History and Context
I-794 was constructed as part of the downtown highway loop that was never completed and separates Downtown Milwaukee from one of its premier neighborhoods and Lake Michigan. The highway damaged the Third Ward neighborhood, which has seen a resurgence and is one the fastest growing census tracts in the State of Wisconsin. While this spur has never seen the traffic counts it was intended to carry, WisDOT views it as an important piece of infrastructure and an upcoming 2023 project will repair a portion of the highway for $300 million.
There is also precedent for highway removal in Milwaukee. The Park East removal in Milwaukee is largely viewed as a success and was removed for ~$80M in today's dollars. While this project is different from the Park East, removal is certainly cheaper than the $300M planned for repairs.
Proposal
The Rethink 794 campaign was formed following an urbanist meet-up in March 2022 about the highway and the idea to rethink I-794 as a boulevard was warmly received. Between that meeting and the campaign’s popularity on social media, Rethink 794 has started discussions with the community and city officials.
The campaign has galvanized support through the ongoing Downtown Plan Update, where grassroots supporters have asked the city to study I-794 as a boulevard and to make it the locally preferred alternative. Milwaukee's mayor has previously spoken in favor of rethinking the highway but has received pushback from WisDOT. Behind the scenes Rethink 794 have been engaging with WisDOT and the campaign was asked to join the main project stakeholder committee. WisDOT has committed to studying a boulevard alternative, but doubts remain about whether it will receive a fair shot.
Current Plans
In 2023, The Wisconsin Department of Transportation released several different possible redesign or removal concepts for I-794 in downtown Milwaukee. Concepts released publicly show nine possibilities for the freeway’s future. One calls for reconstructing the freeway as is; six concepts call for improving the freeway by increasing adjacent land available for development and reworking access points; and two call for removing the freeway from near the Hoan Bridge to the Marquette Interchange.
The removal concepts would make between 15.4 and 18.3 acres available for redevelopment; only about 3 acres of this land is currently developable. Removal would also make West Clybourn Street a two-way boulevard to fully eliminate the barrier the freeway creates between the East Town neighborhood and the Third Ward, and the Westown neighborhood and the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.