@@carlthoresen3232 Well, Buffalo and NY state in general are the land of unfinished projects. I-990 was originally intended to go near Rochester, the 33 expressway was originally supposed to connect with I-190 and US 219 (the expressway portion) was supposed to end at I-86.
A 4 lane boulevard with Light rail adjacent to the sidewalks sounds like the best solution. Connect the waterfront to Amtrak's hiawatha via light rail and you can see decent ridership in summer. This also seperates pedastrians from cars via railroad tracks thereby making it safer to walk or wait for the train.
Why 4 lanes? That’s just removing one car-centric design and replacing it with another. The best solution is bike/ped/transit, with no cars. Similar to the Atlanta beltline plan.
As a Milwaukee resident myself I’m on the fence either way. Getting rid of it seems like the best option for development. But at the same time I do get curious as how much summer traffic during summerfest and and other events downtown will be impacted. Back in the early 00’s Milwaukee destroyed another downtown freeway called park east. And after it was gone, it took a while for development to come. Granted, it is a whole lot better now. With tons of new businesses, apartments and the Fiserv Forum entertainment area being the focal point. Whatever happens, happens. I trust that the city knows what to do here.
I'm leaning on the freeway being removed with the space replaced with a tunnelled suburban railway (similar to what's planned for the Cahill Expy in Sydney, New South Wales). Freeways like this often induce traffic, not alleviate it, so removing the freeway will almost certainly not have any major impacts.
There won't be that big of an impact since the traffic will get scattered on city streets. When big events happen such as the air and water show, lakefront fireworks, and summerfest, traffic is always scattered on city streets either way with a lot of people getting off from 94 and 43.
@@nperceivedNow, removing "induced" traffic means that people who would go downtown will stop doing so. So, for example, this will hurt shops and restaurants in the area as people go elsewhere to shop and dine. People need to keep that major negative in mind.
@@Geotpfif you replace it with public transit, bike infrastructure, and more density, then the local businesses actually benefit. Sure, less people are coming into downtown from the suburbs, but now there are more people that live/work there. This also makes it a MUCH nicer place to live
I live in Milwaukee and want 794 gone. The only redeeming factor to 794 is the route, when you're driving into the city from the south, is absolutely gorgeous. But that's not nearly a good enough reason to bifurcate the heart of the city. And you almost never drive in from that direction because there's nothing you'd take that route for.
I love the idea of getting rid of it in favor of converting Clybourn into a boulevard, but it would be a massive project that would screw up downtown for a while. Worth it in the long run but I do get the opposition. The only big issue I see is the Summerfest traffic...the grounds host large ethnic and cultural festivals just about every weekend during the summer in addition to the actual Summerfest event, and traffic gets terribly unpleasant during these events even with the current set up. Reducing all that to surface streets could be a disaster. Then again, if the state would allow for more expansion of the streetcar so it's not limited to a small portion of downtown, that would probably have a huge positive impact on the traffic issue. Looking forward to the town actually making some decisions soon
Thank you for making this. This is a cause that im VERY involved in. We are trying our best to keep spreading the word and to have people see the vision. Turnout was good for a public forum with good feedback. Can only hope for the best now
Fun fact: the interchange with Lincoln Memorial Blvd used to have ghost ramps for the never-built extension northbound, which were used in a famous scene from The Blues Brothers: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JyJTRNBlAsM.html.
I like the idea of getting rid of the freeway there and going with the boulevard. It would reconnect the third ward and downtown and be good for the area as a whole. I remember back in the 70s where the freeway development stopped at the Summerfest grounds and it was literally a freeway to nowhere! It was that way for so many years. They even used it in the movie Blues Brothers!
