Milwaukee County gets $29M in federal funds for road improvements, new buses

MILWAUKEE – Nearly $29 million in federal funds are headed to Milwaukee County for road repairs and new buses, County Executive David Crowley announced Tuesday.

“Enhancing roadway safety and investing in public transit assets for all who use them are important in supporting the health, well-being, and economic vitality of Milwaukee County,” Crowley said in a statement. 

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Almost $22 million will go toward redesigning and rebuilding segments of county-owned highways and bridges, according to the county executive’s office. Projects will focus on redesigning them as safer streets and, wherever feasible, “complete streets.”

Milwaukee County notes “corridors of concern” in its community transportation planning project, where fatal and serious injury crashes and acts of reckless driving occur regularly. It includes stretches of 76th Street, Silver Spring Drive and Layton Avenue that are now slated for full redesigns using federal funds.

Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee County Transit System will also receive more than $7 million to replace 13 buses, the county executive’s office said. MCTS has a current fleet of more than 300 buses that have an average lifespan of approximately 12 years or 500,000 miles.

“For Milwaukee County to have a modern and robust transportation network, we continually seek to provide infrastructure that also ensures the safety and well-being of the traveling public,” Donna Brown-Martin, Milwaukee County director of transportation, said in a statement. “Similarly, new buses for the MCTS fleet will support connectivity by moving more people timely and efficiently, while also reducing operational and maintenance costs through the replacement of vehicles past useful life standards.”

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The county said federal funds will also go toward street safety improvements in Greendale, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and West Allis. The county will also partner with the city of Milwaukee to address a segment of the 35th Street corridor.

A project-by-project breakdown of the federal funding can be found on the county’s website. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded the money, received from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, through its Surface Transportation Program.