Department of Public Works

From Gray to Green

The sewerage district has moved from tunnels and pipes to greenways, rain barrels and permeable pavement. Part 2 of a series.

City Plan Will Rescue The Worst Playgrounds

City and foundation money will be spent to upgrade the 12 most deteriorated playgrounds in Milwaukee.

Will Bicycle Race Expand to Bay View?

Tour of America's Dairyland hopes to expand there. And a national benefits program for bicyclists expands to Milwaukee.

Swing Park Nominated for MANDI Award

And its story -- and controversies- keep getting retold.

Why I Support the Streetcar

Not moving forward will send a wrong message to all those looking to invest in Milwaukee, a city businessman argues.

Can Milwaukee Upgrade to Gold Ranking?

City officials pledge to work towards upgrading the city's national, bicycle-friendly ranking from bronze to gold.

Committee Takes No Action on Streetcar

Public Works Committee votes to send streetcar proposal to full council, setting up a showdown Dec. 16th.

GMC Wins $725,000 Grant to Help City

Kresge Foundation grant would help build city's Artery trail and revive depressed Harambee neighborhood.

City Cameras Now Nab Parking Violators

No more chalked tires? The system is quietly becoming automated, invisible -- and a big surprise for parking scofflaws.

Milwaukee Quietly Adds Buffered Bike Lanes

The changes on south 2nd are welcome, but when will the city start creating protected bike lanes?

Bay View ArtStop Opens

It's a bus stop, art work, and urban island. Grand opening is tonight, but we've already got photos of the new amenity.

“Controversy” Over Swing Park?

Architect blasts city for altering her design. Are her complaints valid?

The Swings are Back — and Better than Before

Guerrilla urbanism triumphs, as “magical” swings re-installed under Holton Avenue Bridge.

Uber and Lyft Legalized in Milwaukee

Taxis for anyone who wants to drive one. Uber and Lyft are legal. And someone will probably sue the city to stop this.

Easy Parking in Downtown Milwaukee?

City unveils sign system to guide drivers to garages with available parking spots.

Bridge Repair Threatens Bakery’s Business

Popular Amaranth Bakery given only 24 hours notice by city; Lisbon Ave. bridge will be shut down till November.

Bargain Deals to Save the Environment

City works with Norseman Plastics to create low-cost rain barrels and compost bins.

St. Paul Bridge is Reopened

Key connection to Third Ward and Summerfest is completed on time and on budget.

A New Park for the City

The city, Associated Bank and Newaukee cooperate on a new park being created at MLK Dr. and McKinley Ave.

Residents Debate Beerline Trail Extension

Riverwest Artery trail would follow RR right of way into Harambee neighborhood.

A Streetcar Named Cooperation?

Republicans force city to pay to relocate utilities for streetcar and Barrett calls for cooperation from We Energies to keep costs down.

The Sadly Sinking City

A declining water table is causing wooden piles below downtown buildings to rot. The latest casualty: a 1904 building across from the convention center was demolished.

City Agrees to Plow Hank Aaron Trail

Finally some progress. How my advocacy with state and city officials paid off.

Arrest Those Who Bike in Winter, Mayor Says

Comments from Watertown, NY official raise serious issues about how bikers are treated, including in Wisconsin.

City Goes Into Demolition Business

DPW will now handle 20% of homes razed rather than hiring private contractors.

Why I’m Boycotting the Farmers Market

Though the state signed an MOU promising to snow plow the bike trail leading to the Winter Farmers Market, they aren't doing it.

How To Avoid Getting Ticketed or Towed in Snowstorm

All the cars making short trips in the city make snowplowing difficult. Try walking or biking.

Grand Opening of KK River Bike Trail

Despite rainy weather, Mayor Barrett and a host of politicians celebrated the new bike trail.

Grand Opening of KK River Bike Trail!

Celebration Saturday of newest part of trail whose origins go back more than a decade.

Is Traffic Always Bad?

Actually it's often a good thing, and city policies should take that into consideration.

Grand Opening of Marsupial Bridge Connector

Hurrah! Newly-opened Trestle Stair connects Marsupial Bridge to Commerce Street and better knits neighborhoods.

“Wait, Wait, Wait”

The city’s new audio crosswalk alerts are annoying -- and potentially dangerous.

Bike Sharing and Permeable Pavement

City committee approves spending $100,000 on bike sharing in Walker’s Point, and the MMSD will experiment with permeable pavement.

