MILWAUKEE — Some people along a busy Milwaukee street were disappointed to see big federal investment in the city taken away by President Donald Trump's spending bill.
The more than $30 million project aimed to reconstruct 2.6 miles of 6th Street between National Avenue and North Avenue. The plan was to create separate bike lanes, narrower streets, enhance pedestrian crossings and add greenery.
"I thought this was a done deal and this was happening," Brad Gray told TMJ4 on Tuesday.
The reversal came more than a year after former President Joe Biden's visit celebrated the project.
Watch: Resident and business owner disappointed after President Trump's bill removes $34M from 6th Street reconstruction
"This administration has said from the beginning if you have any interest and communities across this country of making neighborhoods safer or doing something that benefits African-Americans or Latinos or people of color, that's something that we're going to target," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. "It would’ve invested tens of millions of dollars in the city and in local businesses, helping to create more jobs. So for that to be taken away by an administration that claims that they’re interested in having these sorts of investments in jobs, it was terrible."
In a statement, the White House Press Office said:
“It’s disgusting to see local 'leaders' sow doubt and division in their communities in a desperate attempt to mislead Americans, grasp political power, and lie about President Trump’s historic record of success. This administration’s policies are uplifting every family through tax cuts, slashing energy prices, and increasing access to the American Dream. Any politician working against this mission is failing their constituents and the mandate nearly 80 million Americans delivered to President Trump.”
"My kids play in the Beckum Little League. We cross 6th Street daily multiple times per day, go over there to the park to play and come back," Gray explained.
He and his family have lived on 6th Street near North Avenue for several years.
"I don’t want to see a lot of these projects that would put people to work and make life better being cut," Gray stated.
"Immediately in my heart was gutted, because that kind of thing doesn't just come around," business owner Sam Sandrin said.
Further south on 6th Street, near National Avenue, Sandrin has been preparing to open a bakery and bar called Midwest Sad in Walker's Point. She hopes local leaders will find a way to push the project forward.
"We have to figure it out ourselves. I'm hopeful now that we can come together and come up with a better solution for everybody, but that also means we have to figure it out now," Sandrin said.
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