Milwaukee DPW infrastructure plan keeps major street and bridge projects while shifting LED funds to circuit upgrades

Milwaukee’s Department of Public Works asked the Finance and Personnel Committee to approve a 2026 infrastructure plan that concentrates capital on bridge repairs, state‑aid arterial reconstruction and increased circuit replacements for aging streetlight systems.

The department’s capital program totals roughly $97.3 million of the $208 million department request. Mason Levy, DPW’s capital budget manager, said the 2026 plan is primarily “cost‑to‑continue” work focused on multi‑year bridge projects, state‑aid pavement work and city priorities such as protected bike lanes and circuit replacement for street lighting.

Nut graf: DPW told the committee the city is finishing a citywide LED conversion funded primarily in prior years but must now invest to replace older high‑voltage circuits and to address knocked‑down traffic signals and lighting equipment; the department proposes more targeted capital for bridges (including the Sixteenth Street bascule work) and key state‑aided road projects such as National Avenue.

What’s in the 2026 plan - Bridges: Major projects include continued phased work on Holton Street Viaduct, completion steps for Cherry Street Bridge, and funding tied to the Sixteenth Street bascule bridge work. DPW distinguishes federal/state funded “major” bridge projects from smaller locally funded repairs. - Major streets: The department emphasized state and federal aid leveraged on arterial projects (National Avenue was singled out as a large multi‑year, multi‑fund project). Local reconstruction and scattered site local paving are also funded but receive smaller shares of capital. - Bike and multimodal: Design and construction funding continues for protected bike lanes, rapid implementation multimodal projects and safe‑routes‑to‑school work; Roosevelt and Sixth Street segments were cited as examples planned for construction. - Street lighting: DPW said it expects to complete the city LED conversion around 2026. With that program essentially completed, 2026 capital shifts to upgrade and replace five streetlight circuits identified as reliability priorities (about 600 fixtures across those circuits) and to fund knockdown repairs. - Municipal Services Building: DPW reported a multi‑year capital need to replace or relocate the Municipal Services Building and yard (a long‑running capital priority); preliminary estimates cited in committee discussion suggested multi‑million dollar borrowing would be required and site selection work was underway.

Costs and staffing The department presented an operating budget slightly lower than 2025 (salaries down modestly) and asked for targeted position changes to reallocate technical staff from long‑vacant roles into planning, project development and civil engineering positions to standardize designs and shorten procurement timelines.

Questions raised and next steps Aldermen pressed DPW on: whether state trunk highways (e.g., stretches of Forest Home Avenue) can receive city‑funded green infrastructure or traffic calming when the underlying project is state‑funded; DPW said such additions are possible but would be “non‑participating” add‑ons paid by the city and must be coordinated years in advance of state bid cycles. Council members also sought a clearer list of 2026 local and high‑impact paving sites and a schedule for streetlight circuit replacements and town‑level updates to neighborhoods where circuit replacement has been prolonged.

DPW agreed to provide more granular project lists, to work with aldermen on neighborhood notifications and to coordinate with the sewer and water utilities when projects could overlap (to avoid repeated street cuts).