Reconnect Neighborhoods
For decades, I-794 has created a barrier between the Third Ward and Downtown and prioritizes moving people through rather than creating abundant places for people to spend time. The construction of the highway displaced homes, businesses, and gathering places that were important to Milwaukee communities. While we cannot undo that history, reimagining I-794 gives Milwaukee an opportunity to extend the vibrancy of the Third Ward, reconnect communities, and create a place where future generations can live, gather, and thrive.
Imagine More of the Third Ward
The Third Ward’s transformation shows what is possible when Milwaukee invests in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. It took bold vision and investment to transform the Third Ward from a neighborhood experiencing decades of disinvestment into the desirable historic residential and commercial district it is today. In 1969, the construction of Interstate 794 cut through the historically working-class, largely Italian immigrant neighborhood, further disrupting the community and accelerating its decline. Today, thanks to vision and commitment, the Historic Third Ward and the Public Market are celebrated places to live, work, and visit.
We want to see Milwaukee build on the Third Ward's success. A new neighborhood connecting downtown, the Third Ward, the Menomonee Valley, and the Lakefront would create opportunities for thousands more residents to live in a walkable community with convenient access to transit, jobs, and recreation.
Build Streets for Everyone
Removing I-794 presents an opportunity to turn Clybourn into a two-way boulevard that is safer, more connected, and welcoming for everyone. While downtowns are often designed as places where people can walk, gather, and spend time, most of Clybourn Today functions as a highway corridor rather than a neighborhood street.
Walking along Clybourn, it's easy to see why. People navigating the area are surrounded by noise, speed, and scale of an elevated freeway, with vehicles traveling at highway speeds overhead and nearby. A surface-level boulevard would create a more human-scale street that can be designed to accommodate cars, transit, biking, and walking while creating opportunities for welcoming public spaces, green infrastructure, new housing, and stronger connections to downtown businesses and destinations.
Creating Unique Public Spaces
Renderings by John Everitt
How do we make better decisions for Milwaukee by learning from our past mistakes? What if a piece of highway infrastructure could become a community asset instead? The I-794 eastbound bridge over the Milwaukee River presents a unique opportunity: rather than removing a structure that supports critical utilities, we can reimagine it as a year-round public space. Since WE Energies’ steam pipe runs along the bridge deck, adaptive reuse could avoid major utility disruptions while transforming an existing piece of infrastructure into something that serves the community.
“[Elevated highways] present significant psychological barriers to pedestrian travel: they loom over the street blocking the sun and are, altogether, out of scale for pedestrians. … Few pedestrians intentionally walk through these areas. This pedestrian “disconnection” diminishes the value and vibrancy of the severed neighborhoods.”