Standards OK’d for KK River walkway
Goal is to balance future development, industry
A public walkway along Milwaukee’s inner harbor and the Kinnickinnic River will balance that area’s industrial uses with future commercial development — and environmental restoration — under new design standards endorsed Monday.
The Harbor District RiverWalk could eventually total around 3.5 miles. A large piece is to begin construction next year in connection with Komatsu Mining Corp.’s future corporate campus, at the end of East Greenfield Avenue.
Another piece will be part of the River 1 mixed-use development, which is being built at South First and West Becher streets.
The design standards were recommended for approval by the Plan Commission on a 4-0 vote. The standards also need Common Council approval.
The RiverWalk will meet a public demand for more waterfront access and will be one of the defining projects for the Harbor District, said Sam Leichtling of the Department of City Development.
The design standards amount to “a major step forward” for the district’s redevelopment, he told commission members.
The district covers around 1,000 acres bordered roughly by South First Street, the lakefront, the Milwaukee River and Bay Street/Becher Street.
The design standards envision the walkway running between the end of East Bruce Street, where the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers converge, up the Kinnickinnic River through the inner harbor to Lincoln Field, 300 W. Lincoln Ave.
It will be on the west river bank, opposite Jones Island, until it goes through the inner harbor.
At that point, near Barnacle Bud’s restaurant,1955 S. Hilbert St., it is planned for both sides of the Kinnickinnic River before ending at the West Lincoln Avenue bridge.
It will take several years to complete.
As with the Milwaukee River walkway, which runs through downtown and the Historic Third Ward, and the new path planned for the Menomonee River, the Harbor District RiverWalk will be built in stages as waterfront parcels are redeveloped, Leichtling said.
The design standards for the Harbor District walkway include two unusual features.
One takes into account that the harbor area is a working waterfront, which includes marinas, boat yards and heavy industries.
Also, the standards include a requirement that a RiverWalk segment must include either an aquatic or upland wildlife habitat.
The wildlife habitats are needed because the inner harbor’s environment has been harmed by more than a century of pollution.
Milwaukee’s RiverWalk funding formula has been for the city to pay around 70% of each segment’s costs, with that money generated by property tax revenue from the site’s development. The developer pays the remaining costs.