City of Milwaukee officials are in the early stages of planning an additional leg to the downtown streetcar route that would extend it to The Couture development that is proposed at the lakefront.
The Couture is the proposed 44-story, $122 million luxury apartment tower planned by developer Rick Barrett at the current site of the Downtown Transit Center located southwest of Michigan Street and Lincoln Memorial Drive. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett today unveiled new design plans for The Couture that include numerous public elements including a streetcar stop.
The current two-mile streetcar route planned for downtown Milwaukee does not go to that site.
But city officials are in the early stages of planning a leg that would be added to the route from Broadway and Milwaukee Street eastbound down Michigan Stret to The Couture and then westbound on Clybourn Street back to Broadway and Milwaukee Street, said City Engineer Jeff Polenske.
The city wants to add a streetcar leg to the lakefront because of the significant amount of development activity there including the 32-story Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons, the 17-story 833 East (Michigan Street) office tower, plans for The Couture and the proposed Westin Hotel, said Polenske.
The streetcar is a significant component of the updated plans for The Couture, which would have it run through the building and would have a streetcar stop.
The cost for the streetcar lakefront route has not been determined and plans are still in the early stages, Polenske said. The leg would be entirely paid for with tax incremental financing funds, he said.
Meanwhile, the city is still working on design and engineering for the intitial two-mile streetcar route, Polenske said. The process is nearing the 60 percent design level, at which point it will move into the final design phase. No construction start date has been set.
City officials are still working with utility companies to minimize the cost of relocating utilities for the streetcar project, Polenske said.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has ruled that utility companies and their ratepayers cannot be held responsible for the costs of utilities relocation for the Milwaukee streetcar project, which means the city must bear those costs.
The two-mile streetcar line is expected to cost about $64.6 million, before utilities relocation costs. About $54.9 million in federal grant funds and $9.7 million in TIF district funds would cover the cost.
