Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson signals openness to I-794 deconstruction

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Monday is expressing openness to demolishing I-794 on downtown's southern edge, a step some environmentalists and urbanists have been advocating.

In doing so, he evoked the development that has taken place on the empty lots left behind when Milwaukee's Park East Freeway was replaced with surface streets 20 years ago.

"How do you look at Park East being gone and what's there presently ― the Deer District, Fiserv Forum, a hotel going up right now, other development that's going to happen down the line ― and not think, what if?" Johnson said Monday during a meeting of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

"I'm certainly interested in having the conversation to see what the possibilities are," he said.

Some environmentalists and urbanists hope that I-794 will follow in Park East's footsteps and support for the freeway's removal is building.

Johnson's comments come as the state Department of Transportation has begun planning to replace portions of I-794 from North Broadway through the northern end of the Hoan Bridge.

Under a DOT proposal, $300 million would be spent to replace pieces of the freeway's eastern portion, with construction tentatively running from 2025 through 2028.

The department is also seeking public comment on the project.

Johnson's openness to the idea "is everything to us," said Gregg May, transportation policy director at 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, a Madison-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group that asked people to speak in favor of taking down the freeway.

"Having the mayor at least open the idea is a major step for our campaign," he told the Journal Sentinel. "We’re delighted."

The support of city leadership will be key to moving the idea forward, especially in negotiations with the DOT, he said.

Advocates hope the city's forthcoming downtown plan will commit to studying replacement of the stretch of freeway with a boulevard, he said.

Since last year, the Department of City Development along with downtown residents, business owners and others have been working on updating the plan that is expected to include recommendations for the I-794 area.

The plan will require approval from the Common Council and Johnson, a DCD spokesman previously told the Journal Sentinel.

Discussion of replacing the freeway with a boulevard dates as far back as 1995.

With Johnson's goal of growing the city's population to 1 million people, it's important to consider why such a population hasn't yet been drawn to Milwaukee's downtown, said Xu Zhang, a landscape architect and town planner who is working with May on the Rethink 794 campaign.

She cited a lack of grocery stores and schools, saying the city will have a say in the use of this publicly owned land.

Removing the freeway provides an opportunity to make downtown a truly walkable neighborhood, she said at the Urban Spaceship conference in Milwaukee Tuesday.

Johnson described renderings of downtown without I-794 as "wonderful" and "the sort of future that we should be aspiring to in Milwaukee."

While on paper he said he agreed and liked skyline-defining projects, he also acknowledged that some have raised concerns including about traffic flow.

"Those are the things I think the DOT is probably trying to grapple with while at the same time trying to listen to the concerns of folks on the ground who want a new way forward in the city," he said.

At the Greater Milwaukee Committee gathering, Johnson also offered support for replacing Stadium Freeway North with roads that feel more residential.

"I am supportive of the effort to study and hopefully ultimately remove the north leg of the stadium freeway," Johnson said.

The city has discussions ongoing with DOT about a series of issues, particularly on reckless driving on state highways like Capitol Drive, he said.

He said the city is pushing the DOT toward "people-centered development."