New City Law Fails to Help Black Contractors

2012 ordinance aimed to give more access but only 1 of 125 contracts went to black-owned businesses.

The Arrogance of Summerfest

Why the tax-exempt, city-supported non-profit should be transparent about its director’s salary.

A Historic Milwaukee Celebration

Plus: A national green award for The Brewery; and bringing fruit trees to Walker's Point.

The Problem with Icy Trails

The city and county do a much better job of plowing and clearing streets than bike trails. That won't change until bikers start complaining.

Streetcar Meeting on Tuesday

Public invited to ask questions about project.

Wells Street Two-Way Conversion Work Has Begun

Wasting no time, the Department of Public Works has already began work on the conversion of Wells Street to a two-way street throughout downtown.

Groundbreaking Events on S. 2nd Street this Thursday.

Not only is there a planned ground breaking ceremony this Thursday, May 19th, for the Milwaukee Fix, but also a ribbon cutting for the redesigned S. 2nd Street. Both of these developments are ground breaking events for Milwaukee.

S. 2nd Street Update and Happy Hour

After years of working with the Department of Public Works, neighborhood residents, property owners, and business owners were able to convince the City of Milwaukee to redesign S. 2nd Street to fit the needs of the neighborhood.

Refurbished Streetcar-Stops Tie Milwaukee’s Past to its Future

On Wednesday September 29th, 2010 the Friends of the Hank Araon State Trail celebrated the return to service of two refurbished historic car-stops as functioning pieces of history.

E. State St. is Open for Two-way Traffic in East Town

All throughout this summer the city had been repaving, repainting, and installing new lights along E. State St. in preparation to open most of it to two-way traffic. As of this weekend, E. State St. in East Town from Prospect Ave. to Market St. is open to two-way traffic.

Reconstruction of S. 2nd Street Starts Today

The S. 2nd Street project, which was approved in December 2009 by the Common Council despite Alderman Dudzik’s last minute attempt to derail the project, officially gets going today.

S. 2nd Street Redesign Approved by the Common Council

The proposed improvement of S. 2nd Street, in Walker's Point, was up for approval at the December 22nd meeting of the Milwaukee Common Council.

S. 2nd Street Street Re-design Approved at Committee

For over a year business owners, property owners, and residents in Walker's Point have worked to have S. 2nd Street rebuilt with people in mind. The plan, as UrbanMilwaukee.com has covered in past, includes narrowing the street from 58 feet to 50 feet, removing travel lanes, and adding bike lanes, street trees, and new lighting with the goal of creating a street conducive to multiple modes of transportation, be it walking, biking, or driving.

Walker’s Point Comes Together and Can Move Forward

Unfortunately, S. 2nd Street has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently.

S. 2nd Street Redesign Concept is a Pretty GOOD One

Recently, with the encouragement and support of our readers, the help of graphic artist Kieran Sweeney, and the drive of Juli Kaufmann a conceptual idea for the redevelopment of S. 2nd Street was created and entered in to GOOD Magazine's livable streets contest.

Complete Street Makeover for S. 2nd Street?

S. 2nd St., in Walker's Point, is another street in Milwaukee that is more than ready to go on a diet.

Yes

Despite last ditch efforts by Alderman Dudzik to hold the project in committee, which would have effectively killed the project, Janet Zweig's public art project was approved at today's Common Council meeting.

