The reconstruction of South Second Street in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood is complete and the street was recently re-opened to two way traffic.
The $4 million project provided new pavement, but also re-designed the street narrowing it from two lanes of traffic in each direction to one lane of traffic in each direction with bicycle lanes. The road was narrowed from 58 feet to 50 feet and a 6.5-foot wide grass terrace was added on each side of the road. City officials hope the changes will make the street more pedestrian-friendly and provide a boost to businesses on the street. City officials say South First Street and South Sixth Street already handle the bulk of the north-south traffic in the neighborhood.
The project is being completed just as a new development has been proposed on South Second Street. Kaufmann LeSage LLC, led by developer Juli Kaufmann, plans to build a 4-story, 30,000-square-foot “green” commercial building on a vacant lot at 538 S. 2nd St. Clock Shadow Creamery, a cheese production facility and retail shop will occupy the entire first floor of the building. It will be operated by Bob Wills, owner of Cedar Grove Cheese. The Healing Collective health center will occupy the second and third floors. The collective provides mental, physical and spiritual health services through the Walker’s Point Community Clinic, The Healing Center (an Aurora Health Care program for sexual abuse and assault survivors) and CORE/El Centro (a natural healing center). The top floor of the building remains available. Three non-profit organizations and two small for-profit companies have expressed interest in the space, according to Kaufmann LeSage.
