Alderman Bauman says among other conditions, any re-do of the Hoan Bridge must include pedestrian and bike access

Source: Milwaukee Common Council

The Hoan Bridge not only connects Bay View and the south side directly with the lakefront and downtown, it also spans several of the city’s key facilities, including the Port of Milwaukee and the harbor, the Henry W. Maier Festival Park, and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District treatment operations.

And, Alderman Robert J. Bauman says any plans to reconfigure, re-design or otherwise alter the 2.5-mile bridge must first satisfy several conditions being put forth by the city. The conditions, contained in a Common Council file sponsored by Alderman Bauman, reflect clearly the city’s desire to protect important assets and to make sure any major rebuild of the bridge is done and designed in a way that city leaders and residents can support.

“We are saying that any changes in the design, configuration or elevation of the Hoan Bridge would have profound impacts on current land uses in this area — not only on the festival park, the Port and MMSD, but especially on vehicular and maritime traffic patterns,” said Alderman Bauman, chair of the Common Council’s Public Works Committee.

“The Governor, the Legislature and the state Department of Transportation need to know that we will definitely have our own ideas of what an altered or reconfigured Hoan Bridge should look and function like,” he said.

The conditions listed in Alderman Bauman’s file include:

• The bridge and its approaches must use the existing right-of-way and substantially the same footprint.

• The bridge’s approaches must remain elevated over all land uses currently beneath the approaches, including but not limited to the Port of Milwaukee, MMSD and the Maier festival park.

• Any moveable bridge spans must have sufficient clearance over the (average) water level to minimize bridge openings for non-commercial vessels.

• Bridge openings must be limited to non-peak traffic periods, except in emergencies.

• The bridge and its approaches must accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

• The bridge and its approaches must be limited to two travel lanes and one distress lane, bicycle lane and pedestrian sidewalk in each direction.

• The lake shore interchange must be eliminated and replaced by an at-grade intersection or roundabout in the approximate location of Clybourn Street and Lincoln Memorial Drive.

• All new or reconstructed structures must be designed with lighting and architectural elements developed in consultation with the City of Milwaukee.

Late last year the state DOT said it wanted to explore “options” for the bridge after it received estimates of $200 million for replacing the aging bridge deck, work which would need to be completed by 2013. A consultant’s report also touted development opportunities on 500 acres of land that could be freed up if the bridge were to be dismantled and rebuilt as an at-grade four-lane boulevard with a movable bridge section over the Milwaukee River.

The file will be introduced at the July 7 meeting of the full Common Council, and will likely be referred to the Council’s Public Works Committee.