It *never* was intended to be a route to the airport. The idea of it going all the way to Chicago was a fantasy, and the lakefront expressway in Waukegan, IL was never planned to be part of I-794. The southern end of I-794 was intended to bend westward in Oak Creek, and become part of a beltway that was de-mapped in the early '70s, leaving the Hoan Bridge going to "nowhere". But it really wasn't "nowhere". The eastern part of Milwaukee County found this special road to be a great asset -- except for the awkward connection to the street network at the south end of the bridge. The Lake Parkway solved that problem. It's end just east of the airport isn't some botched connection to the airport, but rather it's right about the point of diminishing returns. Traffic levels start to drop off at that point, and the street network, at the time, was mostly old 2-lane roads. Upgrading the surface streets was a better investment south of that point. The removal of the east-wast portion adjacent to downtown gained a lot of interest after the Park East Freeway was dismantled, and the area in its corridor flourished. A lot of people didn't think that would happen, but now they think it can be repeated. As for the never-build Lake Freeway north of the East-West Freeway (that would have connected to the Park East Freeway, keep in mind that the Summerfest grounds, and the area immediately north of there was once industrial land, and a huge rail yard at the foot of Wisconsin Ave. When the Lake Freeway was proposed, the sight of a modern freeway seemed like a huge upgrade from what was there before. That point of view changed as what's now known as Veteran's Park was developed, and Summerfest grew from a Woodstock-like beer bash on a muddy field, to a world-class festival, and people realized that the lakefront had recreational value greater than it's traditional industrial and transportation value. (In the first half of the 20th Century, people didn't have "leisure time", and Milwaukee was an industrial city. And "downtown" didn't stretch to the lakefront, but rather stopped around Milwaukee St. Most of what was east of there had started as marshes, and the residential neighborhoods that were built on top of that, which later became part of what now is considered downtown, was a convenient place for poor, working-class laborers to live.) At one time I-794 was seen as a primary access route to the south harbor area, via the Hoan Bridge, but truckers never warmed-up to coming downtown to reach the rest of the Interstate system. And Becher St, between I-94, and the south harbor (Jones Island) area was/is more than suitable. Disconnecting the Hoan Bridge, and the Lake Parkway from the Interstate network probably won't be a problem. People coming from the north -- Milwaukee's "gold coast" -- will be more inconvenienced. Instead of their gentile ride down Lincoln Memorial Drive to reach I-794, they'll need to go through, let's say, rougher neighborhoods on the north side to reach I-43. But even the "gold coast" has a more "urbanist" point of view now than 40 years ago. The real money (and power) has moved far, further out of the city to places like Mequon, and the connection to I-43 doesn't require going though rough neighborhoods. (And connections west to I-41 are also available.) I expect the East-West portion of I-794 to be demolished in favor of a grand boulevard that, along with the redevelopment to the north where the Park East used to be, will further suck the life out of the traditional downtown area, which already is getting a bit ghost-townish. As for the Lake Parkway, I'd expect it to transferred to the County, and its numeric designation stripped away. And watch for the bridge to change, too. I expect that traffic will be limited to the west span, with the east span turned into a bike highway, and the viaduct portion on Jones Island removed. But that's 20 years off.
I love your videos man. I was always the sim city kid in school that was more into learning about traffic problems and city zoning issues 😂. I found my home here on your channel ❤
Milwaukee already went through a freeway removal back in the 2000s with the removal of the Park East Freeway. Milwaukee is also studying on removing the Stadium Freeway with the study planning on being done in winter 2024.
@@dhinton1 That would be a shame, at least from I-94 to Washington Park. Even along the border of Washington Park it's fairly unobtrusive in its depressed 2x2 configuration. It's a valuable connector to near northwest Milwaukee's old US 41 and US 45 corridor, effectively collecting/distributing traffic across a 2 mile distance from a major freeway, rather than directly to surface streets. Surface streets here don't even exist due to the terrain and land use. I believe the stadium north freeway is the best roadway for the job that's required here.
@@digitboy100 a lot of people in the Washington park neighborhood have been arguing for its removal. It separates the park from the neighborhoods directly west of the freeway. Plus traffic is terrible when the freeway meets Lisbon AVE.
With all that terrible traffic, we should just get rid of the stadium. As well as The Bucks arena. That will surely get rid of all that traffic. Increase light rail so that 4% of the population can just ride in a circle looking at all the panhandles in dirty, downtown Milwaukee. I don't care because I've always avoided it like the plague. More useless "progress" which is actually "regression".
I think he glossed over the history. When there was much more industrial use and a large train yard, I'm sure this seemed like a good idea to keep trucks moving.
I work on the east side and live in Oak Creek. I get to and from work in less than 15 min and there is never much traffic on 794. It would take me twice as long to get to and from work using 94.
As someone that grew up there and lived there for 25+ years I can tell you the whole road system is a mess, not just I-794/lake park way. Poor planning and funding and also stealing funds out of the DOT to build Miller park didn't help. WI does not have a toll system, it's all gas tax and fees. Also when events let out like NBA or MLB games the roads are a parking lot. It's a parking lot during rush hour as well. There is no room to expand I94 and I43 without demo of buildings. Thanks for the video, you do some awesome videos.
Bullshit it leads nowhere. It's a handy shortcut from the Marquette Interchange to Cudahy and Oak Creek. I've also tried to get out of downtown in a snowstorm. Remove that and the only way across the rivers south is via Pittsburgh St to South Water St/1st St or head west first, all of which will be jammed. If you're going to open up acreage downtown for development, first you have to make downtown attractive again. With recent big crime headlines downtown and the unwillingness of the current DA to prosecute crime (his charge rate is under 40% according to the police department), downtown is a pit. Removing the roadblock from downtown will attract that crime to the relatively ritzy Third Ward. They're not going to like that. I like it the way it is. They just reconstructed the whole thing back in 2008 with the reconstruction, which cost $800 million and took 4 years. Money wasted if they tear it down now. Wait until it needs replacement again, or at least significant reconstruction. This is where Milwaukee/Wisconsin is/are pound foolish.
