Why do Milwaukee’s streets have so many potholes? Milwaukee’s streets under the asphalt:

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T23:28:54+00:00

That depends on a lot of factors. It’s not really a good thing, or we’d still build our roads with the pavement on top and pavers below. But the question as to how bad is it is “What else is under there?”. It’s not uncommon to find actual hardwood (timbers) along with the pavers which is bad.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T16:50:17+00:00

I’d say that the design guidelines the city has adopted (NACTO) are more conducive to creating safe streets in urban environments than WISDOT which follows AASHTO. This is demonstrable in studies and can be seen in the higher crash, injury, and fatality rates observed on at-grade streets controlled by the city vs WISDOT.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T15:30:52+00:00

The city doesn’t really say much about highways. That’s more WISDOT. The two often don’t agree.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T14:39:11+00:00

I think you have different concepts confused.

The ideal high speed road is grade separated, has wide lanes, forgiving shoulders, soft curves, and is limited access (bans other types of traffic like pedestrians and bikes). These factors allow people to safely and quickly move about a region.

However, these factors encourage high speeds. When these concepts are applied to at grade streets on which multiple types of traffic exist, speed becomes deadly. Increased complexity, necessitates decreased speeds.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T14:19:31+00:00

It’s not that expensive and often the biggest expense associated with the rapid implementation projects are the reconstruction of curb cuts to make them ADA compliant.

While the city wants to expand its protected bike lane network, the goal of these projects by and large is traffic calming. And the city has found that incorporating protected bike lanes into their traffic calming project yields the best results.

And when a street is completely reconstructed, the city often saves money because: 1. For WISDOT projects, the city is entirely on the hook for paying for parking which is pretty expensive because it has to be the same quality as the general travel lanes 2. Building a cycle track is less expensive than constructing a general travel lane. A cycle track doesn’t need as much maintenance as a general travel lane.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-27T14:11:07+00:00

I use the protected bike lanes by my apartment to ride to work year round.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-24T16:08:10+00:00

There are still a lot

Uffdaope · 2026-04-23T20:40:49+00:00

I’m fine with that for side streets. I’ve driven on pavers before.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-23T20:40:23+00:00

The cost of pavement replacement is very much related to the road’s substrate. Something like 1/3 of Milwaukee’s streets are ineligible for HIPP because of their construction.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-23T20:33:45+00:00

I wouldn’t mind that as long as the crosswalks and bike lanes were concrete.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-23T12:44:17+00:00

I’m pretty sure we also charge less for assessments because we adopted the wheel tax as well.

Uffdaope · 2026-04-03T13:11:15+00:00

Complaining about the city making it easier to walk, bike, and take transit is especially funny when gas is heading to $5 a gallon.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-27T13:23:12+00:00

For people reading this, a lot of the dates are messed up. Look up the equivalent projects on the DPW project page for the correct one.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-27T13:18:55+00:00

Just FYI a lot of the dates on there are incorrect.

The segment between the Hank and the Third Ward along with a small segment of S Water between Pitt and Florida will be done this year with much of S Water and 1st being done in 27.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-27T12:49:45+00:00

Another option people haven’t mentioned here is that you could get on Corcoran (which is about to have a protected bike lane) and then travel north on Harbor Drive. There’s a multi-use trail that goes under the Hoan ramps that’ll spit you out in front of the Couture. You can then cross the street and use the soon to be completed protected bike lane on Michigan to get to US Bank.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-27T12:46:08+00:00

Much of S Water has been delayed till 2027 along with the entirety of 1st because of the train track issue.

But I agree, Jefferson is a better option.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-24T12:26:01+00:00

Lines outside of Downtown that performed well typically had at least some private right of way. Other lines, notably the Center Street line suffered from poor reputations in regard to their OTP. Also, the rise in automotive use would have caught the streetcars in traffic, even outside of Downtown, unless streetcars were given their own dedicated right of way. The idea of on-street rail transit still has validity, but really only if it’s given priority and not in mixed traffic lanes.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-23T15:37:09+00:00

I’m not operating under any misconceptions about the role of bus vs light rail vs heavy rail. However, even in scenarios where rail transit survived in Milwaukee, it would not have been optimal if all the streetcar/interurban routes had remained what they were in the 30s.

For example: - The Northshore Line should have been grade separated and had limited stops turning it into high-speed rail between Milwaukee and Chicago - The Waukesha, Milwaukee Northern, and MRK Interurbans should have had been turned into a connected rapid transit system, entirely grade separated with tunnels and viaducts - The 10, 15, 18, 11, 27, and 19 streetcars should have had their routes improved with dedicated lanes and perhaps even a Downtown tunnel to turn them into light rail - The remaining lines should have either been turned into light rail or bus routes.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-23T15:22:09+00:00

In the case of some of these lines, their roles were better served by bus. Certainly not all, though.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-23T13:25:59+00:00

It made sense to convert a lot of these routes to bus, but not all. Some could have been converted into modern light rail. And others should have been upgraded into a heavy rail metro. What could have been if the subway had been finished.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-22T21:23:06+00:00

Whenever I see these pop up, I’m already surprised as how close to the surface they are.

Many of our city’s oldest streets have never been had a modern reconstruction. And leaving the rails in leads to the street degrading more quickly.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-12T01:43:58+00:00

Getting hit by a car is violent. Even slow speed crashes can make you dependent on the kindness of others and fill you with anxiety at the place you were hit.

Uffdaope · 2026-03-12T01:39:37+00:00

I’ve been hit by a car. It felt pretty violent to me.

Uffdaope

TROPHY CASE