The Biden-Harris Administration just announced $39.56 million is being made available in Milwaukee for locally-led projects that help reconnect communities.
Most of that money ($36.56 million) will be put to use on 6th Street in an effort to reconnect several historic neighborhoods that have been severely impacted by highway construction. That project is referred to as "Connecting North to South: A Complete 6th Street."
Leaders with the City of Milwaukee say 6th was widened in the 60s to prioritize "car traffic over the experience of people who live, walk, work, and shop along the corridor. 6th Street should be redesigned as a priority transit street and enhanced bikeway.'
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$2 million will also be put toward re-imagining the National Avenue Interchange in Milwaukee. That project would focus on Walker's Point neighborhood, which is cut in half by the I-94/43 National Avenue Interchange. Community leaders will use public engagement and technical analysis to look into possible traffic, ramp, street connection and shared use path improvements.
Another $1,000,000 will be spent on reconnecting the Perry Street Overpass over the Beltline Highway (US Highways 12/14/18/151) in Madison. City leaders hope reconnecting Perry Street will eliminate the need to loop north and south around the Beltline and make it easier for people to access jobs, school, worship and more on either side of the highway.
According to a press release from the US Department of Transportation, funding is being made available to 130 communities across 41 states, plus Washington D.C. It's part of the $3.3 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to "stitch back communities by capping highways, adding new transit routes, sidewalks, bridges, bike lanes and more."
“While the purpose of transportation is to connect, in too many communities past infrastructure decisions have served instead to divide. Now the Biden-Harris administration is acting to fix that,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We are proud to announce an unprecedented $3.3 billion to help 132 communities deliver better infrastructure that reconnects residents to jobs, health care, and other essentials.”
TMJ4's Ben Jordan is talking to Milwaukee City leaders about infrastructure issues in Milwaukee. He'll have updates this afternoon.
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