MILWAUKEE — The City of Milwaukee's Department of Public Works gave more than $100,000 to community groups to help curb reckless driving.
Along Villard Avenue on Milwaukee's North Side, things were pretty quiet Wednesday afternoon. However, that isn’t always the case as the area, and many other areas, combat reckless driving.
“It’s terrible. Kids getting hit. Too many car crashes just everywhere,” said Anthony Talbert, a Milwaukee resident who said he’s tired of the dangerous driving.
To curtail the trend, DPW issued $102,000 in micro-grants for community groups.
The money will be used to create campaigns to raise awareness about reckless driving.
“It’s our neighborhood. We want to take our streets back,” said Angelique Sharpe of the Villard Avenue Business Improvement District.
The Villard Avenue Business Improvement District is one of 18 community groups to receive grants. The BID received $5,000. With it, it plans to host a summer concert series to raise awareness about the issue.
Across town on Historic Mitchell Street, many of the same issues persist.
BID plans to install 50 bilingual signs between 6th and 14th streets, reminding people to slow down and save lives.
“It’s more of a reminder campaign that we hope to have up, middle of May through October,” said Nancy Bush of the Historic Mitchell Business Improvement District.
Milwaukee Police told TMJ4 News they’ve given 122 reckless driving tickets so far this year. That number is actually down from 184 on this day last year.
From sign campaigns to summer concert series, DPW says they received all kinds of proposals from organizations looking to curb reckless driving.
“Bus ads. Billboards. Concert series. Yard signs. Apps being developed for teens and youth regarding reckless driving,” said Mike Amsden, Multimodal Manager for DPW. He said this informational blitz is only one part of its effort to keep roads safer.
“We have a lot of projects coming up this year, that we’ll redesign our streets all the way from pavement markings to full reconstruction projects,” Amsden said.
Our news partners at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service originally reported this information. Their report can be found here.
Below are organizations awarded program dollars:
1. Grasslyn Manor Block Association
2. Lincoln Avenue Neighborhood Safety Group
3. Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership
4. COA Youth & Family Centers
5. Villard Ave BID
6. Walker's Point Center for the Arts
7. Northwest Side CDC
8. Safe & Sound
9. Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
10. Wisconsin Community Services
11. WestCare
12. Riverworks Development Corportation
13. Historic Mitchell St BID
14. Muskego Way Forward
15. Coalition for Safe Driving
16. Running Rebels
17. CORE El Centro
18. Southside Organizing Committee
