Since the Milwaukee Connector Study began, over 350 public meetings, stakeholder briefings, environmental justice and other outreach meetings have been held. It has always been a priority for the study to provide opportunities for the public to give feedback on the numerous routes and various vehicle technologies that have been evaluated over the years.

This most recent phase of the Milwaukee Connector Study has continued to keep the public and stakeholders informed. The following sections describe the outreach efforts that were conducted as part of the Streetcar component of the Milwaukee Connector Study.

October 2009 Public Open House

A public information meeting was held on October 8, 2009 to present the Streetcar alternatives to the public and to obtain feedback. Approximately 200 people attended the meeting, which was held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Zeidler Municipal Building in downtown Milwaukee.

At the meeting, attendees were able to view project information including route alternatives, ridership generation information, Streetcar technologies, conceptual engineering and preliminary operations plans. A presentation at 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. was given to summarize project information. Participants were able to speak with project staff and written comment forms were provided.

The project's Web site was updated with all of the meeting displays and the presentation to allow visitors to the site to attend a virtual public information meeting. Comment forms were also available online.

During the public comment period 125 comments were received, which includes written comments obtained at the October 8, 2009 meeting and comments placed on the project Web site between September 22 and October 22, 2009. The majority of written and verbal comments were supportive of the Streetcar project. Of those that gave a route preference, Alternative 1 was mentioned most frequently. Support was also expressed for route Alternative 2, but few participants expressed support for Alternative 3.

Public Outreach-October 2009 Streetcar Presentation
Public Outreach-October 2009 Public Meeting Materials

Key Stakeholder Briefings

Several briefings have occurred during this project phase to obtain feedback on the proposed Streetcar from key stakeholders, elected officials and agencies. The groups briefed included:

• Elected officials (Milwaukee Aldermen, Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee County Supervisors, Congresswoman Gwen Moore's office)
• Business Improvement Districts (Brady Street, Historic Third Ward, East Town, Westown, and Downtown)
• Wisconsin Center District
• Visit Milwaukee
• Public Policy Forum
• Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
• WE Energies
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation
• Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
• Business and Property Owners along the preferred route

Meetings with these stakeholders resulted in many expressing support for the Streetcar; with some expressing interest and awaiting further study results.

Environmental Justice Briefings

The Streetcar phase of the Milwaukee Connector Study included environmental justice outreach. Specifically, the project team notified all organizations on the project's mailing database that represent environmental justice populations about the October 8, 2009 public information meeting. In addition, briefings were held with the following organizations:

• American Civil Liberties Union
• Urban Economic Development Association
• The Milwaukee Urban League
• Independence First
• Esperanza Unida
• 9 to 5
• Citizen Action/Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods
• SEIU Local 1
• NAACP
• MICAH
• Disability Rights Wisconsin
• Milwaukee Environmental Forum (including the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, Center for Resilient Cities, Groundwork Milwaukee, Midwest Renewable Energy Association, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Milwaukee River Work Group, The Park People of Milwaukee County, River Revitalization Foundation, WI League of Conservation Voters)

Meetings with organizations that represent environmental justice populations have generally produced expressions of support for the proposed Streetcar. In general, representatives indicated they understand the need to start small and start downtown. Many groups expressed interest in future expansions to provide service to additional low income and minority populations. Other topics of importance expressed by many of these organizations included: local hiring requirements; construction job opportunities; the cost to ride the Streetcar; incentives and support for local business development; and accessibility for people with disabilities.

Other Outreach

In the winter of 2009 the Milwaukee Connector was evaluating BRT and Streetcar Alternatives in Milwaukee County prior to congressional action to split Milwaukee's ICE transit funding. The public feedback gained during this time was important to the Alternatives Analysis process that was completed for the Streetcar and is described in this section.

A series of six public information meetings were conducted to obtain comments on the project's purpose, goals, study area, initial routing corridors and project technology. The scoping meetings were conducted in an open house format with staff available at five stations to provide information and answer questions. As shown in Table 1, the meetings were held over a two week period from February 3 through February 12, 2009. A total of 345 people signed in at the public meetings.

A total of 211 comments were received during the comment period between February 3 and February 28, 2009. The public could submit comments at the meetings, through the project Web site or by mail. Comments included:

• Overall support for improving and investing in Milwaukee transit.
• Support for a combined BRT and Streetcar system to enhance transit in Milwaukee.
• Support for a linear Streetcar system instead of a downtown Streetcar loop.

Before the public meetings, individual briefings were held with representatives from the suburban communities located within the study area including Franklin, Glendale, Greenfield, Oak Creek, Shorewood, St. Francis, and Wauwatosa. The briefings were conducted to introduce the communities to the project and to gain their initial feedback.