Lowering the Hoan Bridge and rebuilding I-794 as a four-lane boulevard could result in development worth as much as $5.7 billion on about 500 acres of ”prime, waterfront real estate,” according to a draft report prepared for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
“Not only does a reconfiguration of the roadway and resulting redevelopment make sense from a long-term maintenance perspective, it makes even more sense for Milwaukee and the state from an economic standpoint,” said the report by the HNTB consulting firm. “The increased land values and possible tax base, as well as the public amenities that could be introduced, will certainly accomplish more public objectives than the reconstruction of the Hoan Bridge and I-794 in their existing forms.”
State Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi last month said department was looking at the possibility of lowering the bridge and freeway. His statements received decidedly mixed reactions.
I-794 as now configured “has exceeding complex and land-intensive ramps,” the report said. The roadway, which is elevated for about 2.5 miles, also is “oversized for its current and projected traffic capacity because the Interstate system was never completed to the south of this I-794 segment.”
The freeway has had major maintenance issues during the past several years and needs significant work “in the near future,” the report said. A separate WisDOT issue paper said the bridge is scheduled for major work, including deck replacement, in 2010 to 2013 if funding is available.
“Initial conversations with WisDOT has revealed an opportunity to explore alternative bridge and roadway configurations to create a roadway that meets appropriate capacity needs and opens up land for development and public use,” the HNTB report said. “Alternative roadway scenarios focus on downgrading the roadway from a freeway to an at-grade, four-lane boulevard. The merits of this scenario include far simpler and less costly maintenance and easier, less land-intensive connections to local roads.”
The Hoan Bridge corridor beween downtown Milwaukee and Bay View ”is a very desireable area,” according to the report, which was obtained through an open records request. “The 2.5 miles of property along Lake Michigan is prime real estate and an important public resource.”
Some Port of Milwaukee property is underused, the report said. Significant portions of Jones Island are being used for storage and some areas are vacant, according to the report.
“Conversely, the adjacent Third and Fifth ward neighborhoods, as well as Bay View, have seen tremendous redevelopment activity….In short, the area surrounding the Hoan Bridge could be used for higher and better land uses and provide a link to the public lands to the north and south of the harbor,” the report said.
The report said there are four potential areas of economic benefit “that collectively could pay for transportation infrastructure, parkland, trails, utilities and other public infrastructure improvements.” The four are sales of excess public property, property taxes associated with private development, job creation and income taxes from permanent workers.
The report included two potential redevelopment schemes, though it also said they were meant to serve as the basis for furhter discussions.
The more expansive of the two has the potential to creat about 18.4 million gross square feet of new buildings and up to 9,900 housing units with a total estimated value of $5.7 billion, according to the report. Under that scenario, about 204 acres of public land could be sold. The development would create 8,100 jobs and generate $18.2 million annually in state income taxes and $1.7 billion in new property tax revenues over the 27-year life of a TIF District that would be established to help pay for the improvements.
The other concept, which emphasizes public open spaces and neighborhood scale development, could include 7.6 million gross square feet of new buildings, about 5,000 residential units and carry a total value of about $2.2 billion, according to the report. That plan calls for 90 acres of public land to be sold. The development would generate $698 million in new property tax revenue over 27 years and create 1,300 jobs that would generate $3 million annually in state income taxes.
The picture on the left, below, is a conceptual illustration of the smaller development while the picture on the right shows the outlines of the larger plan. Click on the pictures to see larger versions.
“The at-grade roadway reconfiguration and harbor redevelopment will open up a considerable amount of public land for redevelopment,” the report said. “This prime property along Lake Michigan, with its proximity to downtown Milwaukee and available utility service, is unmatched in the State of Wisconsin. Recent public and private land transiactions in the area have determined that this land is valued at approximately $1 million per acre.”
A life-cycle cost analysis showed that WisDOT would spend about $30 million more for the at-grade roadway option by 2014, but would spend $80 million less by 2025 by avoiding the reconstruction costs of the Lake Interchange, the report said.
Gretchen, I know it would be hard to say, but are you agreeing with Frank Busalachi on something? First the Stock Market, now this!
I am not endorsing it, and neither has Frank. I want to know more and Frank’s kind of backing away from his initial statements suggesting WisDOT may lower the bridge. The proposal definitely sounds like it bears further investigation, though.
Both of these plans look pretty optimistic with their numbers. I have a hard time with crediting lowering the Hoan to nearly a billion dollars worth of development value on the West side of the river. Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to see this development take place, but it can happen regardless of whether the Hoan is high and fast or low and slow.
It would also seem like there are a few more roadblocks than lowering the Hoan to make the development in the port area a realty. Where do the big piles of salt go? Seems pretty convenient(and cheap) to be able to store those right where the boats drop them off. It also looks like we won’t be able to send shiploads of grain out of the Port of Milwaukee anymore(300,000 tons in ’06), it looks like the grain elevators are missing. A number of very active railroad tracks have seemed to shrink almost out of site in these plans as well.
As a city we’ve got all kinds of land just waiting for development(please see the gravel fields once known as the Park East Freeway), can we figure out something do with some of that before doubling the time it takes me to get downtown?
I can see a whole bunch of problems with this right off the bat.
1. MMSD- Something would have to be done to that facility in order to make it more desirable for potential residential/commercial development ANYWHERE near there.
2. What about the ships that come in and out with things like powered concrete and road salt? Any at grade configuration would need to include bridges high enough to allow them to off load in the port.
3. Truck Traffic; NOBODY can tell me with a straight face that any potential residents are going to want to deal with the almost constant barrage of Dump Trucks hauling salt from August thru March. Especially when you consider that North American Salt supplies Salt to not only S.E and S. Central Wisconsin but to the Northern Half of Illinois as well. Not to Mention Morton salt who supplies a fair amount of salt as well.(Just to give you an idea of how much salt is contained at the port on a yearly basis: In October of 2007 there was 900,000 TONS of product, and by the end of last winter there was NONE, and all that salt leaves 20-25 tons at a time, so that equals a helluva lot of trucks!)
Now that the Marquette is done we trucks can just hop on the Hoan and hit 94W or 43N or South. I have a feeling this will not happen if they decide to go “low and slow” (I love that term Casey!!)
One more thing to keep in mind is that nothing will happen for I’m guessing 15 years or more by the time all the environmental lawsuits etc. wind their way thru the court system….
Umm, if the DOT is going to spend $175,000 on a study that helps it see the obvious — that I-794 was “oversized for its current and projected traffic capacity” and that it obstructs the development of some potentially very valuable land at the edge of the Third Ward and along the lakefront — wouldn’t it have been good to have that information BEFORE it just spent a couple hundred million dollars rebuilding and expanding 794 as it runs from the Marquette Interchange east to the Summerfest Grounds. If anything, the development potential is stronger there. Sounds axe-backwards, doesn’t it?
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