Part 3: Change Lanes for New Generations — From Freeways To Boulevards & Neighborhoods
End Our Senior Generation’s Affair With Freeways
As a Boomer, I was born into the wonder of freeways. As an architect, I still view freeways as the awesome Roman aqueducts of our time. But as a Milwaukee resident since 1972, I have outgrown my Boomer freeway crush. it’s time for my generation to respond to changing values for the next generations and plan our city for their future. This matters more than ever, as we design the future of I-794.
What type of freeway fits older generations of 2025? We want low stress driving, no traffic jams, plentiful parking, and – when we reach our destination – familiar stores and restaurants. These preferences are habit forming, even addictive. Some believe that high-speed lanes, short commutes, and convenient parking lots should be desired by, and paid for by everyone.
For younger generations it’s a different story. Many (not all) seem to prefer riding bikes and scooters – safely – to their destinations. They want affordable and comfortable public transit along with new food and entertainment options that are walkable. And when they do use a car, they like someone else to drive: an Uber driver. They would rather save money on not building freeways and instead invest in public transit, public places, and an active street life. My generation raised great kids and grandkids, but they don’t love freeways.
When we replaced the Park East freeway the sky did not fall. In fact, everything got better. When we discuss replacing I-794 with a boulevard, many boomers say, “this is very different than Park East – it won’t work this time”. I think they are half right – I-794 is different than Park East, but it won’t be less likely to “work”. The sky will not fall – it will get brighter. Yes, some parts of the freeway network will experience ripple effects, but it is not new. Traffic on freeway shas always increased. The question is how we respond. Replacement of I-794 with a boulevard and street grid system will be a quantum leap better than Park East.
So, what do we do? WisDOT has given Milwaukee freeway choices for “fixing” the short one-mile link between the Marquette Interchange and the lakefront ramps to the Hoan Bridge. The choices range from “doing nothing “to replace in-kind” (meaning the same function but slightly improved), to partial removal with replacement, to full removal.
The best option, in my view, called “removal”, implies, unfortunately, that we would be left with nothing. This is a misleading title. It means full removal of the federally funded concrete travel lanes above grade, but it also means full replacement with more travel lanes on an urban boulevard with an active, effective circulation grid (AKA a well-designed, fully operational, high value, at-grade urban circulation system).
Currently the overhead concrete lanes prohibit the construction of community wealth building. With open land in the highest value place in Wisconsin we can generate life-changing amounts of new public revenue that will support innovative neighborhoods, make better pedestrian places, and expand transit. We can afford to increase vertical housing density, both affordable and luxury housing, supporting a larger, diverse population within walking distance to jobs, restaurants, stores, and favorite places like Summerfest, the Public Market and other venues.
Moving past an older generation’s love of freeways will not be easy. We must preserve our history, respect the urban-suburban balance, and accept the challenge of increasing public revenue with transformational, community-wide wealth. Can cities like Milwaukee really implement such transformations? The answer requires a deeper look at economic value, circulation systems, and neighborhood development.
Economic Value — Let’s Find the Wealth and Spend It Wisely
The public revenue will come from urban development – new and revitalized buildings and their occupants. New revenue is not found on the freeway. Freeways may link places that generate revenue but, by themselves they generate only costs and expenses. Public revenue for cities comes from property tax, sales tax, and disposable income of urban residents. Such revenue grows with more people in buildings, not from more people in cars driving by.
In Milwaukee’s case, new public revenue can grow to billions of dollars. Like all cities, all of this revenue goes into the city’s budgeting process to pay for infrastructure and municipal services. However, the increase in revenue relative to costs (the equivalent of a public “net” revenue) is far greater when high value property combines with high value development and high value jobs. At the same time that the city can garner stronger revenue streams in must also have plans to expend such revenue effectively.
