Wisconsin Bike Week activities continue over the next couple of days as biking groups, and some political leaders promote the idea of riding for recreation and better health.
For the first time in recent memory, and perhaps ever, Milwaukee's Mayor and County Executive rode together Thursday to highlight some upcoming neighborhood street and park improvements.
Bike Week in Milwaukee — before COVID-19 put most things on hold — typically included a ride led by Mayor Tom Barrett from his home, which was in the mostly white Washington Heights neighborhood to his office at City Hall. This year, new mayor Cavalier Johnson says he had something else in mind.
"We saw this as an opportunity to tour the west side of the city and highlight some recent programs and projects and improvements that are coming in the near future."
Johnson, the city's first elected Black mayor, spoke at Sherman Park, and soon took part in about a five mile ride through mostly Black neighborhoods. More than 50 Black, white and brown riders leisurely wound south through Washington Park and then east to about 26th Street, before returning to Sherman Park. Law enforcement or Wisconsin Bike Federation staff halted car traffic at busy intersections to help the bicyclists go through.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley joined the ride, and while biking, talked about the virtues
of slow-rolling through neighborhoods.
"We need to make people understand that this is what Milwaukee is all about. Getting our neighbors out, focusing on physical health, mental health, and really just getting the opportunity to enjoy all of our neighborhoods. We have a lot of historic neighborhoods, a lot great neighborhoods across the city of Milwaukee. And so to be part of the Mayor's Bike Ride for me, it's a great way to get my heart pumping, but also visit some of the neighborhoods I grew up in. Like the one we're in, actually," Crowley said laughing.
On the ride, many of the streets were very smooth. Others had bumps and both small and large potholes.
Back at Sherman Park, Milwaukee resident Phil Scott said it was great that Mayor Johnson opted for a neighborhood ride.
"I thought it was awesome. Got the mayor out here with us. He's supporting the people! I think that's extremely cool," Scott said.
But Scott told WUWM he noticed that some streets need work, and others need measures to reduce reckless driving.
"We ran into a couple of potholes, and I hope that encourages them to say, you know, we need more funding to fix the streets. And, if we gotta put a couple more [speed] bumps in to stop people from going fast, that'd be beneficial, too. I definitely would appreciate it if we had a couple of nicer streets," Scott said.
Deteriorating pavement is a problem in many communities. Mayor Johnson says he saw firsthand what Milwaukee faces.
"There certainly were some streets that could use a little bit of love. Others were in good shape. But overall, we have some work to do here. I'm happy to be partnering with our [Dept. of] Public Works, the Bike Fed and other folks concerned with these types of issues to push the conversations forward. And make the investments we want to see in their neighborhoods, to make them safe for everybody," Johnson promised.
Money from last year's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will provide some help. The Mayor's Ride went past an upcoming pedestrian improvement project on Locust St. They also biked past a traffic circle to be built on Wright St., and traffic calming work to be done on Galena and Meinecke Streets and near Tiefenthaler Park. Additionally, more street work is to be done near two schools participating in the Safe Routes to School program.
It's a long list, and just one part of the city. But Johnson, and his colleague and friend, County Executive Crowley, have just gotten a bicyclist's view, of what's in store.
