News: Milwaukee Street Bridge Work Tomorrow

Milwaukee Street Bridge Work Tomorrow

Today, the contractor with the contract for the approved Milwaukee Street Bridge improvements let the City know that they'll be doing this work tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be careful and patient when moving over the bridges while the contractor's team is doing the work. The lanes will both shift to the north and the three feet of road-side shoulder space from the northern side of the bridges will be combined with the three feet of shoulder space on the southern side of the bridges. The speed limit will also come down to 25mph. Following the contractor's paint work, the City's traffic engineering staff will be installing the new signs as well as traffic cones separating the six feet combined shoulder space for pedestrians from the lanes of bike and car traffic. See the diagram below for a visual of how this will work. The cones will need to be removed in the winter to allow for plowing snow. 

This solution is admittedly not that great. The State (WisDOT) controls this bridge because it crosses the interstate highway, so we have to work with what they'll allow. With former Alders Paulson's and Lemmer's support and advocacy, City Transportation and Traffic Engineering worked at length with WisDOT to get these changes approved by the state and funded through Safe Streets Madison to try and make the best of the bridge we currently have here as the neighborhoods to the east continue to grow. We absolutely need a new bridge here, very badly, with more space to safely accommodate pedestrians and bikers. Check out my recent post about the ongoing I-39/90/94 Corridor Study, which notes that the Milwaukee Street Bridge replacement is on the table with that project.