It hasn't really stopped any development though. The third ward near the east/west portion of the freeway is pretty built up. The Hoan bridge was kind of a waste of money, in retrospect, since all it really does is provide a link between Bay View and downtown but that's a sunk cost and it's not really hurting anything either. It goes over Summerfest and the sewage treatment plant - so it's not like anyone could put up a building in either of those places. Also, as you can see from the ample parking, there isn't that much demand to build stuff in downtown Milwaukee. They reconfigured the 794 and Lincoln Memorial Drive junction several years ago to free up that big green lot near the turn on the east end of Clybourne and it's still vacant today. For that matter the Park East land has been pretty poorly utilized and they tore that freeway down over 20 years ago. Also, the east/west portion is the main route into downtown. A surface street would not be able to handle that level of traffic. And getting rid of it would hinder development by making it tougher to get down there. I mean even without traffic just considering the stoplights you're probably adding 5-10 minutes minimum to travel times between the Marquette and the lakefront by converting that to a surface street. And keep in mind that downtown Milwaukee isn't really the center of the Milwaukee area. If you make it too difficult to get down there then developers will start putting up office towers out in Tosa instead.
It took 20 years but there's a lot of development happening in the old Park East corridor near the new arena that couldn't have happened with the Freeway still there! Building a nicer, more walkable downtown Milwaukee will be good for development, nobody is going to put up towers in Tosa because of a 5 to 10 min traffic delay.
They tried putting a tower in Rosa a few years ago West of the zoo. Most of the residents greatly opposed it and the project was cancelled. I don’t think a tosa would ever approve a tower
True they reconfigure the 794/lake memorial drive/ clybourne intersection. But everyone I know finds that interchange greatly confusing. Especially if you are driving southbound
@@jacobkorducki6940 It's not just the extra 5-10 minutes. Anyone driving in from Waukesha or Washington Counties has already spend a half an hour or whatever just to get to the Marquette interchange. And as the region grows that number will increase. Because eastward growth is impossible the center of population will always move west and that makes places like Brookfield or Tosa more appealing for employers - especially if Milwaukee is going to make life difficult for people driving downtown.
When the Lake Freeway plan was originally developed, the de-industrialization of south Milwaukee had only begun. The freeway had more justification when it was proposed to keep many trucks off downtown streets, compared to now.
Summerfest reaches record attendance every year! How is it "disconnected" from the city? It "doesn't go anywhere important to who? The people of Cudahy aren't important? By the way, "new development" should be stated as "high-income apartments". That hardly serves everyone.
@@rorypaul153because the people from cudahy and South Milwaukee have a faster way to get to the downtown area. And those of us who want to bypass a downtown area for a speedier way to get south have that option. This is less about reconnecting downtown and more about having space to build residential towers that only the wealthy can afford. Let them find someplace else to live without disenfranchising the majority of the people that pay the bills here.
Indeed, this was part of a a proposed interstate connecting the cities in Wisconsin and Illinois on the lakefront from Milwaukee to Chicago, as witnessed by Lakeshire Drive in Chicago and some portions of US 41 north of downtown Chicago being built to (then) freeway standards.
Chicago's was at first gonna be 494 then the crosstown expressway took that number they renumbered 694 but all got killed from both opposition and money. At the time Chicago built the expressways before the interstate highway act and also cook county. These plans were pre interstate highways the other opposition was Lake County with the Amstuzt Expressway in the 60s. Now it's also another highway to nowhere.
Yeah, but your view doesn't fit into what they call "progress". You know, rebuilding 1948 public transportation we got rid of in favor of "buses". Now let's waste the taxpayer's money on both! After all, 4% of the population should have a choice!
In Canada, Montreal removed part of the Bonaventure highway. The viaduc that was between the Ville-Marie tunnel and Peel Bassin was demolished and turned into a park. As a city entrance, it looks much better, but as a public space, it really does not work. The park is a bunch of spaces stuck between the 2 traffic directions and the transversal roads. It just isn't all that inviting at all. I do think that it was the right choice to remove that viaduc. It is a costly infrastructure that was way overbuilt for the purpose that it served.
Removing this wuld be insanely beneficial to the city, they ought to put the route of the parallel streetcar here too, giving it a dedicated lane like light rial surrounded by new development, it would turn Hop into a major success
I used I-794 a lot commuting to UWM from the suburbs. For people coming from outside of downtown it's really convenient to essentially be taking a direct route to the lake front and avoiding congestion on the city streets, and for some streets straight up dangerous driving. I had heard that this removal was gaining popularity but couldn't find a good explanation on the alternative option, so thank you for explaining it well. I think it will be a little more irritating for people like me, but I think the pros outweigh the cons here. I'm mostly worried about how jammed it could be on the "boulevard" with new traffic for the development there as well as all the original traffic going to UWM, Bradford Beach, Summerfest, McKinley Marina, The Art Museum, Discovery World... The architect in me likes this but it would be better if we could make public transportation more popular to subtract the cars. I have a feeling there's too many cars funneling into small "dead end" in some ways.
