With the common council neglecting to call a special meeting in time for a vote, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett remains hopeful his $52 million proposal to expand the Milwaukee streetcar will soon gain support.
The expanded route would take The Hop to West Wisconsin Ave. and include a plaza across from the Wisconsin Center. It would also include funding for long-term extensions to Bronzeville and into Walker’s Point.
“We’re hoping that we get the vote because we want to obviously proceed,” Mayor Barrett told WTMJ in an interview. “What I said when I first proposed the streetcar service is that I wanted to start in the heart of the city, but I made it very clear that I wanted to extend it to the neighborhoods as well.”
Funding the expansion needs approval from the Milwaukee Common Council, which a majority of alderman remain skeptical of without other improvements throughout the city.
Delaying work on the new route puts its availability before the 2020 Democratic National Convention in jeopardy.
“That’s not the driving force,” Mayor Barrett said about completing the extended route before the DNC. “But I think it would be a mistake if we’re doing this work not to have it done by then. Quite honestly, what you’re going to have is a lot of decision makers who are there and if they see how popular it is, if they see how well it’s running, it will make our chances of getting federal dollars greater in the future.”
A vote on the extension will likely happen in June.
Click above to hear the exclusive interview with Mayor Barrett.