The City of Milwaukee is working to create safer streets for pedestrians. The existing roadways around the city are wide and lack dedicated pedestrian spaces such as crosswalks. As part of their rapid implementation program, the City committed to installing low cost, high-impact solutions to various corridors.
Civiltech’s Rapid Implementation project approach provides safety improvements to bike and pedestrian facilities that can be quickly designed and implemented. Civiltech is in its second year of designing corridor and intersection solutions to reclaim and improve the pedestrian space.
Projects included in the 2022 contract include:
- Center Street – 58th Street to 32nd Street
- Mitchell Street – 13th Street to 6th Street
- 16th Street (Cesar Chavez Drive) – National Avenue to Greenfield Avenue
- The intersection of Pierce Street and Layton Boulevard
- The intersection of Lake Drive and Hartford Avenue
In 2021, the projects included:
- North Avenue – 44th Street to 59th Street
- North Avenue – Monroe Street to 15th Street
- Villard Avenue – Hopkins Street to 32nd Street
- Bremen Street at Locust Street
To perform this work, Civiltech evaluates several intersections along each of these corridors to determine where the installation of paint-post bump-outs are applicable. The project team also uses City of Milwaukee standards to implement new crosswalks where warranted. In some corridors, new bike lanes were proposed to create a true Complete Streets improvement.
Prior to taking our Rapid Implementation project approach to Milwaukee, Civiltech had been designing paint and post bump-outs along various corridors in Chicago as part of Civiltech’s On-Call Pedestrian Project for CDOT. The bump-outs are designed to shorten pedestrian crossing distances and to decrease turning radii to encourage the slowing of vehicles.
A paint and post bump-out is designed with paint and flexible delineators (a type of flexible bollard or post) which make them inexpensive and allow for quick installation. The project is considered “rapid delivery” due to the ability to install them quickly after design. These bump-outs are intended as intermediate solutions to improve pedestrian safety at an intersection until a more permanent installation can be completed.