You should do a video about the I-110 connector in Baton Rouge, LA. Similar concept, was built to connect airport to downtown, but doesn’t really serve much of a purpose now…
We can criticize highways to "nowhere," but I can't see how an elevated expressway with fresh air blowing all under it can be criticized as "a massive wall...stopping development" and "a large barrier" making anywhere "completely disconnected from anything." Unless you're an impossibly tall giraffe, hardly!
Exactly. There are plenty of streets and sidewalks under the elevated freeway between the CBD and Third Ward. There's no wall diving them. Are people afraid to walk under the freeway or something?
Of course! Who likes walk under freeways? People like to walk on nice streets, full of shops and other amenities. Freeways completely destroyed otherwise beautiful American cities.
The issue I have with the idea of removing it for development is, that high end luxury high-rises do not directly benefit the vast majority of constituents in the city of Milwaukee who's Median income is$25,000/yr. The thought of building anything besides low income apartments ~$500-$700/mo makes me cringe. It's just the continued gentrification of the downtown area I guess. "But Devastate, building high end apartments free's up middle and low end units around the city!" No, actually all it does it attract wealthy people, probably from out of state who probably already own several properties.
I think it will be a good idea to attract wealthy ppl to Milwaukee and they will spend money in Milwaukee and all the sales tax and property tax will benefit the city
The narrative is mostly accurate but the title is not. "Why Milwaukee is Tearing Down its Freeway to Nowhere (I-794)" is way too premature. Consider the following: 1. According to the Wisconsin DOT web site, the section of I-794 that some want torn down served 73,900 vehicles daily in 2022. Dumping that many vehicles onto downtown streets and the already congested I-43/I-94 on the south side is not feasible. 2. Federal funding for future repairs of the Hoan bridge and other sections of the interstate would likely be reduced because I-794 would by necessity, become a state highway and eligible for as much less federal highway fund support. 3. Right now, advocates for the teardown proposal are getting most of the attention. I anticipate if Bayview, St. Francis, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and Oak Creek residents sense that the DOT is seriously considering taking down the bridges, the negatively backlash will be enormous and the tear down advocates' dreams will be shattered. 4. The best plan is bridge reconstruction with fewer entrances and exits and modern ramp design. Finally, even though Google maps list the KK River as flowing under the Hoan Bridge, prominent local historian John Gurda says that it is actually the Milwaukee River. The reason for the differences of opinion is because the waterway under the bridge runs between the confluence of both rivers and the harbor.
The freeway to nowhere was a nickname given to the highway in like the 80s I think? Idk I saw it on Wikipedia. Either way I didn't make that up for the title, it's a name used for the road by multiple people that I saw within the research of the video
@@BeaverGeography What decade is it now, again? The nickname is outdated, based on when the exits were unfinished (as seen in the Blues Brothers movie), and the term has aged like fine milk, used by the jaundiced NIMBY crowd. The current quick and easy access to the Summerfest grounds ("Henry Maier Festival Park"), used for festivals and concerts almost every weekend where there's good weather, would be lost, impeded, slowed down. In the reverse direction, south side (Bay View) residents would lose their swift and direct connection to other venues along the I-94 corridor, such as the baseball stadium (American Family Field), forcing all of that traffic onto the Mitchell International Airport-bound N/S branch of I-94, instead of merging into I-94 at the Marquette interchange and only gumming up the E/W segment (Madison-bound) between downtown and the ballpark.
I agree but tell the old farts to keep their opinion to themselves bc they hold back the city to develop into an actual city. Because there’s nothing small about Milwaukee.
Albany NY is doing something similar with I-787. They want to turn into a boluveard. While 787 has it's problems, i think that turning it into a boluveard is a big idea. This would be bad for commuters and snarl up traffic every rush hour. If there is a way to compromise and keep 787 a highway and have their waterfront at the same time, then i am game. But i can't honestly say that to be sitting in more traffic lights during my commute to and from work. Also Albany sucks. It is not a destination point. People move out of Albany and not into it. So why do they want to do this again? Because they want their precious waterfront....which is the Hudson river which is not a clean river to look at. The company GE dumped chemicals in that river years back. They tried to clean it up but failed doing so.
I-794 makes it very easy to access downtown Milwaukee quickly (when not congested). The downtown lakefront will become more isolated from the rest of Milwaukee region without it.
