Back at the beginning of the 21st century, urbanist John Norquist was mayor of Milwaukee. One of his major initiatives was jump starting redevelopment of the Third Ward — at the time mostly a warehouse district — into the arts, retail and residential hub that it is today.
At the same time, the Marquette Interchange was undergoing an expensive renovation, which was ironic given that Norquist had spent much of his pre-mayoral career in the Wisconsin Legislature attempting to thwart the growth of freeways in Milwaukee.
During the reconstruction, serious consideration was given to opening up the land beneath the interchange for the development of a retail district of shops and restaurants, according to Michael Paddock, who was a senior consulting engineer on the project. Doing so would have been well in line with Norquist’s’ urban vision, merging it with the necessity of a large freeway interchange in the heart of downtown Milwaukee.
Although the state owns the land under the interchange, some of it was acquired with federal funds. That meant Washington had a say in its development, Paddock explained recently. And Washington was not interested in helping to develop the area for anything more than parking, so the idea died.
Downtown residents would see more traffic if 794 torn down
The state is now considering what to do with I-794, which connects the Marquette with the Hoan Bridge. The roadway is deteriorating. It must either be rebuilt, rerouted or torn down. As a resident of Yankee Hill, I have more than a passing interest in the decision. Tearing down the freeway would not only make it more difficult for my neighbors and me to get on to the freeways, it would probably also increase traffic and parking pressure on our streets.
On the other hand, the age of freeways has peaked. Today, I-794 would not be included in any urban plan. Instead, the land would be made available to be developed as an extension of the Third Ward. Tearing down I-794 would accomplish that. Milwaukee has mixed experience with such teardowns.
In the heyday of interstate development, right of way for a proposed Park East Freeway encircling downtown was acquired, but only a small part of it was ever built, and even that was torn down in the late 1990s. There was not, however, any rush to fill the vacant acres.
Milwaukee should consider shops underneath I-794
Instead, it took decades. Some Park East land came to host the Deer District, Fiserv Forum and associated developments, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering has filled some of the cleared space east of the Milwaukee River. But it took literally decades for that to happen. So even were I-794 torn down, history strongly suggests it would be a long time before any meaningful development occurred on the land.
So why not resurrect the idea of developing shops and restaurants underneath a rebuilt I-794?
That would be harmonious with what has developed in the Third Ward, especially around the Milwaukee Public Market, which is as close to under the freeway as it is possible to be in any case. The shops and restaurants would add to the tax base; they would add an unusual feature to Milwaukee’s urban landscape, and they would continue, decades on, the urbanist project started by Norquist.
Avi Lank was a reporter, editor and columnist for the Milwaukee Sentinel and Journal Sentinel for more than 40 years.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Let’s revisit idea of developing shops under rebuilt I-794 | Opinion
Reporting by Avi Lank, Special to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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