Mayor Barrett Announces “Freshwater Way” As the Winning Street Name to Replace “Pittsburgh Avenue”
Popular Contest Produced Hundreds of Suggestions
Mayor Tom Barrett announced today that “Freshwater Way” is the winner in a contest to rename Milwaukee’s Pittsburgh Avenue.
Freshwater Way was the consensus selection from a panel that reviewed more than 650 submissions from the public in the month-long contest. The roadway will run through the redeveloped Reed Street Yards, a business park featuring water technology companies.
“Freshwater Way is a name that captures the vision for the Reed Street Yards as a site for Milwaukee’s leading water-related companies,” Mayor Barrett said. “With the new global water center taking shape just east of the business park, the timing is perfect for renaming the street to anticipate the economic development and new jobs that will be created.”
The proposed name reflects Milwaukee’s expertise in freshwater industry and science, the abundance of freshwater in the region, and the city’s status as a UN Global Compact city for Freshwater Management.
The panel that selected the name Freshwater Way included the local alderman, Jose Perez, along with representatives of the business park land owner, the Milwaukee Water Council, city departments, and John Gurda, the chairman of the Citizen Advisory Committee On The Naming Of Public Buildings, Facilities And Streets.
That committee will review the recommendation and the Milwaukee Common Council will ultimately decide whether to officially rename Pittsburgh Avenue as Freshwater Way.
Seven different contest entries suggested the name, and those contestants will each receive a replica Freshwater Way street sign.
The panel reviewed a wide range of proposed names including dozens of suggestions incorporating words such as Aqua, Hydro, Liquid, Poseidon, Clear, Flow, or H2O. A few suggested names of current or former prominent Milwaukeeans, and a number of entries suggested keeping Pittsburgh as the street name – although a lot of those were out-of-state entries from people in Pennsylvania.
Milwaukee’s Reed Street Yards spans a vacant parcel along South Sixth Street, just south of the canal between the Harley Davidson Museum and the Iron Horse Hotel. The City anticipates investing between five and six million dollars in infrastructure, including streets and a RiverWalk, and environmental remediation. The goal is to create an urban water research and technology park that attracts new jobs and investment to the City.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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