I can remember when 794 abruptly ended by the coast guard station when my sister lived in bayview and the traffic bottleneck began. Once it was extended south it made it a breeze to get to her house! There are many other highway transportation projects in the state that seem bizarre, inefficient, or downright stupid. How much Road tax do we pay per gallon of fuel?
Getting rid of the Home Bridge???!!! That’s not a useless bridge I drive over that bridge just to turn around and go back over the bridge! Amazing views!!!
I'm pretty familiar with Milwaukee, I don't live there admittedly, but I've maybe spent more time in Milwaukee than Chicago, which I actually live closer to. I'm also a full-time transportation designer. I think getting rid of the freeway is the wrong idea. That alignment of proposed Clyborn and 794 isn't even at a right angle, making it overly harsh towards vehicular traffic and inconvenient. And even with a refined design and layout, I'd also be curious as to how all that acreage would be filled and how much traffic that new development could generate. Also, I-794 acts as an alternative to I-94 here for traffic originating closer to the lakefront. Alternate routes are often overlooked in these freeway removals. I'm in favor of simplifying and bringing the two sides of the road together, as I think it offers benefits of a smaller footprint and opening up new land, while helping to keep traffic off the city streets. I've walked underneath that freeway, and I honestly don't think it's as bad as people claim. The Third Ward is still doing pretty well, even with the freeway.
“I’m also a full-time transportation planner” is code for “I build highways for a living” and everything that has been wrong with the DOT’s for a century.
One slight problem with the last plan it will not decrease traffic. Because if you have a place is still dependent on cars. Traffic will still be an issue.
In Rochester, NY, we have the “Inner Loop” urban renewal project from the early 1960s which destroyed city neighborhoods, in which resided mostly people of color, to their detriment. State and local governments are finally owning up to the debacle and have initiated a project to “fill in” what remains of the Inner Loop (some having already been filled in over the last decade).
Mke resident. It connects the port to the rest of mke, and you’d lose total connection to the south side. Everyone just focuses on downtown and doesn’t about the economic impact of neighborhoods who use that freeway.
Complete removal with in the city is totally feasible. i get that on festival days there might be more traffic than usual, but on days like those you could temporarily close the side-streets off clybourne street boulevard and essentially turn it into a 25-mph limited-access road… which wouldn’t be much of a downgrade over sitting on clogged ramps anyways. even better (albeit more radical), pedestrianize clybourne street boulevard and harbor drive on festival days, and implement a rapid transit line (tram or bus) that runs along this corridor. you could even put a huge parking garage at the clybourne street terminus so that commuters from i-94/i-43 can hop off their cars and utilize said line, which would be relatively easy with all those ramps you just cleared. clybourne street could become an extremely attractive shopping or mixed-use district, and the festivalgoers will spend more of their money buoying the local economy as they’re now out of their cars & have easy access along the corridor. there is already a head start with the M-line, now just add another line that extends the network all the way east and south.
Reconnecting the Third Ward to the CBD will be an absolute boon to Milwaukee's future development. This freeway is a waste of space, and money. It should be ripped out and replaced with more housing and park space to reconnect the city like it used to be. It will likely improve traffic in time as well, since large freeways like this tend to induce more car trips and ultimately cause more traffic instead of alleviate it.
Milwaukee is a city that relies on roads. There is no efficient light rail system throughout the metro region (The Hop doesn't really go anywhere). Traffic is bad enough getting to/from downtown, and the last thing I want to do is sit at stop lights every block on a boulevard. 794 is elevated with plenty of north-south streets under it, so it doesn't really close off the Third Ward from downtown. My vote would be to keep the freeway.
@admirals818 Well, it depends on how they time the lights. Lights can be timed differently during rush hour on Clybourn, just like they do with the boulevards down in Chicago.
Do a video on interstate 26. It’s designated an east/west interstate but it runs north and south. I travel it frequently and it has always bothered me.
Sounds like 128 South from Canton to Braintree in Massachusetts. The 128 loop goes from Rockport to (unofficially) Braintree. The section of 128 from Cantom to Braintree is now unofficial because officially taken off but… 128 South from this section is also I 93 North until Braintree where I 93 turns north to Boston. I 93 South from Braintree to Canton is 128 North.
As a Milwaukee Resident, If I didn't have the route that I have, I would probably never have to use it, but it currently serves a good, Quickly used purpose for me. Getting me to Lincoln memorial drive from I-94 to cut around the city to get to the upper east side.
Road Construction unions: "Hey here's an idea; let's get paid with taxpayer money to build a short freeway through Milwaukee and in around 50/60 years we can get paid to tear it all down again with more taxpayer money !"
