Feature
Committee Approves Two-way State St.
Clearly this meeting of the Public Works Committee was not as colorful as recent meetings but there were a couple of items of interest. The first item was a proposed lease agreement between Waters’ New Biotech Company and the Port of Milwaukee. This proposal would be the second large alternative fuel facility in recent years to open at the Port of Milwaukee. Waters’ New Biotech Company intends to develop a facility that will convert wood waste into a solid fuel which will be used as an alternative fuel to coal. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. The second item was the culmination of three years of efforts by Alderman Robert Bauman. In an effort to improve the walkability and vibrancy of East Town, he has been working to convert E. State St. between N. Edison St. and N. Prospect Ave. to two-way traffic. His efforts resulted in the necessary changes to file number 081667 which will provide the funding to reconfigure E. State St., rebuild and repave the street, reconfigure the signals, construct a median at Water St., and potentially add a new signal. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Apr 24th, 2009 by Dave Reid
The Politics of Real Estate Development – Park East Edition
The tale of the Fair Market Development, LLC Park East development proposal is one already lined with intrigue.
Apr 22nd, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s Spring River Cleanup
If you’re going to go out and enjoy a walk along any of Milwaukee’s rivers, now may be the team to do it. This past Saturday approximately 3,000 volunteers, myself included, descended upon Milwaukee’s river beds to clean up everything we could. This was the second year I had participated in the event, and I elected to work at the North Avenue/Hometown site again this year. Our group of 49 aimed to clean the east Milwaukee River bank from the former North Avenue Dam to just south of Locust Street. Walking under the bridge for the first time is always a reality check, especially this year, where it appeared seven individuals had made been living there It will be interesting to observe how the new UWM dorm on the Hometown site will affect the number of homeless individuals living under the bridge next year (and the amount of garbage). One would assume it would have the affect of reducing the number living there, and also reducing the amount of garbage. Unfortunately this doesn’t solve the obvious issue, that there are too few beds for the less fortunate in our community. Other sites, as the Journal Sentinel story indicates, aren’t about cleaning up the land around the river, but cleaning out the actual river itself. It appears sites along the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers are hotbeds for shopping carts and other non-natural things to inhabit the rivers. If you have a chance to next year, participate in the 2009 river cleanup. It’s a great opportunity to volunteer, as your hard work is immediately visible.
Apr 22nd, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Commission Approves Near South Side Area Plan
Although this meeting of the City Plan Commission was light on large scale development projects, there were two items of interest on the agenda.
Apr 21st, 2009 by Dave Reid
Revitalize Broadway with Street Improvements
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.
Apr 20th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee Streetcar Round-Up
The Milwaukee circulator streetcar is moving forward, but there is still confusion in the mind of many. We've covered the issue in the past, but this article attempts to bring everything together in one place, the history, the frequently asked questions, and the proposed route.
Apr 19th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Complete Our Streets to Build a Better Milwaukee
The first thing most people see of Milwaukee's streets is the vast wasteland of potholes that mark each and everyone of them.
Apr 15th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Zweig Project Would Add a Twist to Milwaukee
The debate swirling around the Janet Zweig art project got me thinking about the value of public art to our city and how other cities embrace opportunities to enhance their public places.
Apr 13th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Lake Express Ferry Back In Action
The Lake Express ferry has returned to Lake Michigan in preparation for the first voyage of the season on May 1st. When the ferry was put in its winter berth, the folks at Lake Express created an excellent video of the boat's journey from the port up to the berth in the Menomonee Valley. Well it's not quite as amazing as the original video, they produced another one of the recent reverse trip. Enjoy.
Apr 12th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Accents on the Interstate, Lipstick on a Pig
If accent lighting on the interstate isn't the perfect definition of lipstick on a pig, I don't know what is. That said I'm not opposed to it. In fact, I think dressing the Marquette Interchange for the prom was a positive step forward. There is, however, only one thing I wish would have happened differently.
Apr 8th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
How Not to Run a Public Hearing
We often hear about the lack of "transparency" or that "the process wasn't followed," and it is actually my belief that often enough this isn't true.
Apr 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid
