Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman spoke at this week’s Marquette Student Government meeting before an amendment was introduced to have Evans Scholars represented on the MUSG Senate.
Bauman spoke to the senate about his responsibilities to MUSG and the progress made on the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.
“Its far from complete, although it’s moving forward at this point,” Bauman said about the arena.
Bauman said a lease agreement is being negotiated between the Bucks and the Wisconsin Center District. Although details about the lease are still being worked out, Bauman estimates a plan for the arena will be unveiled in about a month.
Many of the senators asked Bauman about pedestrian safety, including questions about adequate street lighting on campus side streets, implementing bike lanes and an unclearly marked crosswalk at the intersection of 14th and Wells Streets.
He said that different types of effective street lights will be considered. However, he described them as a “big ticket item,” meaning they would have to go through city’s capital budget. He said it is a policy to be addressed later.
He discussed possible streets that could have bike lanes. He said Wells Street was most likely not an option because it is narrow due to parking lanes, but Wisconsin Avenue is being looked at as a possibility.
In addition, Bauman said he would have his engineers address the crosswalk on 14th and Wells Streets.
“We’re constantly looking to improve both the safety and quality of pedestrian experience,” Bauman said.
MUSG Senate will vote on the amendment on March 14, and if passed, the Evans Scholars house will become a residential area. Evans Scholars have a house at 1318 W. Wells St. Since they are required to live in the house for all their years at Marquette, they recently received representation with the Resident Hall Association.
“We are looking to expand our presence on campus with MUSG,” said Evans Scholar President Andy Zarnowski, “And further than that, we want people to know who we are.”
