Shorewood board approves design for green curb extension at Capitol and Morris to improve pedestrian safety

The Village Board approved a motion to proceed with design of a green infrastructure curb extension (a curb ‘bump-out’) at the northeast corner of East Capitol Drive and North Morris Boulevard to improve pedestrian safety.

Trustees said the project grew from ongoing pedestrian-safety discussions at the Public Works Committee and noted a recent pedestrian struck by an SUV on the west side of the intersection. The motion directs staff and the village engineer to design a curb extension with green-infrastructure plantings and to seek Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) Green Solutions funding to pay for engineering and construction; the village sewer utility’s professional-fee engineering funds will supplement the grant.

Trustees discussed the design implications for parking and bus operations. Staff said the preferred configuration would shift the bus stop east so the bus pulls in before the bump-out and that the curb extension would restrict parking in the immediate corner area; staff estimated the work would remove “between 1 and 3 spaces” depending on the final design. The board emphasized the design phase would include engineering and public-review steps and that staff could return to the board with detailed plans if trustees requested.

The motion was moved, seconded and approved by the board. Trustees characterized the measure as a targeted pedestrian-safety improvement and said they supported using grant funding and incremental engineering to minimize local budget impact.