Milwaukee resurfacing set to begin this week
by BRIAN NADIG
The resurfacing of Milwaukee Avenue between the Kennedy Expressway and Elston Avenue is scheduled to start this week, and the project will include pedestrian and bike lane improvements as part of the city’s "Complete Streets" program.
The resurfacing project will include handicapped accessible sidewalk improvements, curb and gutter replacement, milling and resurfacing the asphalt pavement, installation of concrete pads at bus stops and pavement restriping. The work is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 1, and temporary parking bans will be in effect in areas where work is in progress.
Crews also will install "pedestrian bumpouts" on Milwaukee at Northwest Highway, Ardmore Avenue and Austin Avenue as part of the streets program, which is intended to make roadways safer for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. The curb extensions shorten the distance of crosswalks by several feet and may include some landscaping elements.
Continental crosswalk markings, which feature a row of thick lines that run parallel to the street, also are planned at intersections throughout the affected stretch of Milwaukee.
In addition, the 14-foot-wide painted median on Milwaukee north of Central will be shortened to 10 feet to allow the existing bike lanes to be widened. There had been a proposal to move the bike lanes to along the curb, but they will remain in their existing location between the parking lane and the right traffic lane.
Also under consideration was the implementation of a "road diet" for Milwaukee Avenue which would have resulted in the elimination of a lane of traffic in each direction in an effort to slow traffic and reduce speeding. The city Department of Transportation dropped the road diet plan due to community opposition, as more than 4,000 people signed a petition against the lane reductions.
The project also will include improvements at the intersection of Milwaukee and Gale street south of the expressway.