Zweig Project Held by City Committee

This committee meeting had numerous items of significance relating to the built environment that were up for debate.  A couple highlights (or lowlights) included the holding of a file over budget concerns, a heated discussion over Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (“CMAQ”) grants, and a most intriguing debate on public art. The approval of the schematic designs of public artwork which is to be incorporated into streetscape improvements within the first block of East Wisconsin Avenue was up for approval.  The project put out a RFQ to which nearly fifty artists responded.  Artist Janet Zweig was selected to design the artwork and at a recent Streetscape Public Art Advisory Committee meeting the committee approved the schematic design.  The design would include five kiosks attached to five light poles.  Each kiosk would essentially be a historical reference to a type of flip board system that existed in train stations.  Each kiosk would display flip movies of Milwaukee, and would be custom built to hold 80 flaps.  This project was funded under the federal CMAQ program to promote walking as an alternative method of transportation by making improvements to the pedestrian experience.  Additionally, of the total project only a little over 1% of funds has been allocated to public art. Initially, Alderman Robert Bauman was concerned that there might be a cost to moving this project forward so he questioned, “tell us why this is even in front of us?”  After much discussion it became clear that this file was just the approval of the schematic design and that as he said “rejecting this concept saves no money.” At this point Alderman Bob Donovan began railing against the design saying “Thomas Edison had that 100 years ago,” and that “I refuse to have my name associated to something as ridiculous as that.”  Alderman Willie Wade took a more measured approach in his response to the work stating “I’m not impressed with this at all” and that “this is too old school for me.”  Attempting to bring the discussion back to the overall idea of improving public space through the addition of public art Alderman Bauman explained that “art is in the eye of the beholder.”  Debra Usinger, who appeared previously in regards to a Riverwalk project, explained that “public art is great” and that despite the sentiment in the room, this art works because “all of a sudden we’ve created discussion in here.”  She added that “I think this is really innovative.”  This file was held to all for public input. A file that would have funded a variety of nonassessable public improvements was held because of future budgetary concerns.  Alderman Joe Dudzik questioned the wisdom of this spending while planning on significant layoffs, which sparked the discussion regarding holding the file.  Wondering if there was a cost to delay action on the file, Alderman Dudzik questioned “is there any urgency in getting this file passed today?”  Apparently if delayed projects might see a increase of 10% to the cost so the […]

Committee Quickly Approves Road Projects

Although this meeting finished in record time due to Alderman Robert Bauman's auctioneer style meetings, there were a couple of items of interest.

DPW Defends Snow Removal Efforts

The Department of Public Works (“DPW”) gave a presentation regarding snow and ice removal during which they laid out a list of options of how to improve service levels. This presentation was a follow up to meetings that occurred this winter in response to an outcry of citizens complaints about DPW’s poor job of snow and ice removal.  During these meetings it was brought up that curb cuts and bus stops are rarely cleared and this disproportionally hurts the elderly and handicapped.  Despite these talks it appeared from the presentation that there hadn’t been much movement on new strategies or efforts to improve service. Resolution 071176 proposed the vacation of the right-turn bypass at East Pittsburgh Avenue and South Water Street.  This street vacation is intended to support the Transpak redevelopment project in the Fifth Ward.  The mixed-use facility known as South Water Works will include 350,000 square feet of office, entertainment, retail, and residential space.  Initially this resolution was held because of DPW’s concerns about trucks ability to turn the reconstructed corner but after further discussion it was explained that DPW’s initial concerns had been resolved.  This resolution was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

DPW Defends Pothole Filling Process

The hot topic of this committee meeting was a recent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article accusing the Department of Public Works (“DPW“) of having a racial bias in their handling of pothole filling.  Jeff Mantes and Jeff Polenske laid out DPW’s process in regards to pothole repair.  Explaining that they prioritize arterial roads higher than neighborhood streets because these roads impact more drivers and have greater safety concerns because of higher speeds on these roads.Alderman Joe Davis, Sr. and Alderman Ashanti Hamilton were clearly bothered by this article’s findings and let DPW know it.  Alderman Hamilton stated that “my constituents can pay taxes but can’t get their potholes fixed on time” and further made his discontent clear saying “you have lost the benefit of the doubt”.  Ironically he also pointed out that many of his districts major arterial roads have recently been rebuilt.  This was key because representatives from DPW had explained that their priorities were to repair potholes along major arterial roads first and go into the neighborhood streets later. It was evident that the research for the article didn’t take this into account and as new roads wouldn’t need pothole filling the primarily work in this district revolved around neighborhood streets which DPW had indicated were a lower priority.The committee as whole appeared to question the report’s validity and the mayor’s staff pointed out a variety of methodology flaws.  These flaws including errors that could over count requests or place requests in the wrong census track, both of which could significantly sway the outcome of the research.  These concerns prompted Alderman Robert Bauman to question the article and pointed out how irresponsible an article like this is, if based on poor methodology.  Alderman Willie Wade joined in expressing his displeasure with the article’s methodology saying “personally I think we’ve been had” and that “we are here because of an article from the Journal Sentinel with bogus data”.  Generally the committee was concerned if the findings were valid but Alderman Bob Donovon seemed to wrap up the sentiment by repeating an old cliche, “you cant always believe everything you read in the paper”.

