MILWAUKEE — A new city report identifies the most dangerous streets in the city for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. It shows state trunk highway Capitol Drive is far and away at the top of the list.
Robert Bradford has owned a barber shop on Capitol Dr. for 25 years.
“They look at me like a monarch of the neighborhood here,” he said.
While Bradford loves serving his community with clippers in hand, his frustrations right outside the window haven’t faded over the years.
"It's sad to say I'm kind of immune to seeing all the car accidents and the motorcycle accidents,” he said.
Bradford says a speeding driver along the wide open road totaled his car out front and a reckless driver smashed into a business down the street.
"Just on the next block here there was a car that run right directly into the laundry mat and hit a kid,” he said.
A study called the Milwaukee Crash Analysis includes a scoring system for high-injury roads to show which ones pose the biggest dangers for walkers, bikers and drivers.
Bradford says it’s no surprise Capitol Dr. got the worst score for all three categories.
Police data shows 5 people have been killed in crashes along Capitol Dr. so far this year.
The Midtown Shopping District recently funded Capitol Drive’s first physical traffic calming measures. Pinned-on concrete curb bump-outs now protect the parking lane on about a 20-block stretch of the road, but they’re nowhere near Bradford’s barber shop.
The state trunk highway is owned and maintained by Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation. While WisDOT approved the recent engineering solution, Bradford thinks it’s time the state puts up the money for more.
"The state needs to step it up,” he said.
TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan reached out to WisDOT several times to request an interview to ask why it hasn’t paid for reckless driving solutions along Capitol Drive — and whether it has plans to do so in the near future.
WisDOT declined the interview request. Instead, it sent a statement that reads in part, "We are working together with city leaders to approve road implementation projects."
One of those city leaders is Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
"There needs to be more done certainly on Capitol Dr. and other streets,” he said.
“Have you asked WisDOT if they’re willing to put up some money for those things?” Jordan asked.
"We continue to work with WisDOT through the Department of Public Works, so on streets within their jurisdiction I think you'll see some change, just like we've seen on Capitol Drive,” Mayor Johnson replied.
In the future, Mayor Johnson says he would like to see more pinned-on curb bump-outs throughout Capitol Drive along with a number of other solutions that would be practical for roads with lots of traffic.
"Whether that's actual protected bike lanes, not just paint on the street but actual protected bike lanes that separate bicyclists away from motorized traffic. All those things work to make our streets safer, whether it's something like roundabouts where those may be appropriate,” he said.
Back at the barber shop, Bradford says the future can’t come soon enough.
"They need to figure how to slow traffic down here on Capitol Drive,” Bradford said.
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