MILWAUKEE – Riding the wave of several other top Democrats visiting Milwaukee ahead of the November presidential election, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in the city overviewing the progress on a handful of recent infrastructure projects.
The visit was part of Buttigieg’s Great Lakes Ports tour, making stops in several waterfront communities utilizing dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In Milwaukee, around nine million of those dollars are being spent on improvements to Port Milwaukee.
“The Biden-Harris administration was proud to award nine million dollars for Phase Two of this project” said Buttigieg Wednesday. “That means the chance to expand the capacity by more than 1.3 million bushels per year so that more farmers can sell their excellent product to the world.
When asked how Milwaukee could best set itself up for future federal grant money, Buttigieg didn’t offer any guidelines, but rather pointed to projects the city has already received federal dollars for, including ongoing improvements to the Locust Street corridor between Holton Street and I-43 as well as a planned re-work of Sixth Street through downtown. “We’re very focused on making sure that we have the right policy and the right funding for roads and bridges for the future. That was a very competitive process, so Milwaukee has a lot to be proud of earning that grant for the Sixth Street effort, and I know there will be more where that came from.”
Buttigieg also alluded to a meeting with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson regarding future infrastructure projects in the city. The Mayor did not comment on what those future projects could be.
While the city has received a sizeable amount of B.I.L. dollars on road projects, other attempts at federal grants have not gone as well. The city has attempted to request that kind of money to expand its streetcar system The Hop 13 times in the past 15 years and has only received one of those grants, which was used to build the L-Line connecting the already existing system to the lakefront via The Couture high-rise complex and transit station.
READ MORE: Milwaukee’s Streetcar: A Critical Crossroads
Buttigieg previously visited Manitowoc on his current tour, where the passenger ferry S.S. Badger is undergoing a conversion from coal power to clean energy.
Press handlers on site during Buttegieg’s visit said he would not be commenting on reports that he could be a potential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris as she campaigns for the White House. CBS News reported last week that Buttigieg was one of sever Biden administration members being vetted as a possible Harris running mate.
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