Milwaukee, like many cities, rarely receives increased revenue from the federal government, the state or the surrounding suburbs. Like many cities, especially these that grew in the heyday of Great Lakes industrialization, Milwaukee’s economic sustainability ultimately depends largely on itself. Milwaukee needs new revenues for buildings, infrastructure, and services. Without more revenue there are no added improvements, and this status quo is getting costlier each year. Fulfilling needs and wants requires resources that go beyond the social and human capital of hard work, innovation and talent.
New revenue does not preclude improvements for the general public. In fact, it is the opposite. New revue will allow for bicycle lanes, better transit, lakefront access, affordable housing, jobs, and all of the other needs we have in Milwaukee. This is not a question of “revenue” versus “public needs”. It is a question of “revenue AND public needs” versus “no revenue and no needs”.
Start With The Land and Use It All
From one viewpoint this is a no-brainer: a rebuilt or replaced freeway will cost a lot of money, sandbag use of the highest revenue-generating land in Wisconsin, miss out on a billion in revenue and the new amenities we can create, and simultaneously diminish the appeal and social value of the surrounding areas.
Simply put, two levels of roadways will cost more than one level. An at-grade boulevard will cost a lot less than a fully elevated rebuild. We know, however, from the experience (Park Esat) that freeway demolition and replacement with high quality at-grade streets is far less expensive.
Several analyses of new and past development suggest that over 30 years (the freeway lifespan) we will get upwards of $1 billion (possibly as much as $4 billion) in increased taxes from private development, sales tax from increased business, and more jobs from increased economic activity. The tables in this essay (some developed by the author) portray incremental estimates of public revenues and diagrams showing how, over 30 years, incremental development might grow along the corridor.
The distribution of such revenue must be managed wisely. The private sector – developers, local businesses, financial institutions -- must make a reasonable return on their investments. As long as the revenue “pie” is also shared by the city, local neighborhoods, and the larger metropolitan area. A wise disposition of revenue is clearly possible and almost any outcome will surpass the value of highly truncated (or non-existent revenue “pie”) from full or partial freeway replacement.
Use Development Capacity To Measure Costs, Benefits, & Planning
How big is the potential revenue “pie”? At this time, there are no precise answers but there are several reasonable scenarios to explore. Major public projects always require a complex analysis and the details invariably become confusing. For example, when the State sells land for redevelopment that is a “benefit” to the State, but it may be “cost” to the buyer (like the City). And then the City may sell the land to produce sales and tax benefits as a clear “benefits” to the city but a clear cost to the investors. Put another way, an increase in annual taxes (both property taxes and sales tax) is not labeled usually as a direct “benefit” to the State but it is a positive “impact” for the City.
Often, skepticism about more redevelopment comes from a perception that short-term development risks imply bigger risks the long-term. In practice, short-term market patterns rarely last more than a few years. With Milwaukee’s Park East development, for example, the common critique at the outset was “there is no market – don’t’ tear down a good freeway”. A few years later the critique was “why does it take so long”. Then, a few years later, when Park East was almost finished, there was no congratulatory critique like “wow it really worked, let’s do it again!” But that is exactly what is happening with I-794 – and we should do it again, only bigger and better.
A reliable long-term forecast must use methods different than those found in short-term forecasts for market rate housing. Short-term forecasts use data effectively from the last year or two for a housing and parking estimate but rarely looking out 30 years or more. Long-term projections should use broader trends of social and economic behavior. Think of the stock market with daily and monthly variations versus a decades-long pattern of increase.
We know urban development that replaces freeway works. The added value from freeway replacement must be measured in terms of overall capacity, not the immediate marketplace (the same 30-year long-term metric used for freeway planning). Even now, those who were pessimistic about Park East insist that it was a unique circumstance and not repeatable. The contradiction that the Park East “glass” may became “full” but the “794” glass will be empty is a pessimistic Milwaukee-syndrome: just don’t take a chance; avoid the risk; stay as close to the status quo as possible; and ignore new opportunities as unrealistic. This line of thinking misses the point of Park East. The Park East project was far more successful than we imagined. The future of 794 should be far more positive. Park East was unique. So, to will be 794 if we can only see past the anxiety of change. The age-old carpenter’s adage reminds us: “measure twice and cut once”. In this case when we measure 794 twice, we learn that the value of Park East can be easily surpassed.
