Angel Villalobos has lived in Milwaukee’s Burnham Park neighborhood his whole life and said he’s never seen this much construction.
Every day after work, Villalobos would walk down Forest Home Avenue, but recently the gravel, dirt and traffic cones have prompted him to take his daily walk elsewhere.
Nearly 20 city and state construction projects have left neighbors on Milwaukee’s south side navigating a maze of road closures and construction traffic, impacting their commutes and connection to the rest of the city.
“It’s just one of those things that hits you by surprise and you have no options but to deal with it,” Villalobos said. “Us that live on the south side don’t have much say in what happens, it just happens out of the blue.”
While local officials, including Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, acknowledge that this year’s surge in construction projects – more than in recent years – may be significant; many maintain that the long-term payoff will be big.
Meanwhile, neighbors, like Villalobos, say more careful planning could have reduced the impact of the construction projects on residents’ day-to-day lives.
“I would definitely like to see some improvements with the project management; it’s just getting out of hand,” Villalobos said.
Zamarripa, of District 8, said during a June 10 press conference that she met with several city and state agencies responsible for the construction to convey residents’ concerns, but she still asks for patience from community members who are unhappy.
“They’re right, there’s too much construction work going on in our community this season. Yes, the challenges are vast right now, but you know what else is vast and great? The community benefits when the work is complete,” Zamarripa said.
Projects packed into one year
Currently, the city’s Department of Public Works has around 17 projects on the south side, including four traffic safety projects, ten street repaving projects, one alley reconstruction project, the emergency repair of the 16th Street bridge, and several projects tied to the lead service line replacement program.
At the same time, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is rebuilding approximately 3.5 miles of interstate between 70th Street and 16th Street.
This means the area is seeing a total of 19 projects led by multiple agencies.
Neighbors and local business owners began bracing for the impact of the planned reconstruction of West National Avenue a year before the project started, with many business owners weighing whether to move elsewhere.
Local nonprofits hosted meetings in partnership with the agencies involved to keep community members informed during construction.
“The success of this construction project shouldn’t just be measured by what gets built, it should be measured by whether the businesses that have invested in this corridor for years are still here and thriving once the work is complete,” said JoAnna Bautch, executive director of VIA Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit that hosted informational meetings ahead of construction.
Why are all these projects happening at the same time?
Officials connected to the construction projects say there are several reasons why the south side is seeing so much construction this year.
The departments have about 8 months to start or complete construction outside of the winter season, and, in some cases, the projects are tied to funding that has an expiration date.
For example, the National Avenue reconstruction is a $25-million-plus project funded by state and federal grants that have expiration dates.
The project had been planned for over a decade to ensure it could be completed before funding expires, and the timeline could not be shifted, according to Jerrel Kruschke, commissioner of the city’s public works department.
The 16th Street Bridge is also tied to federal funding that expires soon, so that project could not be delayed either.
The rest of the public works department’s 17 projects on the south side have “very localized impacts” and can be completed in a short timeframe, so the department chose not to delay them, according to Tiffany Shepherd, marketing and communications officer for Public Works.
“Unfortunately, investing in infrastructure always means disruption,” Shepherd said. “The projects represent a typical year’s investment in an Aldermanic district, and is not unusual in size, scope, or impact.”
But according to the department’s dashboard of infrastructure projects, Public Works has initiated 25 construction projects in District 8, including some that don’t involve regular road work. That’s more projects than in the past few years combined.
In 2023 and 2024, the department initiated zero projects in the city’s District 8. In 2025, the agency introduced eight projects in the area, according to the dashboard.
South side residents see longer commutes
Some neighbors, like Michael Everett of Lincoln Village, have expressed frustration over the number of planned projects on the city’s south side this year.
Everett has lived on the south side for 10 years, and since construction began, his daily commute has gone from 20 minutes to around 40 minutes due to the disruptions from local construction projects.
Everett said he’s also seen an increase in accidents and several construction sites left seemingly unattended, with no workers completing the projects.
“They still need to prioritize,” Everett said. “They’re biting off way more than they can chew at once.”
Villalobos said he has also noticed stalled projects.
“They have to finish one project and then move on to the next. … Right now, they’re starting one project and leaving it alone, and then starting another one in the neighborhood right across the road,” Villalobos said. “It’s just a never-ending cycle.”
Commissioner Kruschke said if the city were to wait until one project is completed before beginning the next, it would take decades to make critical repairs.
“Completing projects one at a time would not make any individual project finish faster. What it would do is significantly reduce the amount of time of work we can accomplish in one construction season,” Kruschke said.
City and state construction projects in District 8 in 2026
Traffic Safety Projects (Public Works):
Street Paving Projects (Public Works):
Bridge project (Public Works):
Alley project (Public Works):
Water projects (Public Works):
Wisconsin Department of Transportation projects:
If you have been impacted by the ongoing construction on or near the south side, please share your experiences with the Neighborhood Dispatch by emailing neighborhoodsmke@usatodayco.com.
Alyssa Salcedo covers Silver City, Layton Park and Burnham Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact her at asalcedo@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Zilber Family Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Journal Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why does Milwaukee’s south side have so many road projects happening at the same time?
Reporting by Alyssa N. Salcedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Alyssa N. Salcedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
