Starting on Tuesday, May 26, a portion of the intersection at South 35th Street and West National Avenue will be closed to northbound drivers, city officials announced at a press conference on Wednesday, May 20.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa and Ald. Peter Burgelis announced that the new construction, which will close part of South 35th Street, is being led by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
While a part of the road will be closed, the 35th Street Viaduct will remain open.
The partial closure of the major thoroughfare is among a series of construction projects affecting Milwaukee travelers, including Dominique Alvarado-Gonzalez, who lives on the south side and commutes north each day to take her kids to school near Marquette University’s campus.
Before the construction began on the south side, Alvarado-Gonzalez said she would take South 16th Street, South 27th Street or South 35th Street to drive up to the north side of the city.
Now, all of those roads connecting the north and south sides have been impacted by repair projects through the Milwaukee Department of Public Works and the state Department of Transportation.
“The roads are all torn up,” Alvarado-Gonzalez said. “It’s like a puzzle getting in there … no matter what time of day you’re traveling, there’s traffic everywhere.”
Elected officials say they received no notice of road closure
At the press conference, Zamarripa said there was no communication between the department and the Common Council to help notify neighbors on the south side.
Burgelis said he learned about the project when a constituent tagged him in a Facebook post about the closure.
“There are instances where I think they have not taken the time to properly educate neighbors, constituents, commuters,” Zamarripa said. “I would like to speak with [the Department of Transportation] leadership … I am very concerned about the latest limiting of access to 35th Street.”
Zamarripa said she will be meeting with Public Works and Milwaukee Water Works to discuss how people should navigate the south side amid the latest closure.
“It’s just become untenable,” Zamarripa said. “I can only imagine how the average Milwaukeean feels when they’re trying to navigate city streets, and they just don’t know what’s going to be accessible and what isn’t.”
Street closures increase on Milwaukee’s South Side
Currently, the 16th Street, 27th Street, and 60th Street Viaducts are all closed, leaving the Sixth and 35th Street Viaducts as the only bridges connecting the near south side of Milwaukee to the rest of the city.
According to Zamarripa, the city’s Public Works department fought to keep the 35th Street Viaduct open, only partially restricting travel, to reduce the impact on residents.
“Closing down one of the two remaining access points I think is a very, very bad idea,” Burgelis said.
In addition to the bridges that are closed for repairs, the National Avenue Reconstruction Project, led by Public Works and the state Department of Transportation, has limited drivers on West National Avenue between South 39th Street and South 27th Street to westbound travel only during its first phase.
A portion of West Lincoln Avenue from South 27th Street to South 31st Street is also closed on the south side.
“These investments are needed, but we have to be able to coordinate them better so our residents aren’t impacted,” Burgelis said.
Closures affect local business on south side
Jose Lozoya, owner of National Liquor Mart and El Caporal Authentic Mexican Grill on South 16th Street and West National Avenue, said his profits decreased a bit when the National Avenue construction began, but he was given years of notice by Public Works to prepare for the impact.
The bridge closures, particularly the 16th Street Viaduct, have hit harder, Lozoya said.
Since the start of construction, Lozoya said his profits have decreased by 50% with the loss of road and foot traffic. He was not given any notice before the 16th Street project began and said he wasn’t asked to give input on the project as he was with the National Avenue Reconstruction. He had to call Zamarripa’s office to learn why the 16th Street Viaduct was closed, he said.
“I think they should have closed one viaduct at a time,” Lozoya said. “It’s affected a lot of us in the area … now we have to regain the business.”
Alyssa Salcedo covers Silver City, Layton Park and Burnham Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact her at asalcedo@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Portion of South 35th Street to close, impacting northbound travel
Reporting by Alyssa N. Salcedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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