Copyright Institute of Transportation Engineers May 2006 This second feature in a series on Milwaukee, WI, USA-site of the ITE 2006 Annual Meeting and Exhibit-focuses on the application of new urbanism principles in the Milwaukee downtown business district and how these enhancements have improved parking availability, traffic circulation patterns and pedestrian conditions to support downtown growth and a high quality of life.
INTRODUCTION
The City of Milwaukee, WI, USA, has experienced a renaissance in the vitality and economy of its downtown business district. This renaissance began with former Mayor John Norguist and has been progressed by existing Mayor Tom Barrett in partnership with downtown businesses. John Norquist was a founder and now is the executive director of the Congress for New Urbanism.
These priorities have had a dramatic impact on downtown residential development and street life activity. The new urbanism principles applied to downtown Milwaukee involved:
* Parking system enhancements;
* Traffic circulation improvements;
* Pedestrian emphasis; and
* Visitor friendliness.
The application of new urbanism transportation principles in the downtown came about through extensive collaboration between the City's Departments of Public Works and City Development and downtown business and neighborhood associations.
PARKING SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS
Downtown parking system enhancements were cited as a major emphasis area to increase parking availability and reduce traffic circulation patterns. These enhancements included changing existing on-street parallel parking in the downtown to angle parking and improving off-street parking accessibility through the use of an advanced parking space management system.
Figure 1 shows on-street angle parking conditions along a major downtown arterial. In the example, Kilbourn Avenue is a median-divided street carrying 11,000 vehicles per day with a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit. In comparison, Broadway Street, in the Third Ward District of downtown, has angle street parking in the center of the street with one lane of traffic between the parking and the street sidewalk system.
Downtown businesses, which are in competition with suburban developments with large paved parking surface lots, rely on convenient customer parking in close proximity to their front doors. This change in parking design has increased downtown on-street parking from 6,400 to 7,000 spaces (an increase of more than 9 percent).
The other parking accessibility action endorsed by the City involves a "Park Once" policy that includes off-street parking signage and an advanced parking system. The concept of Park Once is to encourage downtown employees and customers to park their vehicles and walk or use a convenient transit circulator for lunch and shopping activities.
This system is currently under design and is the subject of a future ITE Journal article. Signage is being increased to identify parking structure locations and provide real-time information on parking space availability. Street signage identifies which lots are full as well as how many spaces are available throughout the day.
TRAFFIC CIRCULATION IMPROVEMENTS
A large portion of the downtown Milwaukee street system historically was operated as a one-way street system. One-way streets have been shown to increase traffic capacity and provide good traffic signal system progression. However, a trade-ofF was the perceived negative impact on downtown business accessibility, traffic circulation and transit operation. The City's one-way street system provided connections to freeway system ramps and, in some cases, to adjacent suburbs.
| [Photograph] |
| Figure 1. Kilbourn Avenue and Broadway Street angle parking treatments. |
| Figure 2. Milwaukee downtown connector project. |
Conversion of the one-way street system to a two-way system is nearly complete. The two-way streets have improved business accessibility, have created a less confusing circulation system for downtown visitors and business customers and have permitted transit system passengers to board and exit city buses at the same intersection in closer proximity to their destinations.
The Milwaukee County Transit System provides extensive route transfer connections that are easier for bus riders to accomplish under two-way street system operation and allows bus passengers to board or debark transit routes at the same intersection bus stop.
Two other traffic circulation initiatives involved the deconstruction of a freeway stub built along the northern boundary of the Milwaukee central business district and funding for a downtown connector transit system.
The Park East Freeway was an uncompleted link of a freeway ring around the downtown. The freeway stub was considered a barrier between downtown and the growth of surrounding commercial and residential developments. The Park East Freeway was taken down within the last several years and replaced with a surface street arterial. New development is occurring within the corridor, which further enhances the downtown renaissance.
| [Photograph] |
| Figure 3. Downtown wayfinding improvements. |
| [Photograph] |
| Figure 4. Downtown streetscape. |
The downtown connector, shown in Figure 2, currently is in the preliminary planning phase. This project involved extensive study and discussions with city stakeholders, city and county officiais and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on routing and new technologies for transit system improvements. Currently, the City has a rubber-tired downtown trolley circulator system to provide friendly access for visitors and downtown employee use during mid-day lunch periods and for shopping convenience.
The goal is to provide a Park Once concept and use of the trolley or downtown connector for trips within the downtown area. The downtown connector is planned to extend to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus on the east side, Miller Park on the west and into nearby north-side neighborhoods.
PEDESTRIAN EMPHASIS
Milwaukee always has been known as a pedestrian-friendly community, as witnessed by ITE members who attended the 1991 Annual Meeting. This emphasis has increased since 1991 with several activities that occurred under Mayor Norquist's term in office.
A downtown Riverwalk, similar to that of San Antonio, TX, USA, was constructed and continues to be expanded. In addition, a pedestrian improvement plan has been developed and currently is under construction, including streetscape treatments, a wayfinding system and pedestrian-scale lighting. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate elements of the City's Riverwalk and streetscape plan.
The City's visitor's bureau has established and funded an Ambassador Program through downtown businesses. The Ambassador Program involves uniformed staff who walk the downtown street system to answer visitor questions and provide guidance.
From a traffic operations perspective, the Departments of Public Works and City Development have promoted small intersection curb radii and discouraged channelized right-turn corner lanes. Both of these concepts are directed at increasing pedestrian friendliness for crossing intersections. The trade-off for traffic operations is reduced turning speeds, intersection capacity reductions (in some cases) and delivery truck encroachment on through traffic lanes.
Finally, a development concept endorsed by the City was that downtown developments should have storefronts facing the sidewalk system. It was found that, over time, many downtown stores had blanked out or bricked up their windows along sidewalks to increase merchandise display space or create inside malls. This resulted in an unfriendly atmosphere for pedestrians and discouraged street activity in the downtown.
Merchants were requested to create display windows facing the street to improve street ambience and add interest to the existing streetscape. This concept was further reinforced by the City's position of a more stringent approval review process for the construction of skywalks over street corridors in downtown. The intent was to increase street life activity as well as improve downtown street vistas that were obstructed by skywalk structures.
SUMMARY
It is difficult to define all the elements that lead to the success of a downtown business district in a large or small community. Many pieces need to fall into place, from planning, development and transportation perspectives. Transportation polices can contribute to the synergy required to achieve a vibrant downtown that is friendly to motorists, pedestrians and businesses. The City of Milwaukee, working with its Public Works and Engineering Departments and many downtown partners, has improved parking availability, traffic circulation patterns and pedestrian conditions to support downtown growth and a high quality of life.
| [Author Affiliation] |
| BY KENNETH H. VOIGT, P.E. AND JEFFREY S. POLENSKE, P.E. |
| [Author Affiliation] |
| KENNETH H. VOIGT, P.E., is the ITE District 4 international director. He has more than 35 years of experience and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Much of his experience has focused on creating streets for all users. He is a fellow of ITE. |
| [Author Affiliation] |
| JEFFREY S. POLENSKE, P.E., has been the city engineer for Milwaukee since 2000. He has worked fir the City of Milwaukee fir more than 15 years. He is a strong supporter of these concepts with a long-standing reputation for designing streets for all users. He is an associate member of ITE. |
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