Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) plans to extend a 3.5-mile stretch of Interbang-94 In Milwaukee. The $1.2 billion expansion will see the highway widen from six to eight lanes between 70th Street and 16th Street in the city. WisDOT claims the modernization project will reduce congestion and chases on this stretch of I-94 that passes through American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.
With completely ignored concept of the need to cause, the I-94 expansion project was met with backlash from communities adjacent to I-94. Many of these disadvantaged neighborhoods will be double-taped after the construction of the original highway in the 1960s.
One of the affected neighborhoods is Piggsville. Piggsville is located on an urban peninsula with I-94 to the south, the Menomonee River to the west, Wisconsin Avenue and the Molson Coors brewery to the north. There are no supermarkets, grocery stores or fast food restaurants in Piggsville. It’s a food desert where the only place to buy food is a gas station. Any trip to the grocery store in this part of the city that doesn’t have a car requires a mile of walking back and forth.
City of Milwaukee report that the expansion of I-94 will lead to the destruction of the neighborhood gas station. An urgent care center and a black-owned bar will also be demolished to accommodate the project.
There is a coalition of community organizations advocating an alternative modernization project called Edited at Six. The plan would call for highway repairs but keeping it at six lanes. Highway expansion funds will be directed to expanding Milwaukee’s public transit system in this part of the city, including a new rapid bus service. Ideally, this plan would reduce demand on I-94 and make neighboring communities safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Fix at Six will also be $40 million cheaper than an eight-lane expansion.
However, the Milwaukee County Council voted against the non-binding Fix at Six solution yesterday. The resolution was not passed by one vote. It appears that federal intervention will be the only method to prevent the eight-lane expansion. consider federally funded project to remove I-375 in downtown Detroit, a change of direction wouldn’t be out of the question.
