Five out of the nine roads named deadliest in the state are located in Milwaukee, according to a study commissioned by local law firm Mingo & Yankala.
Mark Mingo sought research after seeing an increase of serious auto accident cases at his personal injury law firm. The firm commissioned San Diego-based 1POINT21 Interactive to look at all deadly crashes across the state from 2000 to 2019.
“We were really very surprised at what we found,” Mingo told TMJ4 News. “I was surprised at the number [of deaths] and that there were five locations in Milwaukee where we have the deadliest motor vehicle accidents and the greatest number of fatalities.”
Study results revealed that Capitol Drive is the deadliest, National Avenue the second deadliest, I-94 the fifth, State Road 57 (portions of Green Bay Avenue and 27th Street) the sixth and Appleton Avenue the ninth deadliest in Wisconsin. Others roads on the list include highways in Madison, Janesville, Green Bay and Kenosha. The study analyzed five-mile stretches of roads across the state from 2000 to 2019 using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
During those 20 years, 81 people were killed on the five roads in Milwaukee. That’s 56.6% of a total of 143 deaths across all nine deadliest roads in Wisconsin. Mingo told TMJ4 News that 2020 saw the greatest increase in deadly crashes since 2005.
The study shows a higher incident rate of accidents at interchanges and intersections where traffic rates are higher. Plus, deadly roads coupled with extreme Wisconsin weather like rain or snow can further heighten accident possibility.
“This can help point at locations where improvements should be made,” Robert Schneider, Urban Planning Professor at UW-Milwaukee told TMJ4 News. “Taking a look where the most fatalities are shows there is a lot of work to be done.”
All nine deadliest roads are states roads, which means the State Department of Transportation maintains them. Cities like Milwaukee would need DOT approval to make improvements involving infrastructure changes.