Reduce Economic Risk With Phased Investment
Thirty years ago, in 1995, if you tried to forecast the future about Park East, downtown, the lakefront and the Third Ward you would probably have missed all of the following profound economic events:
The nation came to a halt after 9 11.
There were a huge housing crisis and Great Recession after 2008 for several years.
There was a tragic pandemic impacting the whole world.
There have been major political and partisan conflicts that continue to this day
None of these critical market events were predicted in any market analysis. The point is that the immediate development market does not determine the overall long-term development capacity and public value of the Downtown and surrounding areas. Milwaukee’s long-term development capacity is highly favorable due to the following:
Government owned land under I-794 that allows for control of development
Use of a long-term timeframe that will mitigate market peaks and valleys
Well positioned in the natural environment with ample water and lower climate risks.
The undeveloped land (under and abutting the freeway) offers immense value
Local agencies can effectively regulate and reduce risk through local policies.
Like other cost issues we must look at freeway and infrastructure maintenance from a long-term viewpoint. First, the cost of maintaining an elevated freeway infrastructure (paid by the State) would be far less if the freeway lanes are removed. (that is, there would be no state facility to maintain). Maintenance of the-grade infrastructure (paid by the City) would still be about the same but, if the freeways replaced with taxable buildings, there will be a sources of revenue for maintenance.
The key point is that long-term phased development requires a different yardstick to measure costs and benefits. Put in terms of home-ownership – it is not the downpayment which matters the most, but the long-term mortgage payments, interest rate, and the potential increase in property value. When we think this way, full removal with an at-grade boulevard and circulation system clearly becomes the preferred course of economic action.
Finally, with reduced risk and lower annual costs the key long-term investment question becomes: “Can we spend any added revenue wisely”? Before we try to answer that question, however, we need to clarify the details of the new boulevard-based circulation system that will replace the overhead concrete travel lanes.
Make a Better Circulation Network, Not Just Better Freeway Flow
Traffic and transportation issues go far beyond speed and commuting times. Critical issues for all citizens include:
Multimodal circulation including walking, biking, and transit, throughout the entire area
Safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists
The appeal of the overall driving experience (difficult to measure but always recognized)
The appeal of the non-automobile movement through the community
Full origin-destination times (from home to workplace)
Confusion and stress for drivers, pedestrians and others.
Parking management – on street, surface lots, structures, costs, and land use
Inevitable disruption no matter which option is selected.
Both the freeway and an at-grade boulevard are not stand-alone systems. Both support, and are supported by, a comfortable system of streets, turn lanes, signalization, parking, pedestrianization, bicycling lanes and so forth. That is, whether we slow down for freeway ramps and exits or we slow down for a boulevard, the real test comes in the flexibility and appeal of the rest of the circulation system. A boulevard-based circulation system is far more flexible and adaptable to the changing patterns of movement and development in dense urban areas. An overhead freeway creates system-wide disruptions every 30 years. An at-grade system allows for a more incremental process, opening and closing streets in smaller increments which minimizes, rather than expands, then extent of individual circulation disruptions.
What’s Wrong With Leaving The Freeway As It Is?
Everyone has heard the phrase “if it’s not broken don’t’ fix it!” Well, in this case it is broken – both the freeway and the land use on the ground. The freeway is at the end of its useful life and needs major improvement. If we simply reconfigure the existing freeway to make it more efficient, then we still have an above-grade structure splitting Downtown and the Third Ward – socially, visually and economically. And it will be broken again and again.
Jane Jacobs called such major infrastructure barriers “border vacuums” because they depress all adjacent activity and value –a complete vacuum devoid of significant social or economic use.
