Governor Walker, Mayor Barrett, and County Executive Abele announced a plan to extend Lincoln Memorial Drive in Milwaukee's Historic 3rd Ward and move I-794 ramps to free up land for development. The highway improvements will widen Clybourn Street between Lincoln Memorial Drive and Van Buren Street into a boulevard and extend it to Discovery World, along with new pedestrian bridges. The plan was announced at Discovery World and will transform Milwaukee by connecting downtown to the 3rd Ward and Summerfest grounds, while making vacant land available for new offices, housing, and businesses. The projects will be funded through state DOT funds for I-794 and Hoan Bridge reconstruction, as well as a proposed tax incremental district around

1. Milwaukee Business News
Lincoln Memorial Travel will be extended into Milwaukeeâs Historic 3rd Ward, and ramps on
I-794 close to the Hoan Bridge will be moved to free of charge up land for advancement,
under a new strategy introduced Monday by Gov. Scott Walker, Mayor Tom Barrett and
County Government Chris Abele.
The highway advancements close to the lakefront will contain changing two blocks of
Clybourn St., in between Lincoln Memorial Push and Van Buren St., from a slim, underused
road into a boulevard, and extending Clybourn St. past Lincoln Memorial Drive to Discovery
World.
The work also will function pedestrian bridges that cross Lincoln Memorial Travel and
Michigan St. in close proximity to OâDonnell Park.
âThis is likely to modify Milwaukee,â explained retired organization executive and
philanthropist Michael Cudahy, an advocate for lakefront development. The announcement
was made at Discovery World, a undertaking funded by Cudahy.
The prepare was declared following Walker agreed to have the state Department of
Transportation spend for the new I-794 ramps. Department officials had earlier wanted the
city to cover that value, estimated at $sixteen million.
Creating new ramps on an extended Lincoln Memorial Travel also resolves department and
town concerns about achievable traffic congestion on I-794 caused by removing the present
ramps.
These new ramps will give accessibility to I-794 and the Hoan Bridge by means of the
metropolis-funded extension of Lincoln Memorial Push.
That lakefront highway will be extended from exactly where it at the moment ties to the Hoan
Bridge, at Clybourn St., southward to Chicago St., around the principal entrance to Henry W.
Maier Festival Park, and ending at the parkâs northern border
That will provide yet another link in between downtown and the 3rd Ward, as properly as a
new obtain level to the Summerfest grounds, stated metropolis Advancement Commissioner
Rocky Marcoux.
The new ramps will change the I-794 off-ramp that qualified prospects eastbound traffic to
Lincoln Memorial Drive, and an on-ramp at Lincoln Memorial Generate for westbound
targeted traffic.
Removing those ramps tends to make close to three acres south of Clybourn St., in between

2. Van Buren St. and Lincoln Memorial Travel, available for development, Marcoux mentioned.
That land is now utilized for parking tons. The heaps could rather have workplaces,
residences or other business buildings that create property taxes for the city, and carry far
more daily life to the lakefront.
Marcoux mentioned extending Lincoln Memorial Travel also enhances the growth possible of
all around 22 acres of vacant or underused parcels in the Third Ward.
Walker mentioned the new ramps will be financed with condition resources as component of
the transportation departmentâs $236 million reconstruction of the Hoan Bridge, and a
rebuild of I-794 amongst the bridge and the Milwaukee River.
The Hoan development operate will get started by this tumble, said DOT spokesman Mike
Pyritz. The metropolis street operate will be accomplished in coordination with that state
venture.
The Hoan reconstruction is to be finished by summertime 2016, he explained. The metropolis
highway work would be finished by then as well.
Barrett mentioned the metropolis would pay out for the Lincoln Memorial Push extension, and
for other close by street and pedestrian bridge enhancements, by means of a proposed tax
incremental funding district that centers on Northwestern Mutual Lifestyle Insurance policy
Co.âs new downtown place of work tower.
Northwestern Mutual programs to start design in 2014 on the developing, costing about $300
million. The 30-tale tower would change a sixteen-tale workplace constructing south of E.
Mason and east of N. Cass streets.
The tax funding district, which awaits Frequent Council acceptance, would permit
Northwestern Mutual to recuperate 70% of its once-a-year property tax payments on the new
developing for twenty five years. That would volume to $48 million to $fifty million.
The tax district also phone calls for making use of the new place of work buildingâs home
taxes to shell out for up to $eighteen million in street operate, and other public improvements.
That includes a community pedestrian bridge from the web site of the county-owned
Downtown Transit Heart, where developer Rick Barrett hopes to build the Couture apartment
and lodge higher-increase, across Lincoln Memorial Travel to a new urban park subsequent
to Discovery Planet.
An additional general public pedestrian bridge would cross Michigan St. and url the Couture
to ODonnell Park.

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