If you’ve driven on I-94 South through Milwaukee County recently you may have seen a large number of tents and recreational vehicles parked in the park and ride Lots.
Both the Holt Avenue and College Avenue lots in Milwaukee County have turned into unofficial homeless encampments and the State Department of Transportation (DOT) and the city and county of Milwaukee are stepping in to stop this use.
The DOT issued a statement on Monday saying the lots will be indefinitely closed and all vehicles removed by October 21st. Their statement also cited 275 emergency calls to the park and ride lots in the past three months.
Jeramey Jannene, president, co-founder and reporter for Urban Milwaukee, talked with WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi about the DOT’s decision on these park and ride lots, and the cooperation he’s seen between the DOT, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.
“The important thing to know is Milwaukee County strategy, going back to Chris Abele as County Executive, has been housing first, we want to get people into housing. What we saw from the Department of Transportation today is partnership in Milwaukee County, they’ve actually cycled 80 individuals into housing, out of these park and rides, but they continue to grow.”
Follow the latest developments on this story at wtmj.com.
Steve Scaffidi is the host of the Political Power Hour on 620 WTMJ.
