Milwaukee, WI
We Drove The New Insane Milwaukee ‘Advisory Bike Lane’ & Barely Survived!
We drove the insane new “advisory bike lane” road on Edgewood Drive, which spans the border of Shorewood and Milwaukee, and barely survived! According to the Village of Shorewood, it’s “a lane configuration new to the Milwaukee area.”
It was basically a game of frogger, as cars had to pull over so others could pass incoming traffic. It appears to be an effort to provide “preferential” space to bicycles instead of cars. And it’s a recipe for disaster. The Milwaukee media are dubbing the plan “bicycle friendly streets.”
But are they? Judge for yourself:
A graphic on the Village of Shorewood’s website explains that the “advisory bike lane” approach, which runs from Oakland Avenue to Lake Drive on Edgewood Avenue, forces motorists to “share [the] center lane.” The City of Milwaukee has created an entire website about the concept.
Explained the city’s website, “Dashed bike lanes would be installed next to the parking lanes, while motorists would have one single lane to operate in the middle of the street. When encountering oncoming traffic, the dashed bike lanes allow motorists to encroach into the advisory bike lane when people on bikes are not present to safely pass the oncoming motorist.”
The new roadway marking “provide preferential space for people biking,” says the graphic, which adds that “motorists can use the bike lanes to pass oncoming traffic after yielding to bike traffic.”
It’s a “new bikeway type in Milwaukee and the City will be evaluating its effectiveness,” says the graphic on the village website.
The Village of Shorewood attempted to justify the new road markings in a November 3, 2023, post, writing, “You may have seen stories this week regarding the new lane configuration on Edgewood Avenue (between Lake Dr. and Oakland Ave.) since the installation of Advisory Bike Lanes (ABLs) has been completed. This resurfacing project and change to the street design, while new, should be no more difficult than learning how to use a traffic circle or roundabout.”
But not everyone agrees. A man named Gary Wickert wrote a lengthy Facebook post describing his attempt to navigate the “advisory bike lane” in Milwaukee. Wickert is President and shareholder at Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C.
“Lisa and I were traveling to Harbor House Restaurant in Milwaukee for a firm dinner Friday night as we were in town for a shareholders’ meeting. We turned onto Edgewood heading toward Lake Drive and I instantly assumed it was a one-way street; but so did the guy heading directly for me. I pulled into the bike lane while Lisa was yelling at me for turning the wrong way on a one-way street. There was one lane of traffic, and rather prominent ‘bike lanes’ on both sides of that single lane. There is only room for ONE vehicle in the single lane. At the same time as I pulled over to avoid a collision, the car headed for us did a quick (and quite dangerous) U-turn, thinking that he had also turned the wrong way onto a one way street.
As luck would have it, the city of Milwaukee just finished installing somebody’s new brainchild called ‘advisory bike lanes’ on Edgewood that same day, between Oakland Avenue and Lake Drive. This new traffic configuration is referred to as “Edge Lane Roads” in Europe and a few cities (e.g., Pittsburgh) have been experimenting with them here in the U.S. The center lane is primarily for motorists traveling in both directions but “vulnerable road users” (aka “VRU’s – who comes up with such silly terminology?) can use it also. VRUs are cyclists or pedestrians and have the right-of-way in the edge lanes but motorists can also use the edge lanes, after yielding to the VRUs there, to pass approaching vehicles. Edgewood is the first advisory bike lane installed in the Milwaukee area, according to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works; and we happened upon it apparently shortly after it was completed. The reason given for the configuration is to “promote bicycle safety.” What ever that means, it is courtesy of the same folks who brought you the Milwaukee Trolley.
If I hadn’t have experienced this in person I would have thought this idea was something from the Onion. A real human being with real responsibility literally came up with this joke of an idea. I’ve been cycling for five decades. Cyclists already have the same right-of-way rights as motorists under Wisconsin law. All they have done here is place two 3,000 lb. hunks of metal on a collision course for a head-on-collision and create two bike lanes that no cyclist can feel comfortable in. I have lost two friends who were killed by being hit from behind by a car whose driver was momentarily blinded by morning sun. This configuration intentionally necessitates that cars are forced into a bike lane where cyclists are riding. This can’t end well. Beam me up, Scotty!”
Shorewood continued: “Essentially, cars share a single traffic lane, so as a driver, when you see another car coming toward you traveling in the opposite direction, each car will briefly merge into the bike lane after yielding to bicyclists. Once the cars pass each other, resume driving in the traffic lane.”
