North-south bus rapid transit route advances, 2026 construction start expected

From the Article:

The $148 million project to offer north-south commuter bus service on 27th Street starting in 2028 took a step forward Monday with a route endorsement from a Milwaukee County Board committee.

That 18-mile “Connect 2” route would span almost the entire county, running from Bayshore mall in Glendale to the Ikea store in Oak Creek. The new BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit, service would replace the existing PurpleLine bus route. It would run faster, with more frequent service at stations to be a more practical alternative for commuting workers.

The east-west Connect 1 BRT route between downtown Milwaukee and Wauwatosa began passenger service in June 2023.

Pending additional approvals, construction could begin in 2026 for a start of passenger service in 2028, according to a Monday presentation to the Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Transportation and Transit. That committee unanimously endorsed the route for the Connect 2 line, sending it to the full County Board for a possible approval on March 21.

County Board approval for that locally preferred route is a necessary step for the BRT to continue its planning and start more detailed engineering work, said David Locher, manager of enhanced transit for the Milwaukee County Transit System. The route can still be changed in the future, and more steps are needed in order to spend federal construction funds, Locher said.

“It’s a milestone to get us on to other milestones,” Locher said.

The bulk of the project’s funding would come through the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts grant program. Milwaukee County funding would cover about 20% of the budget.

The line would run primarily on 27th Street, with 64 stations serving 32 destinations. Those include a stop at 27th Street and Drexel Avenue outside the Franklin office campus that Northwestern Mutual intends to close and eventually sell as it moves those 2,000 jobs to downtown Milwaukee in 2027.

That announcement came about a year ago. The planning for the north-south Connect 2 line began in 2020.

County Board Supervisor Patti Logsdon asked about the impact of Northwestern Mutual’s move on the anticipated route.

“I’m sure that’s got to have a big effect on the ridership,” she said.

Locher said that even without Northwestern Mutual employees, “the ridership continues to be very strong.” The existing PurpleLine, like the proposed Connect 2, goes south to Ikea.

“Our commitment has always been to invest where the ridership is the highest,” he said. “At the outset of the study, yes, there was that NML component with their campus on the south end. There were even early discussions of maybe it could route through there. Front-door service.”