Bauer’s vision lives on in Hoan Bridge
Getting around Milwaukee and other parts of southeastern Wisconsin wasn’t always easy.
Kurt Bauer led the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission as executive director from 1962 to 1997, overseeing major changes to the freeway and highway system in the region that made it what it is today.
Bauer, 91, died Dec. 13 from congestive heart failure, leaving behind a foundation that is the transportation nervous system for Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties.
“He really formed the agency’s role and purpose in the region and in some cases, through his own sheer will,” Kevin Muhs, executive director of SEWRPC, said. “He really influenced our approach to all sorts of things and really set the direction for the agency that we largely followed since his retirement in the mid-90s.”
His daughter, Elisabeth Bauer, always thought of them as “my dad’s roads.”
“When I’m driving, I think of my father,” she said.
Bauer was born in Milwaukee in 1929 to German immigrant parents. In 1955, he married Arlene; they were together until her death in 2017 and had three children: Elisabeth, Caroline and Kurt.
Bauer received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Marquette University and master’s and doctorate degrees in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He would eventually teach at each university. He also earned the commission of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, He also was a county surveyor for several years.
In his four decades as executive director of SEWRPC, Bauer oversaw several major projects including the creation of Interstate 794 and the concept of urban development that preserved natural resources.
Former SEWRPC Executive Director Ken Yunker recalls the Hoan Bridge being referred to as “the bridge to nowhere.” During the ’70s and ’80s, the bridge essentially ended at the Port of Milwaukee, causing a lot of traffic congestion in the Bay View area.
“The quality of life that we enjoy today in our natural environment, the parks, lakes, rivers, streams ... really came from Kurt leading that identification of the region’s environmental corridors. It was a concept that was initially controversial, that these areas should be preserved.”
Ken Yunker Former SEWRPC Executive Director
There was contention between the camps of people who wanted the freeway expanded and those who didn’t. Yunker said it was up to Bauer to find a solution and make recommendations to elected officials.
“His leadership there was essential,” Yunker said. “Ultimately what was built was that compromised alternative and has worked to significantly reduce the traffic on Superior Street and Lake Drive.”
The fight between the factions would be a constant during his time with SEWRPC, and ensuring systems ran well required continual attention and planning.
When they worked, people likely didn’t notice.
“You expect that infrastructure to work well, your transportation systems, your sewer systems,” Yunker said. “You only see it when it doesn’t work well.”
Bauer helped plan the removal of the Park East Freeway, near where Fiserv
Forum is now. He also helped plan the expansion of capacity on area surface streets and highways to appease those who didn’t want freeway expansion. He also implemented metered ramps to help make freeways more efficient.
“What you see now is the compromise,” Tom Buestrin, commission member, said. “If you ask him, he’d say the freeway system was never completed.”
Bauer was ahead of his time when it came to considering environmental impact, growth and development.
He made sure the agency had an inventory of the natural areas in each of the counties and consulted the records while planning projects.
That allowed Wisconsinites and visitors to take in the natural scene while driving through the southeast portion of the state.
“The quality of life that we enjoy today in our natural environment, the parks, lakes, rivers, streams ... really came from Kurt leading that identification of the region’s environmental corridors,” Yunker said. “It was a concept that was initially controversial, that these areas should be preserved.”
And he had what Muhs called a “strong vision” for coordinating the transportation network with the businesses and residents it served.
“Rather than the transportation system chasing development, the two worked together in a coordinated fashion,” Muhs said. “It’s actually pretty popular to think that way in planning circles, but it was not as much at the time.”
Bauer also had a hand in some smaller parts of the state.
Elisabeth Bauer remembers her father taking her to a subdivision in South Milwaukee that he designed to show them what he helped create.
“I was surprised,” she said. “I thought he just did the big freeway systems and roadways.”
Bauer remained proud of the work he did for the region.
As her dad got older, Elisabeth would ask him if there was anything he missed. And he’d respond, “I want my job back.”
“He loved what he did, and I think it showed in what that agency became,” she said.