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A project to redesign West Michigan Street in downtown Milwaukee is in the works to improve safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians; enhance the street's appearance; and improve connections in the area.
The City of Milwaukee began preliminary design for the project last summer and kicked off public engagement Thursday with a public involvement meeting to refine the plans, with construction beginning as early as this fall.
The project would transform Michigan Street between Water Street and North 8th Street. The 0.6-mile stretch runs past several corporate offices including Regal Rexnord, WEC Energy Group, Fiserv and Milwaukee Tool, as well as Zeidler Union Square.
Currently, Michigan Street is designed with two lanes for car traffic in both directions, street parking on both sides of the street and sidewalks.
The redesigned street would reduce the number of lanes dedicated to cars to one lane in each direction, with turning lanes at intersections. A traffic study found that Michigan Street only sees between 4,500 to 7,700 vehicles per day, but is designed to accommodate upwards of 15,000 vehicles per day.
A key part of the redesign is the addition of bike lanes, protected by a concrete barrier at most parts, on both sides of the road and reducing the amount of on-street parking. Currently, there are 112 on-street parking spaces that are less than 65% full, even at busy times, according to a July 2023 parking study. There's also 5,700 off-street parking spaces directly on Michigan Street, 5,000 of which are public, according to city documents.
The project, supported by Downtown Business Improvement District 21, would also improve the streetscape by adding landscaped medians, bioswales and more street trees, in addition to improving the bus stops along the stretch.
Expected to cost around $2 million, the project would be financed through a tax incremental financing district created in 2022 to assist with redevelopment of an office building for Fiserv's downtown headquarters.
Project leaders said the Michigan Street project is necessary to improve safety on the stretch of road that's seen 116 crashes in the last five years — 32 of which have resulted in injuries — as well as beautify the growing part of downtown.
At Thursday's public involvement meeting, held at the 3rd Street Market Hall also near Michigan Street, many stakeholders were primarily concerned with the safety of cyclists and said the changes would be welcome in the Westown neighborhood, which has almost no streets rated as "low stress" for cyclists, according to the City of Milwaukee's bike route finer.
Other stakeholders were concerned about how the changes would impact drivers trying to get in and out of the parking garages along Michigan Street if medians were built in the center of the road and street parking was removed.
