Milwaukee continues its push to modernize its infrastructure, and with the Milwaukee Streetcar project moving ahead we've secured the official route and map of the initial connection around greater Downtown Milwaukee.

In fact, earlier in the week I asked City Engineer Jeffrey Polenske to detail the routes and the extensions which will push the connections into the neighborhoods and other major destinations like UW-Milwaukee. 

Using non-property tax funding, the new plan unveiled by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett last week, adds a lakefront stop to the previously announced streetcar route and covers the potential costs of utility relocation.

See the map above and contact your alderman to voice your support for building Milwaukee's connections. The full Milwaukee Common Council will discuss the streetcar at its next meeting. 

Initial 2.1-mile Milwaukee Streetcar route, as described by Polenske:

The initial streetcar route begins at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station at St. Paul Avenue and North 4th Street. From this point the streetcar travels east on St. Paul over the Milwaukee River into the Historic Third Ward and passed the Milwaukee Public Market to Milwaukee Street.

The streetcar then turns left on Milwaukee Street and travels north into East Town and across Wisconsin Avenue through the densest employment center in the City on Milwaukee. The streetcar continues north on Milwaukee past the Hotel Metro and numerous other businesses and restaurants to Wells Street.

The streetcar then turns right on Wells and travels east passed Cathedral Square Park to Van Buren Street. The streetcar then turns left on Van Buren and travels north past the Yankee Hill Apartment complex and other high density residential properties, past the Metro Market grocery store to Ogden Avenue.

The streetcar then turns right on Ogden and travels east adjacent to the East Pointe Commons neighborhood to Burns Commons Park and the intersection of Farwell and Ogden, where the route ends.

In the opposite direction, the streetcar travels west on Ogden Avenue past the East Pointe Commons shopping center and Pick ’n Save to Jackson Street. The streetcar then turns left and travels south on Jackson past Juneau Village and MSOE to Wells.

The streetcar then turns right on Wells and travels west to Broadway adjacent to the City Hall complex. The streetcar then turns left on Broadway and travels south past the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Hilton Garden Inn to St. Paul.

The streetcar then turns right on St. Paul and travels west again past the Milwaukee Public Market over the Milwaukee River and back to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

In an effort to continue to find ways to reduce utility conflicts additional route modifications are under consideration.

Lakefront extension:

An additional .4-mile lakefront extension has also been identified and will travel from Broadway east on Michigan Street turning right into the proposed Couture development. The streetcar will then exit the proposed Couture development by turning right on Clybourn and traveling west to Milwaukee Street.

Future extensions:

Future extensions beyond the initial route and lakefront extension include the following potential routes that will be studied:

• A south extension along Milwaukee Street, Pittsburgh Avenue, 1st 2nd Streets through the Historic Third Ward and Walkers Point neighborhoods.
• A west extension along Wells Street over the Milwaukee River passed the Wisconsin Center Convention Center, the Milwaukee Public Museum and through the Marquette University campus.
• A north extension along Old World 3rd Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive through the Park East development site, past Manpower and Schlitz Park to Bronzeville.
• A northeast extension along Prospect/Farwell and Maryland Avenue past Brady Street and North Avenue to UWM campus.