Construction on North Avenue in Milwaukee's east side is in full swing.
TMJ4's Tom Durian went to the area to speak to business owners and the people that live there about the changes.
He found out pretty quickly that there's some confusion about the traffic flow. Tom saw several drivers turn from Oakland onto North eastbound — despite the lanes being closed, leading to near collisions with other drivers.
Watch: Drivers nearly collide during construction on North Avenue.
The city says the plan with construction is to make the road "safer and more enjoyable for all users." Over the last couple years, city leaders have tried several different changes to slow down drivers and protect bikers and pedestrians.
That includes planters and more to separate the bike lanes — but many of those obstacles were hit by cars and destroyed. The new concrete barriers being installed are expected to be more permanent.
"So you're for the improvement then?" Tom asked Monica Krol, who lives nearby.
"Oh, yes, but I think there are more important things to attend to — like water quality is the biggest thing right now. And the roads are really horrible," she responded.
"t is a little confusing trying to get in here, so it may slow down business a bit," Tom said, while talking to Jim Neumeyer, who co-owns Beans & Barley.
"It may. We are certainly trying to be ready for that," Jim responded. "We wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from coming over to the east side. There are a ton of ways to still get here."
Currently, traffic is only flowing west on North for most of the construction route. You can still get to Beans & Barley when you're headed in that direction.
In addition to the concrete barriers, there will be bus boarding islands, ADA compliant sidewalk ramps and new asphalt and lane re-striping on the roadway.
The project is expected to take more than six weeks to complete. Read Tom's previous coverage of this project here.
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