Two-thirds of the current drivers on 794 simply get off and on downtown – for them a replacement boulevard and street system will be faster the one-mile freeway connection will still drive cross town between the Hoan to the Marquette. Traffic still works; it is just different. Cross town drivers experience little inconvenience compared to the huge lost value of a disconnected urban center. Replacing the Park East freeway led to balanced traffic, no post-construction complaints about travel time, and urban development that produced great benefits. Replacement of 794 should lead to an even better success story.
We need the best version of a balanced solution. “Full removal” is not just one option – there are many ways to replace I-794 and then rebalance and reconfigure the entire circulation system for this area. It needs to be done carefully to be effective.
Use Street Grids To Create Urban Balance
Instead of viewing “freeway replacement” with anger, fear and disbelief we must see it as a transformational opportunity. The questions go far beyond issues of travel time. We need to know how replacement options will help (or harm) existing businesses and new redevelopment. Although it sounds complicated, an at-grade street system, especially with a boulevard on Clybourn, will be the best option for access, circulation, and a positive driving experience.
Moreover, a boulevard and street grid actually great movement systems. It provides a better outcome – not “split” between “freeway versus city” but balanced and shared between the needs of suburban and urban communities. With full at-grade replacement all drivers still get where they want to, and all pedestrians have more destinations available along with a much-improved downtown destination. People who do not like an urban downtown (including many who pass through downtown on I-794 today) always have the option to bypass the urban area entirely. Using the other freeways and arterials. On the other side, those who want to engage in “city life” (both current and future generations) will have destination-quality activities they can appreciate.
Street grids have provided the most effective and efficient approach to city development for several centuries. They are not a new idea. Some of our most popular urban neighborhoods were laid out long before cars were invented. This includes Milwaukee and many of our older urban suburbs. Grids are adaptable, flexible, easier to use and more sustainable.
Create Fair Travel Time Changes
Major disruptions will occur with all options, not just “full removal”. With all freeway reconstruction options, traffic snarls will cause confusion and delays for two or more years. We know, however, based on past experience, that once construction is completed, most drivers feel some relief and rarely recall past performance problems. We have not heard, for example, any indicators that the Park East driving conditions resulted in the traffic “nightmares” predicted by those who feared freeway removal. Likewise, other cities do not report significant traffic complaints after freeway removals.
WisDOT has begun to measure travel times in detail. Key issues are ripple effects, the lift bridge, on and off ramps, and overall traffic diversion. In many cases the times are comparable. Occasionally use of the boulevard adds a few minutes. In some cases, alternative routes are about the same). We can assume many people will use a variety of routes with any of the current freeway options and local street options and that chronic slowdowns can be mitigated. In addition, these estimates are based only on driving time on the freeway. When we consider other benefits across the network for parking, bicycling, and walking the added drive times may seem a reasonable balance.
For downtown workers, the situation with the boulevard gets better for some and a bit slower for others. Drivers, in the boulevard scenario, make fewer turns and hit fewer traffic lights if they leave the new boulevard closer to their destination. The same issues arose with the Park East freeway removal – the grid made it easier for most drivers to get to their local destinations a bit faster.
Expanded Transit And Bike Lanes Make a Difference
With a boulevard and improved grid system, transit and bicycle circulation will also improve with more routes, better access, more convenience to users and less need for personal vehicles. This will not happen immediately but evolves incrementally. As development phases into place, all of these circulation modalities will improve:
§ Over time fewer commuters (especially younger generations) will use cars
§ Bike lanes and routes already have had an impact, and this will grow stronger.
§ A return of the County’s downtown rubber wheel trolley might help.
§ Improving regional passenger rail can be a big game changer.
§ New BRT lines can be implemented.
§ Freeway bus routes that bypass downtown can now stop on Clybourn.
All multi-modal choices will grow (not diminish) as new generations of residents and workers adopt lifestyles that decrease use of cars (this has happened across Europe and cities in similar characteristics).
