GLENDALE, Wis. — A new federal grant lets Milwaukee County put the focus on reckless driving outside of the downtown area. The focus on the suburbs is something the county’s Department of Transportation says they have been missing.
A nearly 40-year Glendale resident, Allene Faber, says how people drive around her city weighs on her.
“Speed is a huge issue, weaving in and out of traffic, no signals, it is like there are no rules for the road in our community,” said Faber.
She spends nearly every day outside on the streets of Glendale walking the roads and trails. When questioned about what she needs to do to keep herself safe from reckless drivers, she says that is always on her mind.
“I ask myself that every day,” said Faber.
That’s why Donna Brown-Martin, the director of Milwaukee County’s Department of Transportation, says the county worked to get a $225,000 grant from the federal government. The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant is usually meant to help bicyclists and pedestrians, but the county asked to use the money to target reckless driving in hopes of making everyone safer.
“What we wanted to do was really look at it from Milwaukee County standpoint. (The) City of Milwaukee has been doing work on reckless driving for a couple of years now. But the county hasn't stepped its toe into anything having to do with reckless driving until this year,” said Brown-Martin.
The county plans to use the grant money to hire a consulting firm to go out into the community to survey people about how reckless driving affects them. Their focus will specifically be on all 19 municipalities that make up the county, not just the City of Milwaukee.
“What is good in North Milwaukee and Sherman Park may not be good in Greenfield or in Franklin. We want to give them a chance to tell us about their particular neighborhoods, their particular communities,” said Brown-Martin.
Allene points out that in her Glendale neighborhood there aren’t sidewalks like there are in other parts of the city. When she has her grandchildren visiting her house, she worries about reckless drivers speeding down her street.
“I have a limit on how far down the driveway they can go. If they go beyond that they have to come inside because people drive fast. They are not paying attention,” said Faber.
Milwaukee County plans to go out into the communities to host listening sessions in the spring. The county hopes this TAP grant is just the starting point. Eventually, the county wants to take the survey results and apply for more federal grants including one with Safe Roads for All so they can develop an action plan.
