Road work plan fights reckless driving
Improved roads and new bike lanes to help reduce reckless driving in downtown and other Milwaukee neighborhoods are coming through a new plan that won an initial city approval Thursday.
The proposal from Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s administration calls for spending $8.5 million generated by four tax incremental financing districts.
Those districts were created to help pay for such developments as Cathedral Place offices and condos, 545 E. Wells St.; Midtown Center, 5700 W. Capitol Drive; Stadium Business Park, 4111 W. Mitchell St., and a Milwaukee River walkway and neighboring commercial projects near North Water Street.
Those new developments generated property tax revenue to help pay for those projects, and now have surplus revenue available.
The city Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday endorsed plans to spend those funds, which also need Common Council approval. They are to be reviewed by the council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on Tuesday.
The proposal calls for:
Cathedral Place district’s $1.6 million to help fund a protected bike lane and traffic calming measures such as narrowed roads, as well as sidewalks, landscaping, street lighting and amenities for bicycle, transit and pedestrians on North Van Buren Street between East Brady and East Michigan streets, and on East Kilbourn Avenue between North Van Buren and North Jackson streets.
North Water Street Riverwalk district’s $1.5 million to help fund North Van Buren Street improvements.
Midtown Center district’s $2.9 million to be spent on traffic calming measures primarily on West Fond du Lac Avenue, West Congress Street, West Capitol Drive, North 60th Street and North 51st Boulevard, along with paving and pedestrian improvements on various nearby neighborhood streets.
Stadium Business Park district’s $2.5 million to be spent on improvements that include safe routes to school near South 35th and West Mitchell streets; traffic calming and a bike lane on South 37th Street between West Scott Street and West Lincoln Avenue; traffic calming and a bike lane on West Scott Street between South 35th and South 37th streets; traffic safety improvements on West Burnham Street between South 32nd and South 36th streets, and a study of safety improvements and reconfiguration of South 35th Street.
Additional funds totaling $8.4 million would be spent from the districts to help pay down the $24.8 million debt from the tax district used to help fund Century City Business Park.
Those funds would be added to a 2020 measure which is using $13.4 million from tax district to help reduce Century City’s debt.
The financing district at Century City, created at the former A.O. Smith Corp./Tower Automotive Inc. site, has generated little property tax revenue.
That’s due to a lack of new development at the business park, south of Capitol Drive and west of Hopkins Street, as well as a decline in nearby home values.
Meanwhile, the Redevelopment Authority board also approved an extended lease at Century City for Talgo Inc.’s rail car refurbishing operation in a city-owned former A.O. Smith/Tower building, 3533 N. 27th St.
Talgo will pay an annual rate that starts at $362,000, with annual increases, for the building and a nearby parking lot.