this today we couldn’t. This legacy infrastructure built over 100 years ago is a gift if we repurpose in ways to reflect the modern economy,” said Goyke.

A 2020 Rails-to-Trails preliminary study identifies the corridor as the most important potential trail investment in the region to create more equitable trail access. The 700-mile Route of the Badger initiative identifies the trail as a key link in a regional trail network. The Oak Leaf Trail on the city’s East Side is a former rail line and the former Beer Line rail corridor is slowly being redeveloped as a trail.

Goyke, toward the end of his 12 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, was able to get $700,000 allocated toward the forthcoming feasibility study. The latest study is intended to identify detailed routing options, including routing through the Molson Coors (Miller Brewing) campus, meandering around the active WSOR rail yard that stretches north from Century City and crossing active sidings.

He said the city could work with the railroad on identifying a price and options to allow it to continue to operate. Much of the line is a single track, with space on both sides for other uses.

“You can find a way of getting to yes,” said Goyke, who has an aerial photo of the corridor in his office. He said the city has previously worked with other partners that were unwilling to sell.

The trail plan would run from the edge of the eastern American Family Field parking lots and the Hank Aaron State Trail in the Menomonee Valley north to Havenwoods State Forest near W. Silver Spring Drive and N. Sherman Boulevard. Most of that route is owned by Watco, however, CPKC owns the Menomonee Valley portion up to W. Highland Boulevard, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation owns the portion north of W. Hampton Avenue in the Old North Milwaukee neighborhood.

“There are potentially other partners that would be involved in this as well,” said Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM) project manager Benji Timm. WSOR already leases substantial trackage from the state and RACM is heavily involved in brownfield redevelopment efforts, including Century City.

As Watco identified in its letter, the rail line serves as a key link between WSOR, CPKC, Union Pacific and Canadian National‘s regional networks. But it is not heavily used today. Formally the Glendale Line, it was originally developed by the Milwaukee Road and lined by heavy industry.

The committee unanimously endorsed the resolution, which requests a report in 90 days on progress. The proposal is cosponsored by council members Russell W. Stamper, II and DiAndre Jackson, who represent north portions of the corridor.

The full Common Council is to review the proposal in two weeks.

“I think it’s a great time to have city departments step up and start this conversation,” said Goyke.

Photos and RFP Routing

2020 Study Images

Legislation Link - Urban Milwaukee members see direct links to legislation mentioned in this article. Join today