The downtown Milwaukee streetcar, known as The Hop, will begin full operations for its new lakefront line, which will pass through the base of The Couture, on April 11.
Operation of The Hop’s lakefront line, known as the L-Line, had been delayed for years due to construction delays for The Couture. Plans for The Couture were first unveiled in 2012 and in 2014 they were updated to include a transit center with a stop for The Hop with the L-Line passing through the base of the building. However construction on The Couture didn’t start until 2021.
The tracks for the L-Line were laid in streets leading up to The Couture site and had sat unused for years waiting for construction of the 46-story luxury apartment tower to move forward.
In late October The Hop began limited operations of the L-Line, but only on Sundays and without utilizing the lakefront station at The Couture.
Now that construction of The Couture is nearing completion (the first residents will move in this month), The Hop can begin full operation of the L-Line and use of the Lakefront station at The Couture.
“This is a milestone years in the making and we couldn’t be more excited to finally provide streetcar service directly to Milwaukee’s lakefront,” said Milwaukee Commissioner of Public Works Jerrel Kruschke. “The new transit concourse in The Couture will be a transformative resource for public transit in the region and a tremendous asset to our riders, who can now access all that Milwaukee’s lakefront has to offer in a safe and convenient manner. We’re looking forward to an extremely busy and exciting summer for Milwaukee and The Hop.”
Beginning April 11 at noon, L-Line service will expand to seven days per week mirroring The Hop’s M-Line existing hours of operation.
The L-Line extension of The Hop is a nearly 2-mile route incorporating five existing streetcar stations along the Milwaukee Street/Broadway corridor with three new stops along a new spur connecting to the lakefront.
The L-Line operates independently from the M-Line, served by one streetcar operating in a figure-eight pattern proceeding east on Michigan Street, south through The Couture site, west on Clybourn Street, north on Milwaukee Street to Kilbourn Avenue, and south on Broadway to St. Paul Avenue. The L-Line car will provide service every 20 minutes to the existing Wisconsin Avenue northbound/southbound, City Hall northbound/southbound and Historic Third Ward eastbound stations, as well as new stations at Michigan and Jackson eastbound, Clybourn and Jefferson westbound, and the lakefront stop inside The Couture transit concourse.
Riders will be able to transfer between the M- and L-Lines at any of the five overlapping stations.