Public Works Committee Approves New Berlin Water Deal

This meeting’s highlights included the proposed water sale to New Berlin and the reappointment of Jeff Mantes to the Commissioner the Department of Public Works.The water sale involved two separate resolutions.  Resolution 080012 would handle the actual water sale and resolution 080011 will enact an intergovernmental agreement contingent on the water sale.  Water sales are regulated by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (“PSC“) which sets the wholesale price of water and oversees water contracts.  Because of this any additional constraints beyond the sales agreement had to handled in an intergovernmental agreement.  This intergovernmental agreement included a non-compete clause between the cities as well as a one time $1.5 million payment to the City of Milwaukee from New Berlin to offset some of the potential economic impact associated with this transaction.  Further as this agreement proposes the sale of water outside of the Great Lakes Basin it follows the requirements set for within the Great Lakes Compact.New Berlin is seeking to obtain the additional water source to support the middle third of the city, to large extent because of high levels of the radium existing in their water and the depletion of their aquifer.  During the discussion it was brought up, that if New Berlin isn’t able to purchase water from the City of Milwaukee that New Berlin may spend $4 million on an upgrade to their facilities or pursue purchasing water from Oak Creek.  Both of these options were potentially more expensive for New Berlin than purchasing from the City of Milwaukee but Jack F. Chiovatero, the Mayor of New Berlin, indicated the pressing need by stating that “I wouldn’t be sitting in front off you if I didn’t have the radium issue”.Alderman Robert Bauman repeatedly made the point that New Berlin fails to meet the City of Milwaukee’s guidelines for water sales. These guidelines are based on access to mass transit and affordable housing within the community wishing to purchase water.  Further he pointed out that this resolution does not reflect the original authorization to negotiate as passed by the Common Council in December 2007.  In addition to Alderman Bauman’s vocal opposition various organizations such as the Good Jobs & Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, and the ACLU spoke out in opposition to the water sale.  This opposition stems from the idea that sending water to sprawling communities without adequate housing or transit options makes access to the new jobs, that this transaction will support, near impossble for low-income residents of Milwaukee to access.   In addition to those concerns Bill Holahan, the Chairman of the UWM Department of Economics stated that “over the next 20 years the expansion out there will swamp the $1.5 million” and that “economic value of the water is probably not reflected in the $1.5 million”.  Despite these issues and concerns the resolution was approved and sent to a special meeting of the Finance & Personnel Committee held prior to July 30th’s Common Council Meeting.The other contentious item was the […]

$20 Vehicle Registration Fee or $2500 Assessment?

Call it what you want, a new tax, a pothole fee, or a wheel tax but the intention is to rebuild our streets in a timely manner. Of course there are cries of "tax hell", that property taxes are too high, and that this will cause people and business to leave the City of Milwaukee.

Committee Considers Wells Street Conversion

Resolution 080295, sponsored by Alderman Robert Bauman, is the next in a line of files where he has worked to improve the pedestrian experience within the City of Milwaukee. The resolution would complete the conversion of Wells Street to two-ways which he explained would improve the pedestrian environment by slowing traffic. Additionally he pointed out other benefits of two-way streets including that it will “help in connection with retail and commercial activity on the streets”. The portion had been left uncompleted due to property owner concerns as well as concerns over road configurations that would not of been ideal in connection with existing highway ramps. These ramps have since been removed during the Marquette Interchange reconstruction and are no longer a concern of the Department of Public Works. This file was held to allow for more details regarding cost but it appeared to have broad support on the committee. A second file sponsored by Alderman Bauman was file 080294 which proposed the re-striping of West Saint Paul Ave. to improve safety during winter conditions and access to the Intermodal Station. These changes became needed after West Saint Paul Ave. was recently converted to two-way access. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Public Works Committee Holds Up Appointments

The reappointment of Jeff Mantes to the position of Commission of the Department of Public Works and the reappointment of Jeff Polenske to the position of City Engineer were held to the call of the chair to start off this meeting. As numerous reappointments have flown through as of late it appears this may be in response to friction the Common Council has had working with the Department of Public Works. Specifically the Common Council has expressed their concern with how DPW handled snow plowing, leaf removal, and various street improvements. File number 080238 is a grouping of numerous assessable public improvements that included items such as street and alley re-construction. Similar files have experienced an ongoing problem whereas approximately half of individual projects are deleted because property owners are unwilling to pay exorbitantly high assessments. This has lead to the slow crumbling of city streets and ever increasing maintenance costs. Alderman Bob Donovon expressed his displeasure at Mayor Tom Barrett‘s unwillingness to replace the current assessment system with a recently proposed vehicle registration fee, by stating “I am hoping that this administration and the alderman in this community have the guts to move forward and do the right thing in changing the way we pay for paving projects.” This file was approved with numerous deletions and will move on to the Common Council for approval. File number 080195 is an ordinance relating to storm water management regulations. Alderman Michael Murphy argued that this resolution is important to because the “leading cause of pollution to our water system is really through non-point water sources” and this resolution targets those sources. Those sources includes streets and parking lots and this resolution address ways to reduce the amount of paved area which improves the grounds ability to absorb storm water. This resolution was passed and will go before the City Plan Commission for approval.