Resolve Critical, Unique Details
Every complex urban design project contains some unique details which must be resolved in order to make the entire project feasible – I-794 is no exception:
Traffic Diversion and Commuting. the plans move forward The Wisconsin Department of transportation (WisDOT) estimates the changs in traffic movements across a wide swath of the freeway network at peak hours, including on and off ramps. Their estimates show likely locations for points of high traffic congestion as well as times and places when traffic will flow smoothly. The current network already has several locations with problematic intersections. The full removal option also includes major traffic shifts to local street networks, that produces a different pattern with some increases in traffic snarls. All of these traffic problems can be mitigated to some degree depending on actions from other agencies including the City, County and Region. Other cities and metro areas have addressed such traffic problems successfully over time. Milwaukee can also resolve these traffic issues, on at a time, to minimize the negative impacts of traffic diversions
The Hoan. The Hoan Bridge remains in all options. It stays where it is, with reconfiguration of on/off ramps to fit the modifications on the ground. However, with a new boulevard, the number of connections to/from the Hoan increases and allows traffic to be dispersed more effectively with less stress and much less confusion.
Lift Bridge. The problem of bridge lifts has always existed, and we have always adapted. Most bridge lifts are required for commercial tourist boats. More of these boats, in the future can pass under a new bridge. Some lifts can be eliminated without significant problems, and some mooring locations can be moved. If, however, nothing is done to mitigate this problem there will be back-ups on the freeway at peak weekday times during those months when commercial tourist boat traffic is heavier. WisDOT is not the agency that would take actions to mitigate this issue. It is relatively easy, however, to imagine how other agencies could impact needed changes.
Third Ward Circulation. Congestion in the Third Ward is a key issue for some business. All plans – whether it is at-grade or elevated – will require readjustment of existing streets and intersections. The speculation that an at-grade solution will add traffic to the area (especially Water Street) is unfounded. The opposite may occur. When traffic rebalances, especially within a grid system, the traffic, slows down, pedestrian movement increases, more people use transit, and more business opportunities arise. The history of the Third Ward from its rebirth in the 70s until today is testament to the ability to adapt and prosper.
Summerfest. As Milwaukee’s most successful lakefront development in the last 50 years, Summerfest presents multiple needs in terms of circulation and operation. In this case the at-grade option includes multiple intersections providing access and a much-expanded opportunity for surface parking (especially during the first phase of development). Long-term development also allows for expansion of Summerfest activities. Both daily traffic and event traffic may be reconfigured sightly, but both traffic modes are fully accommodated by a new grid system and multiple circulation options.
Port Truck Traffic. Bay Street, a critical truck route linking I-94 and the Port, is underutilized and can handle more truck traffic without significant delays. While most of Bay Street is bordered by non-residential uses, there are, however, homes abutting Bay Street that would benefit from noise reduction actions including new policies, regulations for trucks, better technologies, and subsidized sound mitigation improvements.
Invest Wisely — Tasnform Freeway Land Into Next Generation Neighbohoods
A previous analysis by the author provided a conservative estimate that 3,000 new residential units would be built over 30 years A less conservative, more likely number might be 6,000 units or even higher as shown in student studies. An alternative method of estimating long-term development patterns reliably might look at patterns over the past decades. To make it simple we asked “How many high-rise buildings have been built in the last 20 years and how many units do they include? This appears to be a steady pattern that replicates growth in comparable cities. The accompanying table show reasonable outcomes.
High-rise buildings have been added to downtown Milwaukee (and most cities world-wide) since the 1960s and follow a traditional pattern found along waterfronts and downtown centers. The increase in high-rise buildings in downtown Milwaukee seems to have entered is transformational shift in the early 2010s, right after the Great Recession. If this shift continues this essay’s estimate of 3,000 units over 30 years is quite low. Overall, a modest mid-range estimate with 3,000 units (100 per year for 30 years) seems to be a useful, albeit conservative starting point.
Avoid The Risk of Reconstruction
For decades user groups north and south of the freeway have lived with the debilitating nature of the freeway structure, as well as the knots and clogs due to a geometrical mess of ramps, exits, entrances, turn lanes, one-way traffic, and necessarily complex signalization systems.