As a Milwaukee resident, it is evident that the latest construction and development of living spaces are aligned with the Agenda 2030 concept of creating multi-use spaces. The removal of the current highway structure would open opportunities for more such developments. The highway to "nowhere" appears so only because it was never completed. Residents know that Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and Oak Creek (formerly Carrolville) are completely cut off, making travel to these areas significantly longer. Imagine opening up this route, enhancing business potential in these cities, and providing residents with more options. These areas, currently considered "nowhere," would transform into true destinations. developers are lobbying for this land and want to build on it, I question how much the residents are considered, let alone, those "nowhere" cities.
Getting rid of the freeway and turning clybourn into a boulevard sounds like the best solution. Last time I was in Milwaukee, I-794 was mostly serving as a giant open air homeless shelter, so I hope a solution can be made to help them as well.
I don't think I-794 is going to ground level. The Park East stub and the one by the stadium were no-brainers - they connected to nothing. But I-794 is now connected to the Lake Parkway. As one commenter mentioned, it's an alternate path out of downtown.
As a southerner whos' been to Milwaukee a few times to visit a aunt who lives in the area I personally think removing the freeway is a bad idea. During rush hour, summer fest or Bucks game traffic is a nightmare in the city. The city was not designed to hold lots of cars with its plenty of 2 lane roads that back traffic up. Milwaukee's public transportation also really sucks and does not give people a good alternative and fast way into the city if the interstate is removed.
With this plan im assuming the public transit would be improved, and is currently improving with the rapid transit bus along Wisconsin Ave. 794 is only really semi-needed over surface streets during summerfest and with its removal it could open up more ways to get into downtown that aren’t dedicated to cars
I really like your channel - both the content and the delivery. It is, however, very hard to read those maps given the white lettering. I watched the I-11 vid this morning and attributed it to the topography but this one is no different. I’ll have to go back and watch an older video but I don’t recall it being an issue before. Did you change your map source or do I need better glasses (entirely possible)?
I use Google maps pro for pretty much everything. Sorry if you're having trouble reading, but it would not be easy for me to fix because I just use screenshots of the main app
I actually work near the southern terminus of the 794 freeway and can assure you that the people who want it removed aren’t the ones who would suffer if it was. People in the SE part of Milwaukee and suburbs like Cudahy, St. Francis, South Milwaukee, and even eastern Oak Creek use it every day as their link to downtown and beyond. Removing it would be idiocy. The politicians making noise about it are the same ones making Milwaukee one of the most inept and crime ridden cities in the country. It absolutely serves a purpose and thankfully the state isn’t going to let it happen.
Of course, of course. They don't use it so you shouldn't have it. What a stupid, useless waste of money. The idea is you shouldn't live that far away from dirty, panhandled haven, downtown Milwaukee. How dare you not live there! God Forbid it be convenient FOR YOU!
Nobody is talking about getting rid of the bridge. It’s just the east-west segment, which would be replaced with a large boulevard. In other words, travel time into downtown would be unaffected, and travel time to the Marquette interchange would only increase by a few minutes. Obviously, this would be an inconvenience for those in the southeast neighborhoods and suburbs, but it is a small inconvenience.
Nothing I enjoy most like traffic from the Eastside too the airport. Specially if they get rid of the way I take home. Extra 45 minutes a day.Only a small inconvenience.
How would downgrading it from a massive highway that destroys the downtown to a smaller boulevard negatively effect people a lot? Have you ever considered that maybe cities shouldn’t be catering to the suburbs?
I’m from Milwaukee-I love my city and think our lakefront and third ward are beautiful, so would love to see them better connected by removing 794. The city should be designed for people in the city, and the current freeway is hogging some of the most prime real estate in the entire downtown.
We don't have enough highways in Milwaukee. I live here, and there are many areas you can't get to without long stretches on the streets. Also we have a habit of tearing things down just to rebuild them in similar ways to what existed. Also the same people complaining about 794 would have no issue with expanding I-43, I-41 and I-94. Guess what neighborhood those go through. It's the hypocritical NIMBY doctrine... not in my back yard.
This terrible idea will unfortunately disconnect most from shopping and visiting Panhandler Haven, Downtown Milwaukee. A haven where you get hit-up for "anything you can spare" every half-block. Where parking is a premium, and you pay for it. It's simply easier and more convenient to shop away from there as parking is plenteous for those of us who wish to have expedient, convenient personal transportation as opposed to using slow, inconvenient public transportation. The 3rd ward has done just fine without "being connected". Useless waste of money.
Are they discussing alternatives to driving? Light Rail, for example? If you want to tear down a highway and are concerned about where all the cars will go then you HAVE to consider other transportation options
If traffic related to the Summerfest would be a concern, I wonder if they could bury the highway. Since traffic is only a problem during a specific time of the year, they probably could build the tunnel after tearing down the viaduct and not face the challenge faced with I-93 during the Big Dig. On the other hand, I imagine it would likely still take more than a year to build the tunnel.
