Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Lake Drive construction begins; what you should know
Milwaukee Lake Drive construction begins
A section of North Lake Drive is closed, and will be through November. Monday, July 22, was the first day of construction.
MILWAUKEE – Heads up to drivers heading towards Milwaukee’s lakefront: a section of North Lake Drive is closed, and will be through November.
Monday, July 22, was the first day of construction.
There was a lot of confusion, with drivers going the wrong way and turning around.
The Milwaukee Department of Public Works and Wisconsin Department of Transportation are reconstructing the street, starting with the northbound lanes from Kenwood to Edgewood.
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“It’s just chaos,” said Steven Cefalu, who lives on Lake Drive.
City engineer Kevin Muhs said just the north half of Lake Drive is under construction until November. In the spring, construction on the southbound lanes will start.
“This is a full pavement replacement, which means we’re going down all the way to the bottom and rebuilding the street from the ground up,” Muhs said.
The project also adds protected bike lanes and pedestrian curbs.
“The detours use Oakland and Maryland because the Village of Shorewood does have a project going on on Downer Avenue right now,” Muhs said.
People who live on or near Lake Drive said the first day of construction was a mess.
“We saw four cars turned around and head into facing the traffic,” resident Peter Waldron said.
“Sometimes it’ll take us 10 minutes to get out of our driveway,” resident Steven Cefalu said.
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It comes as I-43 is under construction, with long and short-term ramp closures from Brown Street all the way to Grafton.
While it’s an inconvenience, some people who live and drive on Lake Drive say it’s worth the long-term fix.
“I guess we’ll put up for it for a better road,” Waldron said.
“This is what it is, and we’re going to just hang in there and in the end we’ll have a nice street,” Cefalu said.
If driving in the area, make sure to follow detour signs. Many side streets in residential neighborhoods are unable to get through.