Bus Rapid Transit’s $40.9M federal grant now official
A $40.9 million grant has been finalized to help finance a new rapid bus service connecting downtown Milwaukee to Wauwatosa’s Milwaukee Regional Medical Complex.
Construction on the new service, known as the East-West Bus Rapid Transit, is to begin in 2021, with the service to begin running by October 2022.
The $55 million project is being funded mainly with a $40.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The remaining funds are coming from Milwaukee County.
That grant, which President Donald Trump announced in May, is now official, according to an FTA announcement Monday.
“FTA is proud to join our partners in Wisconsin to improve public transportation in Milwaukee,” said FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams.
“The East West BRT project will provide fast and efficient service, improving mobility and travel times in this busy corridor,” Williams said in a statement. “This federal investment is an economic boost for Milwaukee County as the project will create jobs and help communities continue to recover from
the COVID-19 public health emergency,” she said.
The BRT, which has fewer stops and quicker trips than conventional bus lines, will connect downtown Milwaukee, Marquette University, Milwaukee’s west side, Wauwatosa and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center.
The center includes Children’s Wisconsin, Curative Care Network, Froedtert Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin and Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin’s Blood Research Institute.
The BRT will use the transit concourse at The Couture apartment high-rise, which will be built between East Michigan and East Clybourn streets, just west of North Lincoln Memorial Drive.
The planned nine-mile route will extend west along Wisconsin Avenue to North Hawley Road, where it turns south to West Blue Mound Road. The route follows Blue Mound Road west to North 95th Street where it turns east on Wisconsin Avenue.
It turns north into the medical center on North 94th Street, then east on Connell Avenue to North 92nd Street and north to West Watertown Plank Road. The route then turns west and ends at the Watertown Plank Road park and ride lot at North Swan Boulevard.
A one-way commute on the entire length is expected to take 37 minutes.