According to Shorewood, people are supposed to “just remember ABL.” The village provided this list:
A – ASSESS what is happening around you (note parked cars, cyclists, and oncoming traffic). If a car approaches:
B – BEAR right to briefly merge into the bike lane (after checking and yielding to bicyclists), then:
L – LANE it up! Return to the traffic lane traveling no more than 25 MPH
“You already do this on residential streets not wide enough for parked cars and two way traffic, so think of it this way, just look at yielding to bicyclists too!” Shorewood declared.
Critics commented on the Shorewood post. “Not a fan, it will be interesting on the number of accidents, especially when school starts or ends,” wrote one man. “Wow, I don’t even live here, but this is moronic. And your attempts to normalize it with your comparison to roundabouts is absurd. Enjoy all the head on collisions and pedestrian fatalities your going to get from this,” wrote another.
It’s worth noting that Milwaukee is attempting this “bicycle equity” approach during a major reckless driving epidemic, and some guy barreling down the road at 75 mph isn’t going to know what’s going on.
A presentation on the topic was given by Mike Amsden, AICP, Multimodal Transportation Manager, City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works. He previously worked for the Chicago Department of Transportation, according to his LinkedIn page.
The lanes have been implemented in other cities, such as Fort Collins, Colorado. Here’s a graphic from Fort Collins:
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon runner struck following vehicle crash
CUDAHY, Wis. – A Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon runner is recovering after a car hit her during the race on Sunday, Oct. 6.
It all happened shortly after 11 a.m., on South Lake Drive in Cudahy. Police say the driver had a medical emergency.
It was supposed to be a morning of setting personal records.
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But for one runner, the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon took a tragic turn.
Cudahy police say during the marathon a vehicle hit a 28-year-old runner.
It happened before 11:30 a.m. near Henry and South Lake Drive, across from Aurora St. Luke’s Hospital.
Police say a 68-year-old Waterford woman driving southbound experienced a medical emergency. She sideswiped another vehicle, causing a rollover.
Police say the woman then hit the runner before then coming to a stop near the woods.
“These are obviously incidents we never want to see happen in any event, any live event,” said Jen Puente from the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.
Neighbors say the southbound lanes were open to traffic, but the northbound lanes were closed for the race and the runner was alone.
There were no hard barriers blocking cars from getting close to the course.
“There were cones along the race route to indicate the race route, along with signage, public awareness and officials along the course,” added Puente. “The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon team will continue debriefing and looking at options to ensure runner safety not just next year but perpetuity.”
The runner and two drivers involved were taken to the hospital.
One vehicle was on its side
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Puente provided an update on the runner who survived but never reached the finish line.
“The runner was released from the hospital and is at home recuperating and recovering,” said Puente.
Police say the runner who was hit is from Medford, Wisconsin, which is in the northern part of the state.
FOX6 is working to get an update on the others involved in this incident.
Milwaukee, WI
Silver Alert issued for critically missing 69-year-old Milwaukee man with dementia
The Wisconsin Department of Justice and Milwaukee police are searching for a vulnerable, critically missing 69-year-old man.
Ike King Jr. was last seen traveling on foot Sunday, Oct. 6, around 10:30 p.m. in the 3300 block of North 41st Street, a largely residential area just west of West Fond du Lac Avenue. King has dementia. He is Black and has brown eyes and a black, curly afro. He has a missing front tooth and is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 175 pounds with a medium build.
King was last seen wearing a white flannel, a blue shirt, blue pants resembling Dickies style pants and black Nike flip-flops.
Silver Alerts are issued for elderly persons who are missing and believed to have dementia or some other cognitive impairment. “Critical missing” is a label police apply to people who may be especially vulnerable due to a variety of factors.
Anyone with information regarding King’s whereabouts should call the Milwaukee Police Department’s Seventh District at 414-935-7272.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee shootings Sunday; 1 dead, 1 injured
MILWAUKEE – One person is dead and another is injured after different shootings in Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 6.
20th and Cornell
A 16-year-old was shot around 1 p.m. and went to the hospital for treatment. The teen victim succumbed to their injury.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation. Police are looking for anyone involved.
Birch and Sheridan
A 25-year-old was shot around 5:30 p.m. The victim went to the hospital for treatment of non-fatal injuries.
Police are still investigating and looking for anyone involved.
MPD tips
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Milwaukee Police Department at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.
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