MILWAUKEE — More than $1 million in American Rescue Plan funding (or ARPA) was set aside in 2021 to drop residential speed limits in Milwaukee. Two years later, that still hasn't happened.
$500,000 from that original pot was used on speed humps and the city's department of public works used the remaining $700,000 to hire a consultant, CMR Ignite. The agency is getting ready to launch a public campaign, encouraging drivers to slow down.
Here was the response from the Department of Public Works when asked why the city would choose to spend money on a public service campaign versus pending more money on traffic calming infrastructure. "Infrastructure is really great for helping change behaviors, but we also want to change people's attitudes towards driving and speeding," said Kate Riordan, a senior transportation planner with DPW. "To do that we really need to use more of a social marketing approach — and that's what CMR Ignite really excels in, so that's why it was important to us to bring them on and to do some of this culture change work."
Right now, Riordan says the marketing agency is spending time talking with five focus groups around the city. "CMR Ignite is really focusing both on the ages of people who are most likely to be involved in high-speed crashes as well as the neighborhoods where they are most likely to occur."
This is the research phase — to determine what type of campaign will be most effective. People were offered a $100 gift card to join the focus groups, which are full.
The goal is to try to understand attitudes and behaviors around speeding and what might inspire drivers to change.
Meanwhile, DPW says it remains focused on trying to encourage Milwaukee's common council to drop the speed limit along arterial streets instead of residential streets. "These arterial streets, these busier streets, are the ones that actually are more dangerous," explained Riordan.
DPW says a public launch of the new campaign piloted by CMR Ignite is expected late this year or early next year.
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