Better Streets MKE, Vol. 22
Better Streets Working Meetup
Thank you to all who joined for previous meetups and got started on projects! For those interested in continuing to build out a digital resource about car-free mobility in the Milwaukee area, we will have a working meetup on Wednesday, April 16 at Central Waters. Please bring a laptop and be prepared to write up resource guides about topics you know about. We will do the organizing of the topics, editing, and posting on the website; you will do the writing! If you know about things like: cargo bikes; traveling with kids; experiencing revocation of driver's license; navigating bike routes; and more, we would love to have you join us. No need to be a complete "expert."
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Central Waters Brewing
1037 W Juneau
Transit: 31, 33
Upcoming Events
South 1st Street Public Involvement Meeting – Open House
The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) is redesigning South 1st Street between South Chase and West Lincoln Avenues to create a safer, greener, and more accessible corridor for all users. Changes will include the addition green infrastructure, a road diet, and a new multi-use path. Learn more: engage.milwaukee.gov/1st-street.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
4:00 to 6:00 pm
MKE Urban Stables
142 East Lincoln Ave
Transit: 53, 54, 15, GREEN
Hopkins Street Traffic Calming & Protected Bike Lanes Public Involvement Meeting
The City of Milwaukee has been working over the past several months to redesign Hopkins Street - from the intersection of Locust and Teutonia to Capitol Drive. The goals of the project are to slow traffic to make the street safer for everyone walking, biking, and driving and add dedicated protected bike lanes to the corridor. Check out the project website here.
A hybrid session for the first part of the Wednesday, April 9th meeting via Microsoft Teams: Teams Meeting Link - Join Here. Meeting ID: 258 585 270 436; Passcode: CA6jP38C
Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Quad Graphics CoWorking and Event Space - 2nd floor of the Century City Towers
4201 N. 27th St
Transit: 34, 35, RED, PURPLE
Vision Zero Action Plan Public Meetings
The draft Vision Zero Action Plan is complete and available for public comment through April 24. With 7 overarching strategies and 100 action items to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries, the Vision Zero Action Plan aims to make streets safer for all. This plan was developed with significant community input, and we request your help to ensure the draft is shared widely and that the final plan reflects community priorities. You can read the draft plan here: https://engage.milwaukee.gov/VisionZero.
Monday, April 7th, 2025
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Webinar (online): https://bit.ly/MKEVZWebinar
Tuesday, April 15th, 2025
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Villard Square Library
5190 N 35th St
Transit: 19, 58
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Mitchell Street Library
906 W Historic Mitchell
Transit: 19, 54, 20, 80
Wheel and Sprocket Expo
The nation's largest bike sale is in our backyard! This is a great time to be able to check out new and used bikes, including road, gravel, e-bikes, cargo bikes, and more. E-bike trade-ins are also possible. The schedule also includes various presentations about recreational riding and advocacy.
April 11th - 13th, 2025
Various times
Wisconsin State Fair Park
Transit: 18, 33
Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee
Meetings are open to the public and held on the third Friday of the month. You can sign up for updates on meetings and agendas via e-Notify.
LIKELY Friday, April 25th, 2025
8:30 to 10:00 am
Hybrid
Zeidler Municipal Building, 5th floor
Virtual Meeting link
Transit: 15, 18, 57, GRE
3 blocks or less from the 14, 19, 30, 33, and CN1.
Bublr station on Van Buren St. near Wells St.
Critical Mass
A (fun!) monthly no-drop bike ride, with a fabulous website. Rolling out 6:00 pm sharp.
Friday, April 25th, 2025
Rolling out 6:00 pm sharp
Red Arrow Park
920 N Water St
Transit: GREEN, 15, Hop, 57, 18, 33, 19, 30, CN1, 14
Bublr station at Red Arrow Park
Surveys
Vision Zero Action Plan Draft
With 7 overarching strategies and 100 action items to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries, the Vision Zero Action Plan aims to make streets safer for all. This plan was developed with significant community input, and we request your help to ensure the draft is shared widely and that the final plan reflects community priorities. Review the Vision Zero Action Plan and offer feedback with a online survey (closes April 24th) at https://engage.milwaukee.gov/VisionZero
Walnut/Lisbon Protected Bike Lane from 20th to 40th Streets
Continuing on the great work on Walnut/Pleasant, the City is looking to extend the protected bike lane access on Walnut/Lisbon from the current terminus on 20th Street to the 40th Street intersection. The City is considering either a two-way bike lane or a one-way bike lane. A one-way bike lane would create a more consistent corridor design, which would allow people on bikes and scooters to safely go from Washington Park to Water Street without ever crossing Walnut/Lisbon/Pleasant. The right of way is large enough to do one way protected bike lanes and maintain most parking from 20th to 30th. A two-way bike lane from 30th to 40th would require cyclists to cross Walnut at 30th Street.
