Public Works Committee

New Bike Transit System?

A city committee votes to support a system of bike-sharing kiosks. Other cities have cut auto traffic this way.

Jul 13th, 2012 by Dave Reid

City Land Sale for East Library Redevelopment Held at Committee

At the March 27th, 2012 meeting of the Public Works Committee, the committee briefly took up the purchase agreement between the City of Milwaukee and HSI Properties, LLC, which had it been approved, would have been the next step in the city's effort redevelop the East Library site.

Mar 28th, 2012 by Dave Reid

Water for Jobs Application Approved by City Committee

At the January 6th, 2010 Public Works Committee meeting the first step was taken towards creating a special water rate that could be given to businesses in return for job creation within the City of Milwaukee.

Jan 7th, 2010 by Dave Reid

S. 2nd Street Redevelopment Concept Gains Momentum

The June 24th, 2009 Public Works Committee Meeting was a good day for the efforts to rebuild S. 2nd street as a complete street. The Department of Public Works presented three options as possibilities for the rebuilding of S. 2nd Street. The first option was to simply resurface the street, with essentially no pedestrian improvements. The second option would resurface the street at the same width, but would included painted bike lanes, reduced travels lanes, and street trees. However it is the third option that is closest to a complete street.

Jun 29th, 2009 by Dave Reid

Walker’s Point Comes Together and Can Move Forward

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

Jun 22nd, 2009 by Dave Reid

A Pair of Streets That Need to Go on a Diet

The streets, E. State St. and E. Wells St., need to lose some weight because these multi-lane one-way expressways that run through East Town disrupt an otherwise walkable neighborhood.

Apr 24th, 2009 by Dave Reid

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

Would Neon Colored Ashtrays Have Been Acceptable?

In case you missed it, at yesterday's Public Works Committee meeting a previously contracted public art project was halted, because some of our Alderman didn't find the art to their liking.

Apr 2nd, 2009 by Dave Reid

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 […]

Apr 1st, 2009 by Dave Reid

Committee Approves Plan to Allow Plants

In some cities residents have been allowed to plant a variety of plants and flowers in the area between the curb and the sidewalk in an effort to beautify the neighborhood. This practice has generally been illegal within the City of Milwaukee but this may soon changes as file number 081117 intends to implement a planting policy that would allow planting within this strip of land. The file originally intended to allow this new policy within the 13th District but Alderman Robert Bauman recommended the 4th district to be included as well. After some discussion the file was amended to allow this planting practice throughout the City of Milwaukee. It was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. After being held at the January 28th, 2009 meeting of the Public Works Committee, the file which would allow the City of Milwaukee to apply for a 2009 Stormwater Best Management Practices Partnership grant from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District that will be used in part for the construction of a green roof on the central library was brought back before the committee. It appears the confusion over the value of moving forward with this file was cleared up as it was quickly approved this time with no discussion and will now go before the full Common Council.

Feb 22nd, 2009 by Dave Reid

Green Initiatives Stalled by City Committee

In the name of cost savings two green efforts were stalled during today’s meeting of the Public Works Committee. The first item to run into issues with the committee was the Central Library’s resolution that would of allowed them to apply for a $250,000 Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Stormwater Best Management Practices Partnership grant. This grant was to be used in conjunction with $950,000 of city funds in the construction of a green roof on the Central Library. The existing roof is in disrepair and will be in need of replacement in the near future. Although it was presented that this green roof could potentially double the lifetime of the roof, concerns were raised over the cost of construction. Additionally it was estimated that the green roof was would save $3,500 in energy costs per year. Lost on the conversation regarding the increased cost was that this grant has an education component that goes above and beyond the building of a new roof. Alderman Bob Donovan expressed his thoughts on the costs when he said “everybody likes green, well we’ve gotta have the green money”. This file was held at the call of the chair which opens up the possibility that the City of Milwaukee could miss the deadline to request the grant. The second resolution of importance that was held up proposed having the State of Wisconsin paint bike lanes on to West Forest Home Avenue between South 68th Street and South 45th Street after completing a road construction project. In reference to problems experienced with recently painted lane markings Alderman Robert Bauman complained that “what we’re painting doesn’t last even in months”. Alderman Joe Dudzik argued that if the City of Milwaukee can’t keep the roads painted properly for drivers, then the City of Milwaukee can’t add the additional burden of new markings to maintain. This file was also held to the call of the chair.

Jan 28th, 2009 by Dave Reid