The image at 01:20 perfectly demonstrates why urban expressways have been an unmitigated disaster for our once great cities.That is the most valuable real estate in the city rendered useless and removed from the tax rolls buried beneath all of that pavement. VOTE AGAINST THIS CRAP!
I-95 denizen here… I know people are dying all over the place from manmade and natural disasters but if they redesignated the BWI Airport extension as I-795 (instead of I-97) it would make more sense and there’d probably be less world hunger. Imagine high-speed access to Sbarro pizza slices and Auntie Anne’s pretzels without having to leave the I-95 corridor, it’s a dream come true
I am wondering why they can't just use another option that at the intersection of I-94 and I-43, the freeway does not go further east? They could have I-94 west bound into a "T" intersection where you turn to the south for Chicago, or turn north for I-43 to Green Bay. To have a reason to keep the Hoan bridge, build the I-794 exit off of I-94 between Burnham St and Bolivar Avenue. There is already a cleared right of way just north of Waterford Avenue where powerlines go. The north end could be the on and off ramps to E Clayburn St. With this option, the DOT still gets to build Interstate highway, and downtown gets to be free of a highway that separates downtown from the south.
When I drove a truck I used interstate a lot to get where I needed to be in the morning. I sold it in 2019, now I avoid the interstate so that I can see something.
I think getting rid of the freeway would be a great idea, if I could afford to live in the "historic 3rd ward," then I'd see new developments guaranteed to keep poor or working-class poor out and I could collect the new area with my "rich Milwaukee neighborhood only" trolley service, too. I think the BEST ALL-AROUND proposal is #5 (the last one you spoke of @ 7:02) it keeps the freeway, but makes things much safer. By the way, Interstate highways were also designed so that if a war has broken in this country, our tanks can use those interstates. And, I sure wish the privileged of big cities like Milwaukee would realize that furniture, food, medicines; they don't just magically appear on store shelves. Big trucks get them to the stores. Keep adding bicycle lanes just because, and you'll need those same bicycles to make those big deliveries! 🚲!
794 is useless for the military, lmao. The closest military installation is at the airport, and they have direct access to I-94 via the airport spur. By the way, not a single country would even dare to invade the US, so there is no need to roll tanks down 794 or any interstate around here. Milwaukee desperately needs more residential units built soon. The housing market has gone crazy everywhere, but it definitely went really crazy in Greater Milwaukee. Even if a crap ton of luxury units were built, which most can't afford, more units built means less demand, and less demand means lower prices. By the way, affordable housing can be a great option. Port traffic does not need 794. Most port traffic uses KK, National, Bay, and Becher.
@1_Papa There was not a single army that invaded the US during 9/11. It was a terrorist attack conducted by a terrorist group. Like I've said, not a single country or militia would dare to invade the US. Even if air attacks were to occur on the US, NOTAM is strictly enforced by US fighter aircraft, which means very little SAM systems need to be transported around the country in case of an attack. Also, there is a massive demand for all kinds of housing in Greater Milwaukee, including the average home, duplexes, apartments, and luxury penthouses and apartments. If there wasn't any demand, I wouldn't think there would be a whole bunch of developers getting their construction permits for these developments downtown. But, I very much agree with you about mass transit and the interchanges. There are lots of space consuming interchanges such as the Marquette, Stadium, Mitchell, Hale, and Zoo interchanges.
Wow, it's really important for you to disect everything you've read and twist someone's words just to try and win argument in your mind, huh? 911 proved once and for all, that we're not immune to an attack OF ANY KIND, GENIUS! If you're so nieve that you think we're invincible, you must have spent zero time in the military. You wanna fight? Go pick one in a bar and grow up fast! I don't care that someone who thinks like an absolute elitist doesn't like it. Tearing down I-794 is a very bad idea. The best proposal is the one that makes it safer by reducing entry and exit points. Now go ahead and have the last word that you so desperately want in your life.
Syracuse, NY is tearing down its I-81 viaduct and upgrading Almond St into a boulevard. The I-81 corridor between the north and south interchanges with I-481 will become BL-81 (and it will be the first Business Loop highway in New York state) while the road that is currently I-481 will become redesignated as I-81. This viaduct has a story similar to that of I-794. It divided up the city, creating a barrier between Downtown and University Hill, and a predominantly African-American neighborhood was wiped off the map to make way for it.
I drive 794 daily, it certainly has issues but demolition just feels like a horrible idea. The roads in the third ward are already trash (Water St/1st St) and the enhanced traffic would only make it worse. Keep the freeway!!!
People said the same about the Park East, and nobody complains about it now. Having 2-4 minutes added to commute times shouldn't be that big of an inconvenience to most commuters who currently use 794. By the way, most use 794 to get downtown, not through it. Therefore, the segment between 94 and LMD should be demolished.