The future risk is not removing the overhead structure but rebuilding it – either with the same system, or with a “partial improvement” with an entirely new – but potentially confusing -- system of ramps, turns, signals, and jams. A poor solution copied and updated is still a bad solution. In contrast, Full removal with a boulevard replacement and updated street grid will offer new rewards and opportunities.
A new boulevard-based system will cut maintenance costs since we will only be paying for one level of streets rather than two levels (one on the ground and one more expensive level in the air). Also, with a street grid system, incremental changes are far easier to plan, adapt, manage, and revise as needed.
Continue the Evolution of Existing Housing, Businesses and Cultural Institutions
A detailed redevelopment plan must address the needs and opportunities of existing property owners, residents, and businesses.
With an at-grade boulevard system, access to/from local places – especially multimodal access -- will be better.
Newly emerging uses, like the Fox Town Brewery, dog park, and public art need to be respected and incorporated into new plans.
Vacant and underutilized parcels surrounding the corridor which have languished due to the negative impact of the freeway will be revalued much higher.
While peaks and valleys in housing markets are inevitable (like the Great Recession and pandemic), the overall long-term downtown capacity has always been healthy and bounced back when diminished.
Make Neighborhoods For individuals, Families & Groups
In denser cities a neighborhood could be 500 units on one or two blocks. In older traditional suburbs (such as Wauwatosa, Shorewood, South Milwaukee) a neighborhood could be just 300 units spread across ten blocks. Jane Jacobs pointed out that neighborhoods do not have definitive boundaries like political jurisdictions. They grow, shift, and change over time. Milwaukee’s Bay View was defined as a small neighborhood until realtors spread the name to expand it as a branded market. In the Park East project, at least two new neighborhoods emerged, along with a new grocery store, more restaurants, and cafes. New neighborhoods that replace I-794 will grow, combine, overlap and change our community in positive ways for decades.
Our best guess is that 3,000 to 6,000 new housing units would represent about three or four new neighborhoods or districts, perhaps similar to the multiple neighborhoods on Milwaukee’s east side, from North Avenue south to Kilbourn Avenue. Such neighborhoods represent a vibrant mixture of places, thriving areas with both high rise and small scale budlings, with both affordable housing and luxury housing, with restaurants that represent both national franchises as well as local entrepreneurs.
Don’t Underestimate Long-term Potential
Long-standing urban neighborhoods do not evolve the same way as post-war suburban areas. Milwaukee’s urban neighborhoods are authentic, highly differentiates communities with unique social and economic histories that make them great. Almost every urban neighborhood contains significant in terms of housing types and sizes as well social and economic diversity. That is what we should expect to replace I-794. Replacing the freeway with new mixed-use neighborhoods creates both housing and jobs, most of which is paid by private property owners. New family supporting jobs will span 30 years and beyond. Freeway construction also creates jobs, but not as many as construction of a new streets and neighborhoods and not with as much diversity and long-term sustainability.
The development capacity that can replace I-794 occurs in the center of the city, not on the urban fringe (where capacity is often over estimated). The I-794 corridor is “smack in the middle”, the hottest point of value. It has always seemed ironic that the most expensive real estate in Wisconsin (historically under the US Bank building) sat across the street from open land in parking lots under a freeway with no property value. There is no shortage of value under I-794 – it just requires us to open it up, plan it, phase it effectively (so we minimize risks), and let the market unfold in a fair, equitable, long-term manner.
Integrate Neighborhoods, Streets, & Places-- A Detailed Look At Possible Scenarios
The I-794 spur was built in the 1960s at a time when the Third Ward was filled with train tracks, Summerfest was in its infancy, and plans were set to tear down historic buildings for new industry. To put in simply, no one thought of the Third Ward as a potential powerhouse district – no one except a few visionaries. And I-794 was not seen as a “divisive” piece of infrastructure because there was not much to divide. Today, a half century later, the whole area has grown into a spectacular neighborhood. I-794 has become divisive due to growth of the City around it. Now the land needs to grow again.
