Milwaukee County is in the process of building Wisconsin’s first raised bike path connecting the Bay View area with Downtown Milwaukee. The raised bicycle lane will consist of a raised curb separating automobile traffic from cyclists, allowing for safer biking.
Construction of the path began this summer between East Lincoln Avenue and East Potter Avenue. The county expects the project to be finished by November 2011.
Milwaukee is also working on a new painted bike lane on South Bay Street, stretching from East Lincoln Avenue to South Kinnickinnic Avenue. These new bike paths all have maps that can be found in Milwaukee by Bike, a printed pamphlet distributed by the city of Milwaukee annually near bike shops, county parks and buildings such as libraries and Town Hall. The maps are also available for download at: http://city.milwaukee.gov/maps4460.htm.
The bike maps show all of the on-street bike routes, striped bike lanes, and off-street trails in Milwaukee County. Information such as bicyclist preferred routes can also be found in the Milwaukee by Bike map.
It is estimated that the raised bike path project will cost roughly $1.3 million. State and federal funds will cover 80 percent of the cost, while the remaining 20 percent will be contributed by the city of Milwaukee.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, bicycle usage is up over 200 percent while the number of Milwaukee bicycle accidents has plummeted by 75 percent. Milwaukee is attempting to keep the rate of bicycle use high and accidents low with the installation of new bike routes such as the raised cyclist path.
If you are interested in exploring Milwaukee on an organized bicycle tour, visit
Whirlwind Bike Trips and Rentals located at 2410 N Murray Avenue or call at (414) 967-9446. Tours can also be scheduled at Brew City Bike Tours, 2108 N. Farwell Avenue or by calling (414) 336-9610. For more information visit these bike tour agencies’ websites at http://www.corythebikefixer.com and http://www.brewcitybiketours.com, respectively.
By Tessa Fox