If the state agrees on getting rid of the 794 freeway (some I don't see Wisconsin DOT or the suburbanites agreeing to in a million years), I think the new bridge approach should meet Clyburn Street Boulevard with a rotary or roundabout or just gracefully turn 90 degrees into it. And the boulevard itself should have a wide median like the one Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay Boston has.
I know it would be super crazy expensive, but I personally like the idea of burying (all) the Milwaukee freeways in the downtown area, or at least lowering them below street level. Best of both worlds, allow for traffic flow while restoring street level connectivity.
"traffic flow" that's not how induced traffic works - you would get the same result they got in boston, madrid, seoul, etc: more car infra leads to more traffic because motor vehicles are the least efficient mode there is, in short (if you want to allow for traffic flow, take space away from cars and give it to literally any other purpose/tr.mode)
It’s not a freeway to nowhere; everyone knows this is a valuable connection for the city. The question is whether the costs of specifically the east-west segment through downtown outweigh the benefits. The answer is no. A surface boulevard will easily be able to accommodate the traffic volumes while adding only a couple minutes to travel times.
They could take this freeway out and change the land to greenspace, a light rail connection to the airport and downtown, bikeways/walkways, and possibly some kind of rail connection that runs south to Chicago.
@@markbajek2541 Couldn't the same question be asked of multi billion dollar interstate expansions? Proper transit allows for more residents and more business, which can boost tax revenue.
More large cities need downtown penetrator highways. It makes it much easier to get in and out without having to grope around surface streets trying to get back to the interstate.
Yes, the suburbanites should be able to drive all the way downtown and park on massive parking lots for free. The people living there don't matter because they are dirty.
Which freeways? The Beltline does successfully go through Madison. Highway 30 is an odd highway which abruptly ends, but it is an easy way for those people to get to the interstate. Highway 51 is weird. It tries turning into a freeway a few times, but then stops.
@@retroryan838 Exactly, there is no loop. 18/151 does the same thing where is tries to be a freeway but then has 2 at grade intersections. In the morning heading west in the beltline there are 3 lanes backed up in the beltline for miles with trucks trying to get to Iowa or 13,000 people (maybe) trying to get to Epic. Plus the north side and north burbs Waunakee for example are underserved. There is no loop. It’s cool that interstates 39/90/94 run concurrently and it’s only one of two spots in the US where 3 major freeways run concurrently, but it doesn’t really serve the city other than the far east side of Madison.
I think you need to spend some more time researching the effects of freeway removal over time. There are examples. Some of your comments make it sound like your perspective is still pretty freeway-centric.
I try to be as non-bias as possible just because it makes the video more consumable for any audience, and I don't know enough to feel like my opinion matters. Of course i have an opinion, but I've done my best to limit that within the video
If this is done Wisconsin should decommission all the 3 digit interstates, including I-894 (I-41 follows its entire route) and I 535 (wis 535 can handle it).
@@jdprocknow probably political so they could claim the Fox Valley is now connected to Illinois via a single interstate, but I agree it's silly and should only exist north of the Zoo Interchange. The only nice thing about it is it helps alleviate confusion on the N-S portion of 94 thru Racine and Kenosha, where "West" really means North and "East" really means South.
They should turn Wisconsin trunk highway 441 and 172 into 3 digit interstates. Since they already work as belt highways for the Appleton and Green Bay areas, respectively
@@jacobkorducki6940 , it was the most populous area in the US not on the IHS but in the end, it was about marketing. That said, it should have been I-57.
@@wilderac2250 there would have to be a bill written for it to come into existence. My thoughts are that the local politicians didn't see a need to spend political capital on it. US-41 seemed like a slam dunk because it's a mainline road. 3di's are a little harder to get, especially if the state has proven to be able to take care of those highways without federal assistance.
There are definitely stories of neighborhoods winning; Jane Jacobs and Soho come to mind. While most every city has some highway connections, I recommend looking at highway plans for DC, Baltimore, Boston, and S.F. to see what could've been built.
Savannah, GA. A highway runs up to the historic downtown, but the city stopped it from going THROUGH downtown and cutting downtown off from the rest of the old city. You can still see how downtown at the riverfront connects seamlessly with the rest of historic Savannah.
Naw one mayor wanted to tear the bridge for stupid reasons. Thats the best route to the airport from eastside. Its dumb idea. What are you gonna do with the island? Nothing. What is Bayview people gonna do take 2nd all the way downtown? Milwaukee is so dumb. You built that stupid trolley. When 3 bus lines run up to the eastside. Whatever i left Milwaukee yesrs ago.
Great. Lets get rid of as many urban highways as possible. Cities should be largely car free (with some exceptions for supply trucks and ambulances). Let the highways skirt far away from the urban centers and make the tourists take a park and go train into town.
