Baldwin helps secure $34.2 million to improve road safety in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced on Sept. 5 that she had helped secure $34.2 million in federal funding to improve road safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians throughout the state. 

The funding came from Safe Streets and Roads for All, a $5 billion discretionary program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed in 2021. The program has already awarded $2.7 billion in funding for projects in all 50 states, according to the Department of Transportation.

The funds Baldwin helped secure will be split among the cities of Green Bay, La Crosse, Milwaukee, and Oshkosh.

Milwaukee will receive the biggest chunk of the funds, $25 million, for the planning, design, and construction of a 2-mile span of Center Street, a heavily-trafficked thoroughfare of the city.

“Safety interventions include fully separated bike lanes, bus bulb-outs, narrower travel lanes, reduced curb radii, curb extensions, leading pedestrian intervals, raised intersections, and reduction of the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph to create a safer streetscape for the community,” the Department of Transportation, which awarded the funding, said.

“Center Street is a vital link in Milwaukee helping families get to work or school and connecting entire communities to economic opportunity,” Baldwin said in a news release. “At the same time, it is also one of the City’s most dangerous corridors – and I fought hard to deliver funding to change that. This funding will be used to make critical safety upgrades, ensuring that everyone—whether taking a bus, driving, biking, or walking—can get where they need to go safely.”

The second-biggest chunk of the funding, $8 million, will go to the city of Oshkosh to build a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Interstate 41. 

According to the Department of Transportation: “The current area includes roundabouts serving a nearby interstate that have seen multiple serious and fatal injuries. The project improves multimodal connectivity and safety by connecting the bicycle and pedestrian network through a crossing separate from motor vehicle travel. The project will accompany City-funded acquisition of land and the construction of a shared-use path that will provide western bicycle and pedestrian access to the new bridge.”

Green Bay and La Crosse, meanwhile, will receive $916,000 and $280,000 respectively to create a safety action plan to identify areas that need to be made safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.

“Whether traveling by car, foot, or bike, the streets in our communities should be designed to keep our community members safe,” Baldwin said in a related news release. “Sadly, we’ve seen the sometimes-deadly consequences of outdated infrastructure and it’s high time to address it. I am proud to bring home this funding and give our local communities the tools they need to make our streets safer for anyone traveling.”