Milwaukee Traffic, How Long is Your Commute? (Green Bay, Wauwatosa: neighborhoods, living)

[Milwaukee City]

I live in Walker's Point so in the summer if I need to go downtown or east side or any festival or Brewers/Bucks game I just take a cab. Its amazing how many people during festivals will try to drive all the way downtown and try to pay $30 for parking and then they will sit for 1.5hr after the fest trying to leave the fest. Just take a cab or a freeway flyer. I take a cab more than 50% of the time when I need to go somewhere.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

Oh God, I totally missed this somehow. I'm not in a politically correct mood this morning, so excuse me but... Which moron is leading this initiative?

Translation time: Let's rip down a highway that we recently spent millions to make into a usable, attractive artery into the city, which connects to a piece of road that we just spent millions to fix up. And, in the process, we'll spend millions to knock it down and build new "ends" so it doesn't look like an afterthought. Then, after spending millions and millions of dollars to rip down a road and make it look remotely decent, we won't replace it with anything. Finally, we'll reduce public transportation to make matters even worse. Let's spend money on a project with negative yield!

Honestly, this city baffles me. The more time I spend away, the more I see, that just doesn't add up. Leaders invent fictitious problems, then solve them at hideous expense, while leaving real problems untouched. The Park East freeway destruction was a good move, seeing how it was an unfinished project with no destination, and the replacement is equally as useful. I'm sure it helped to build up the area surrounding it as not many people want to stare at a nasty looking freeway out of $500,000 windows.

I-794 is a finished project. It actually connects to a real destination. It actually goes somewhere. It's unlike the Park East freeway, or the 145 freeway(s) to/from nowhere that never got connected to each other. It has a beginning and an end. It has meaningful destinations (downtown, airport, Bay View). It makes Bay View and the South Shore area more livable, as a quick alternative to schlepping four miles to I-94, or bumbling along surface streets behind notoriously snail-like south side traffic.

I see no value to this project, only negative return. I know of no other cities that do this kind of thing. It's fine to break new ground, but doing it stupidly is not fine. Milwaukee has little traffic; why make traffic? I-794 gets federal funds, and the Hoan Bridge is part of interstate 794, if I'm not mistaken. The remainder (the Lake Parkway) does not qualify for federal funding. And the expensive, recently built Lake Parkway will be totally useless if the 794 bridge is removed. What a mess.

Also I wanted to edit a few points to make them read more clearly... US 41 and 145 freeways, plus a couple of other readability points. The site was down when I tried and wasn't back up before I had to step out, so it probably isn't very clearly worded. Can't edit now. FWIW... sorry

[EnjoyEP]

Hey 43-87, here are a few links to stories from AUG/SEPT about the Hoan ideas:

State weighs tearing down Hoan Bridge - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Future of Hoan Bridge uncertain - JSOnline

There are many others that have come down the pike as well. Fortunately I haven't heard as much about this lately, so hopefully the foolish thoughts will subside.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Hey 43-87, here are a few links to stories from AUG/SEPT about the Hoan ideas:

State weighs tearing down Hoan Bridge - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Future of Hoan Bridge uncertain - JSOnline

There are many others that have come down the pike as well. Fortunately I haven't heard as much about this lately, so hopefully the foolish thoughts will subside.

Thanks for the links. I hadn't read any of this. If you saw a cloud of steam coming from the East Side when I first learned of this above, it was coming from my ears, trying to figure out how on earth anyone would see this as a viable move.

I'll be interested to see what shapes up. The bridge is apparently in rough shape, which doesn't surprise me. A shorter structure might work, with provisions for large ship traffic to pass through periodically. The port doesn't like it, but it would probably work OK. A lot of ports have to deal with opening bridges.

The thoroughfare can simply not be lost, though. That would spell trouble for the developing and rehabbed areas of the near south side.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Hey 43-87, here are a few links to stories from AUG/SEPT about the Hoan ideas:

State weighs tearing down Hoan Bridge - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Future of Hoan Bridge uncertain - JSOnline

There are many others that have come down the pike as well. Fortunately I haven't heard as much about this lately, so hopefully the foolish thoughts will subside.

That's completely loony.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

In the Milwaukee 7 county area how long on average does it take you to get from door to door from your home to work place.

I live in the North Shore and usually take a Commuter Bus from near where I live to my workplace on the East Side. The whole trek (drive to commuter lot, bus ride, walk to building) is around 25-30 minutes.

Overall does Milwaukee traffic bother you or keep you from coming downtown on a Friday night?

The traffic isn't much of a factor, but if I plan to go downtown on a Friday night, I'll drive to work that day and park about 20 minutes away from my building (that commute, which I do maybe once per week, is around 40-45 minutes total).

Sometimes parking can be more of an issue, especially after a big snowfall and huge snowbanks occupy prime parking spaces. But when I go downtown on Friday nights I'm usually with other people, so we manage.

Are you the type of person to let traffic affect what you do on any given night?

Not in Milwaukee. I avoid, if possible, taking I-43 northbound or I-94 westbound during peak rush hour, but that just means taking city streets to my destination, or timing my trip to avoid heavy traffic.

Do you just deal with traffic or does it affect you mood and would who live somewhere based on traffic?

I chose where I live because of the commute and relative ease of getting around. I wanted a condo, but couldn't afford quality places (indoor parking, 900+ sq. ft., etc.) on the East Side, so bought in the upper North Shore near I-43 and a commuter bus lot. As it turns out, I like the semi-rural feel of my surroundings.

[Milwaukee City]

I know Milwaukee traffic isn't bad but it seems I get stuck in traffic jams all the time. So it usually takes me 40-60min but closer to 40-45. I have to take Mineral on ramp to 94/43N then 94W then 45N so I usually get the brunt of the traffic.

[Milwaukee City]

John Wyatt thanks for nothing the other day:

"11min from downtown to moorland rd"
"well it took me 30min just to Miller Park from National Ave and 94"

Milwaukee Traffic reports aka always wrong so why even listen to them, same thing for those traffic boards.

[Milwaukee City]

Milwaukee-area traffic levels decline - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

[KC3700]

Mine is over 60 minutes by bus, when I'm doing day-labor when I'm not looking for a new job. Before I got laid off I worked downtown and my commute was 7 minutes by bus and 7 minutes walking. Those were the days.