Planning is underway for Bublr Bikes to add more stations and bicycles throughout Milwaukee in 2020.
The Milwaukee-based nonprofit bicycle sharing program plans to expand by 26 stations and about 250 bicycles, according to the city’s Department of Public Works.
The $1.9 million expansion will be funded by about $1.5 million in federal funding, and $380,000 in local funding, DPW said.
Since launching in 2013 with one dock at Discovery World on the lakefront in downtown Milwaukee, Bublr Bikes has grown to include 87 stations in the Greater Milwaukee area, including Milwaukee, West Allis, Wauwatosa and Shorewood.
Exact location of the new Bublr stations has yet to be determined.
Public open house meetings will be held over the next few weeks for residents to learn about the expansion project. DPW said it will work with community partners and residents to identify sites for expansion.
The system currently has a cluster of stations in and around Milwaukee’s downtown, East Side and near south side. A DPW map identifies the city’s west side, stretching from Washington Park to Miller Park, as a potential area for expansion, along with Riverwest to the east, and Bay View to the south.
The public meetings include:
- May 22, from 4-7 p.m. at the Mitchell Street Library Community Room, 906 Historic Mitchell St. Open house format with brief presentations at 4:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
- June 4, 2019, 4-7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Library Community Room, 310 W. Locust St. Open house format with brief presentations at 4:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Following the public meetings, officials will engage in site selection and design work over the next year, according to the DPW website. A final public meeting is expected to be held in spring 2020, with station installation expected to be completed in the fall.
Sally Sheperdson, executive director of Bublr Bikes, said Wauwatosa also recently received funding to add seven new Bublr stations in the next few years.
