MILWAUKEE — City leaders in Milwaukee unveiled 45 new traffic-calming projects for 2024, many of which are already being implemented across the city.  

What You Need To Know

  • Milwaukee leaders unveiled 45 new traffic-calming projects for 2024

  • Data is now out for two of those projects, showing efforts are working so far

  • DPW reports money for these projects includes funding from the American Rescue Plan in addition to local, state and federal grants

The projects aim to cut down on speeding and reckless driving, most notably in areas where city officials have been receiving complaints about those behaviors for years.

“Several major projects underway are down on Howard Avenue on the South Side, Wells Street Downtown, Van Buren Street Downtown and another project on Highland on the Northwest Side — all aimed at slowing speeds and making it safer to walk, bike and drive,” said Mike Amsden, multi-modal transportation manager with the Department of Public Works (DPW).

DPW said it has already collected data two of those projects: East Oklahoma Avenue in Bay View and West Lapham Boulevard on Milwaukee’s South Side. DPW's data showed so far, they’ve been effective.

The project on East Oklahoma Avenue included new striping, concrete bump-outs to prevent illegal passing and a reduced speed limit. Numbers showed the efforts have cut down on speeding by 37%, according to DPW.

“It used to be a four-lane street, two lanes in each direction with pretty high speeds and we’re near the park,” Amsden said. “We re-striped the street, one lane in each direction, added new turn lanes and in 2022, we added curb extensions.”

The West Lapham Boulevard project spans from South 6th Street down S. Cesar Chavez Drive. It included protected bike lanes, a lane reduction and a reduced speed limit. 

“We’ve received many complaints over the years about people speeding there,” said Amsden. “We re-striped the street. It used to be two lanes in each direction, and it went down to one lane in each direction.”

Numbers showed the efforts there have cut down on speeding by 69%, according to DPW.

“We know that higher speeds lead to more crashes and when those crashes occur, they’re more likely to be serious, or fatal,” Amsden said. “On Oklahoma, before we did this project, 6% of people were driving faster than 40 miles per hour and we’re down to about 1% of people now.”

The speed reduction efforts also include the installation of 20 new raised crosswalks near grade schools throughout the city. One of those crosswalks is in Bay View across from Parkside Elementary School.

“We’ve laid out plans to build out a protective bikeway network of over 50 miles,” Amsden said. “We’re working much more closely with MCTS on better bike service and all of that goes to just making Milwaukee a better place to be and a more enjoyable place to be.”

DPW said money for these projects includes funding from the American Rescue Plan in addition to local, state and federal grants.