There's pros and cons. Generally, we here at Better Streets support the one-way bike lane option for 30th through 40th. In addition to corridor consistency, the parking utilization map does not show a need for parking both sides of the street. The danger of providing excess parking is that when parking is light, reckless drivers can and do use the parking lane for dangerous maneuvers. Light parking use may also align with times of highest danger for pedestrians and bike – dusk and darkness. This puts even those parking and walking across the street in more danger than needed. Look at the documents, reflect on your own thoughts, and take the survey especially if you would like to travel through this corridor more often.
Eyes on Projects (Construction Season Edition)
Psst - we don’t cover every project in every volume of this newsletter if there is no major new information. See previous newsletters for more updates about projects. Also, check out the City's map of infrastructure projects!
20th Street Corridor/Beerline
New trail coming this spring/summer! A new multi-use trail will be built parallel to 20th Street, from Villard through Gore Park. Additionally, a multi-use trail will be built along the former Beerline railroad corridor. Street crossings will also be improved. This exciting connection will connect Gore and Meaux Parks and will provide a better neighborhoods connection to locations such as Rufus King High School and the nearby Atkinson Library. It also sets the stage for additional planned Beerline Trail extensions.
Michigan Street Bike Lane
Michigan Street from North Water Street to North 8th Street will undergo a transformation this construction season. Changes will include a protected bike lane, some intersection improvements, and pedestrian safety improvements. We're excited to see a bike network really start to materialize in downtown.
Van Buren work continues
Speaking of downtown, work on Van Buren continues this season. From Wisconsin Ave to Kilbourn Ave, Van Buren will be converted into a two-way street. Conversion will also allow MCTS's 30 bus to directly access Wisconsin Avenue. Two-way streets are generally considered safer than multi-lane one-ways, and two-way streets improve accessibility.
Oklahoma from 6th to Howell, and 6th Street to Manitoba
Although the active outreach phases are complete, look out for a final design soon for this project. The City is deciding between one-way bike lanes and two-way cycle tracks for this project. This project will also improvements for transit riders, such as bus boarding islands.
Oklahoma from 27th to 6th Street
Construction work on Oklahoma starts this spring. This project has several different designs along the corridor, including some buffered and protected bike lanes.
Lisbon from 100th Street to Burleigh
Construction will start in 2025 on this major reconstruction project. Driving lanes will be reduced to one lane, and left turn lanes will be added. This will improve safety, as the current road is overbuilt and allows for excess speeding. The existing curb will also be moved for separated and raised bike lanes. Pedestrian safety improvements will also be added. This will include roundabouts at 85th and 92nd Streets.
Holton Street Bridge
The Holton Street Bridge project continues. During weekdays 9-3, expect closures of the Marsupial Bridge and Commerce between E Dock St and N Holton St. The Holton Street Bridge will be closed again later this year.
Lake Drive Construction
Lake Drive is being reconstructed from Edgewood to Newberry. Look forward to new protected bike lanes.
Other projects
We do our best to find links to specific projects, but hey, sometimes you just need to do an information dump! Expect 2025 construction (per the Infrastructure Projects map):
- Along 60th Street from Mill to Bradley, including post-protected bike lanes
- The Lapham Street project will see improvements from 16th to 6th Streets
- Kilbourn Street from Water to Marshall will see improvements
- As part of the KK River Trail Connections Project, South Water Street, Pittsburgh Avenue, 1st Street, and Young Street will be improved some time this year
Curious about a project? Check out Engage MKE
There are many road projects happening in Milwaukee. To learn more about them, check out the (new and improved) Engage MKE. This resource is a good place to start for understanding the major projects occurring in Milwaukee. Projects we didn't cover above include:
