Photo by Mitchell Henke
Bikers in Riverwest
There are many good reasons to ride a bike. As a transportation option it is environmentally friendly, is an affordable and safe alternative to motor vehicles, riding one is good exercise, and cycling is an inclusive and expanding community for all ages. Biking advocates say that Downtown Milwaukee, and Milwaukee as a whole, could use more bike racks, lanes and infrastructure.
This map shows bike lanes throughout the city, currently in place downtown on roads like Mason Street, Wells Street, Broadway and Jefferson Street. Many new bike lanes have been installed recently on major streets like North Avenue, Walnut Street, Kilbourn Avenue and Highland Boulevard, and there are even more proposed. This map details all currently available bike racks in Milwaukee. As one can see, a few significant gaps remain, especially on the eastern blocks of Downtown.
Anna Bailliekova, a Milwaukee safe streets advocate and member of Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) meetings, primarily travels around town via bike. “A lot of getting used to alternative transportation is just knowing that it’s possible,” she says. “With the surge of reckless driving that we saw during the pandemic, it did not feel safe biking down any of these larger arterial streets.”
Open to the Public
PBAC meetings are free to the public, and they meet on the third Friday of every month at 8:30 a.m. at the Zeidler Building. The committee discusses different issues related to pedestrian and bicycle accommodation such as street reconstruction, snow removal and walkability.
“This is a body that a number of activists worked to get created,” Bailliekova notes. “We work with members of the city council, and it’s a really cool experience in Milwaukee right now because we have a Mayor, DPW commissioner, city engineer and so many city staff people who are all extremely aligned on a vision of making Milwaukee a better city to walk, bike and roll.”
Mitchell Henke, chair of PBAC, confirms that the city has been investing in more bike infrastructure in recent years, citing a 2017 ordinance that requires newly-constructed buildings or buildings receiving significant modification to be fitted with bicycle facilities. “We’re seeing more indoor parking come around, so a lot of the new apartment buildings downtown likely have a bike room,” he points out.
Improved Signage
An important highlight of PBAC’s work in the last year was getting improved signage and an adjacent tunnel planned for a proposed expansion of the downtown Northwestern Mutual building on N Cass St., as well as getting a clawback for the city in the event that the expansion is not built.
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“Businesses often have parking lots where the bike parking is insufficient,” Henke observes. “The new music venue Vivarium has their parklet with the bike racks, which is a great example of a business trying to serve people who might arrive on bike, where you don’t have to look for it.”
Milwaukee has a Bike Rack Request Form that folks may fill out if they have identified a suitable location for one. In fact, the city also has a Community-Led Traffic Calming program where residents may request safer road infrastructure like speed humps, traffic circles and curb extensions.
More Racks
“The city racks are pretty good and stable, and I would love to see more of them installed at the street level and not just the terrace,” Bailliekova contends. “Folks with cargo bikes or e-bikes would not have to haul them up on the sidewalk to park them.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has expressed the goal to get the city’s population up to one million residents. While Bailliekova believes that it is possible, she presents a caveat, “We do not have room for 500,000 more cars.”
A 2019 study found that more bike lanes led to a reduced number of road-related fatalities in major cities. Another study in 2022 concluded that more bike lanes led to reduced speed at intersections, therefore lowering the number of accidents.
“When we prioritize the most vulnerable road users, it makes the streets better for everybody,” Bailliekova attests. “There’s 40,000 people a year who get killed on our roads, and most of those people are in cars. Taking cars off the roadway also decreases air and noise pollution, making our city healthier and more pleasant.”
This is precisely why more bike racks should be in visible, front-facing places everywhere, especially in traffic-congested districts like downtown and on major commercial streets. More bike lanes means that in tandem, more cyclists will need secure places to lock their bikes.
“Secure, space-efficient storage is a big part of enabling people to make that choice,” Bailliekova adds. “Cities are for people. It’s not somewhere you drive through; it’s somewhere you’re going.”
Walkable Bikeable
Photo by Mitchell Henke
Bike Lane
Walkable and bikeable infrastructure helps create a greater sense of connectedness among neighbors. In the bigger picture, community investment like this helps address issues of crime, poverty, systemic racism and life expectancy, among others.
Fellow safe streets advocate Brooke Frizzell affirms, “Anything we can do to get people out of cars can help us build community. I walk my daughter to school, and last year I hooked up with some other families in the neighborhood and we started a walking bus once a week.”
The Wisconsin Bike Federation, another prominent safe streets advocacy group, hosts a number of bike safety programs and events, plus their website contains information about encouraging legislators to support cycling infrastructure. Folks may learn about city projects or give feedback via Engage MKE, and they can attend Public Involvement meetings to inquire about bike accommodations for current and upcoming city projects.
Although Milwaukee public transit is mostly facilitated at the state and county levels, advocates say that the city should invest in more roadway amenities for pedestrians and cyclists alike. One exciting initiative is DPW’s Interim Plaza Program, which provides grants to different Milwaukee businesses to create public, pedestrianized plaza sites within under-utilized roadways.
“When everyone is in a car, the city feels really crowded,” Frizzell continues. “Cars take up a lot of space. The only way we can grow Milwaukee’s population without a bunch of gridlock is to provide alternatives to people.”
Equitable Growth
A win for public transit, Milwaukee has adopted the Equitable Growth Through Transit Oriented Development program that will potentially expand the Milwaukee Streetcar (The Hop MKE) service into different neighborhoods such as Bronzeville, the Deer District and Walker’s Point.
Also, as of 2024, Milwaukee’s Dockless Scooter Program has been implemented permanently, complete with scooter parking zones close to intersections. Bailliekova notes about the parking zones, “They serve a dual purpose, giving people a place where they know they’re supposed to leave the scooter, and they create visibility at those intersections where now an SUV isn’t going to be in that spot blocking your sight lines.”
Frizzell suggests that businesses could install bike racks or even advise where bike parking is nearby as a means of normalizing it. “Business websites or emails will often tell you driving or parking directions, and there won’t be anything about what bus routes they’re on or where there’s bike parking nearby.”
Bailliekova and Henke are both members of Better Streets MKE, a newsletter-based project that shares information about local cycling-related news and events. They also keep data about Milwaukee roadway-related injuries and fatalities.
“The city has work to do to add more bike parking, especially Downtown where you have a much higher density of people biking,” Henke concludes. “People can also engage with the people in their community, whether it’s making a business owner or private residences aware.”
Frizzell shares, “I get lots of questions about my bike when I’m out and about, but if I don’t have a place to lock it up then people won’t see that as an option. It’s an achievable mode of transportation, not just for recreation.”
Bicycle parking requirements may be found at city.milwaukee.gov/BicycleParkingRequirements.
