MILWAUKEE — It’s less than a week into the New Year and the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) is already getting started on projects that won’t break ground until 2027.
On Thursday the Milwaukee Public Works Committee met for the first time this year. Members shared a generally positive tone about where the city is headed towards combatting reckless driving, though there were concerns about how much can be done without a shift in mindset by the state.
“There does seem to be a clash of philosophy between [The Department of Transportation] and the city,” Ald. Bob Bauman said. “It’s a growing point of contention.”
Bauman is the chair of the Public Works Committee. He raised many questions at Thursday’s meeting about what can be done to impact state-run roadways.
While most streets in Milwaukee are maintained by the city, there are many others that are not.
As the first name asserts, county trunk highways are maintained by the county and state trunk highways are owned, maintained, and operated by the county and state respectively. There are also connecting highways which, according to DPW, are owned and maintained by the city.
“When we do projects, work on connecting highway projects, we work with the state,” David Tapia, Major Projects Manager for DPW said.
There were 12 resolutions brought before the Committee Thursday, which include $4,782,000 in funding. The city would be responsible for 20 percent of that funding, or $976,000. The other funding would be met by the state with help from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. An additional $65,000 will apparently be handled by the City of Wauwatosa.
DPW says these locations were initiated by the state so money can be programmed for them. This is the first step in the project development process, so the earliest projected date for construction is 2027.
In the design process for these areas and intersections, DPW says they will look for potential traffic calming measures in the process. However, Bauman raised concerns that the city and state can get on the same page.
“[DOT] really [does] understand where we are with the city with the issues we have,” Tapia said.
“Are we sure about that?” Bauman said. “That they understand that?”
“I do,” Tapia said. “They do understand it and are working with us to the best of their ability and we’ll continue to push that envelope as much as we can to get what we believe is the best, safest system we can out there.”
Below are 33 projects DPW has completed or is in the process of completing since last year.
Bauman doubled down about how the philosophy from DOT needs to change in order for Milwaukee to see real change. He is steadfast in supporting the city’s Vision Zero efforts, looking to get zero deaths and zero severe injuries from traffic crashes.
“[DOT] has to get off this approach of ‘let’s move cars and trucks as fast and efficiently as we can,'” Bauman said. “There’s a cost to that and that cost is in the form of crashes and fatalities.”
Bauman’s concerns are backed up by data. From 2020 to 2022, 290 people have been killed in crashes in Milwaukee County. In the prior three years, from 2017-2019, there were 228 deaths; a 27.2 percent increase.
Two of the biggest problem areas are roads like Capitol Drive and Fond du Lac Avenue; roads that are considered state trunk highways under DOT control.
“I just think we need to take a new approach, especially among the engineers and experts,” Bauman said. “It’s really a policy question and then, from that policy decision, the engineers execute the projects to achieve that policy goal. There is some progress being made, yes. Apparently. We’ll see.”
The I-Team reached out to the DOT for a response to Bauman’s comments but it did not respond by our deadline.
Regarding Bauman’s concerns about philosophical differences between DOT and the City of Milwaukee, State Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson told the I-Team in November he supported Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s vision around combatting reckless driving.
“We’ve got to make sure and do our due diligence but philosophically, very supportive of what the mayor is doing,” Thompson said.
In December, Gov. Tony Evers reiterated supporting Milwaukee’s efforts at combatting reckless driving through the budget.
“Some of the money that during the pandemic we provided to the City of Milwaukee to make those kinds of infrastructure changes on various streets, they’re working,” Evers said. “So we will continue to fund that in our transportation budget.”