Public Works Committee Holds Registration Fee Resolution

The most significant item to come out of this Public Works Committee meeting wasn’t even heard. Resolution 080034 was held to the next committee meeting because Alderman Willie Wade was unavailable for this meeting and Alderman Robert Bauman wanted the entire committee to hear the item. The goal of the resolution is to resolve an ongoing problem with the payment breakdown for city street repairs. Regularly the city proposes the reconstruction of a specific street but the property owners turn down the project because of how the cost is shifted onto the property owners. The intent of this resolution would be to move the burden of street repair from property owners to automobile users allowing for more street repair projects to move forward. This resolution should come up again at the next Public Works Committee meeting on May 29th, 2008.

Public Works Committee Criticizes DPW Commissioner

As part of resolution, 071488, a portion of the street from S. Barclay St. – E. Pittsburgh Ave. to S. Water St./E. Seeboth St. will be rebuilt resulting in an improved environment in around the Fifth Ward neighborhood. Although a minor improvement to the physical infrastructure this should help spur further development in the area. Jeff Mantes, the Commissioner of Public Works, presented a communication regarding the recent news indicating the funding for the Milwaukee Connector study is longer available. Throughout the discussion Alderman Robert Bauman asked a series of specific questions of the Department of Public Works (DPW) to make it clear that the Common Council was not informed of the situation. He expressed his outrage by stating bluntly that “in my opinion this is a big deal”. He was quickly reinforced by Alderman Robert Puente‘s pointed remarks to DPW when he said “you’ll keep the Common Council in the dark until you need us”. In the end this file simply served to point the blame at DPW and allow the Common Council to put it on the record that they weren’t informed of the situation. Unfortunately the problem still exists and new mass transit options are further postponed until the situation can be resolved.

Pothole Patrols Starting Early

Worried about all kinds of potholes you’re seeing (and feeling) on the road?  The Milwaukee Department of Public Works is starting early this year to repair potholes with seasonal workers.  Cyclists and motorists alike rejoice. As a side note, it’ll cost $120,000 out of the city’s contingency fund.  I don’t drive (read: ride) enough, and haven’t been biking lately to know if this is money well spent.

Solar Powered Bus Stops As Power Centers?

As a follow-up to my post on Chicago’s Green Alley Program, I did some reading on rubber sidewalks they’re building. That led me to how they’re making their bus stops solar powered (we’re talking the three-sided ones, not the poles in the ground). About 100 solar shelters will be installed next year by the company that has the contract for shelter advertising. The installation will save the city an estimated $20,000 in electricity costs every year, according to Heramb. I don’t know if they’ve considered this, but what if you turned these solar powered bus stops into a decentralized grid of power centers?  Why stop at just powering the light at the bus stop?  Why not power all the street lights on the block?  Why not power the new electronic parking meter LUKE too? Imagine all Department of Public Works property throughout the city of Milwaukee being powered by a money-saving distributed network of solar panels on top of MCTS bus stops. I would imagine Milwaukee could save a lot of money doing this and improving on an idea started by our friends to the south.

Donovan Plays to His Base

"They said he should be governor."

Chest of Drawers Nets $1,808,000

Exclusive to milwaukeeworld.com

Jeff Stone Punk’d?

Seems like somebody is messing around with Rep. Jeff Stone's campaign identity.

Henningsen Moved

milwaukeeworld.com scoop

McGee’s Folly

If you want to get a chuckle and a “no comment” out of a Milwaukee alderman these days, just tell him that Ald. Michael McGee, Jr. “certainly has a way with words.”

Riemer: “Ready to Run”

This terse note from Riemer almost sounds like a Bill Christofferson soundbite, which means it's a good one.

At it Again

Alderman asked to make big money decision on 24 hour notice.

City Image Logo to be Unveiled Soon

The nonprofit Spirit of Milwaukee is undertaking an image rebranding for the community.

Voting With The Mayor

Mayor Barrett’s office announced Monday that he would vote at City Hall at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Feds Stop Funding School, Library Internet and Phone Service

Two months ago, the federal grants stopped.

“Groundbreaking” for Bridge