At the same time some other transformations have occurred – they are hard to notice since they happen slowly, but they are very real. The Menomonee Valley with Harley and Pottawatomi is part of this slow but inevitable transformation. The Northwestern Mutual campus is now a reality. Even with the pandemic and Great Recession new high rises have emerged. Now I-794 is not at the edge of the growth zone – it is at the very center of four major transformative districts, and it is time for reconsideration of its value and its future.
The UWM Scenarios
In spring 2025 a class of 14 students at the UWM (University Wisconsin – Milwaukee) conceptualized, in detail, the development of new neighborhoods replacing I-794. Under the guidance of UWM faculty – Carolyn Esswein and Larry Witzlng – these students proposed transformative social and cultural places using a new, at-grade boulevard and circulation systems. These new urban neighborhoods serve multiple population groups, expand income diversity, support a wide range of housing types, engaging urban places, and make Milwaukee one a compelling destination on the Great Lakes.
These ideas are the tip of the iceberg. Many other realities are feasible and should be explored, especially in terms of adding net revenue for community-wide neighborhoods, region wide environmental improvements, and districts that will be impacted positively by this project.
These new places and neighborhoods grow incrementally over 30 years. At first, growth occurs in small projects at the onset of post-freeway investment. Over time, projects ramp up rapidly (like the Park East announcement followed by the Riverfront housing, Moderne, Fiserv, the Museum, MSOE expansion, and multiple developments). The 794 corridor offers a much larger transformational opportunity that goes beyond current models. Each of the student projects foresees new development will that add a completely new dimension to Milwaukee (each scenario is illustrated on the following pages)
§ A Festival District to the east, near Summerfest, Discovery World, the Art Museum and Betty Brinn (with 1,000+ units).
§ A food and restaurant Food & Market District leveraging the success of the Public Market (with 1,000+ units).
§ An expanded River District focused on the riverwalk(s), trails, and environmental features (with 1,000+ units).
§ An expanded Station District or Canal District.
Twenty years ago, we did not have a Brewery District, Deer District, Northwestern Mutual Campus, or even the Harley Davidson Museum. When plans for these districts began people were doubtful, they would succeed. No one reports that the pessimists were wrong, but all the planners remember the skeptics “Who will want to live there? Where will so many people come from? It just can’/t work?” And then it happens.
It's Milwaukee’s Turn – Select The Right Direction
Great cities evolve over decades. Now it is Milwaukee’s turn to transform its destiny as a Great Lakes city. Around Downtown and the Third Ward we already have growing neighborhoods attractive to people who live on the East Side and in Bay View. Some new buildings fill up quickly, and others take longer – but sooner or later they are all occupied. Young and old, boomers and zoomers, like to live near restaurants and entertainment, and especially Lake Michigan.
Optimism around I-794 is not a case of “if we build it, they will come”. These ideas do not rely on personal dreams. These concepts will evolve here as they have in other city centers for centuries. This area will not continue as an example of a Jane Jacobs “border vacuum”. The I-I-794 land is at the heart, the point of highest value, the place of greatest potential attraction that will extend, expand, leverage, revive, engage, and stimulate the city that is already here.
Implementation and Generational Transformation
As of this writing (October 2025) WisDOT continues to study options for repairing and/or replacing I-794. Revised options will be evaluated through 2026. At the end of the process, with full community input, one alternative will be recommended. From a planner’s perspective the creation of an at-grade boulevard, new grid-based circulation system, and transformational neighborhoods could and should contribute to Milwaukee’s future.
All of the freeway projects noted in these essays unfold over a longer time period, often with many ups and downs along the way. Several of the other freeway projects have been located in smaller scale, less dense residential neighborhoods. Park East was the key exception, and the results clearly show spectacular positive outcomes. A replacement for I-794 will be stronger and better because it has more locational amenities than Park Est – especially proximity to Lake Michigan, transit, cultural activities, and entertainment. If we do not embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity, we will spend hundreds of millions fixing a freeway that will need replacement in another 30 years. Hopefully we can do it now.