'Out of control': Milwaukee residents propose ideas to slow traffic, improve pedestrian safety on Prospect Avenue

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- People living on Milwaukee's east side are continuing to express concerns about reckless driving on Prospect Avenue, specifically, speeding drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians. 

Prospect Ave. connects downtown Milwaukee to the east side.

Community members shared their potential solutions to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety with city leaders on Monday, Feb. 27 at St. John's on the Lake.

Bill Lau is a longtime resident of Milwaukee's east side and current resident at St. John's on the Lake. He values the neighborhood's walkability, but said it's become far too dangerous in the past few years.

"I try to get three miles in a day, but recently, that's not been easy," Lau said. "You got to look in every direction these days because it's kind of just out of control."

There've been more than 270 crashes on Prospect Ave. in the last five years, including one deadly crash, according to Milwaukee's Department of Public Works (DPW).

A St. John's on the Lake resident, Edith Hibbard, 94, was hit and killed while crossing the street at Prospect Ave. and Brady Street in September 2022.

"Sadly, that was the thing that brought it to focus, but the problem had been there long before Mrs. Edie Hibbard was killed," Lau said.

Lau and other residents at St. John's on the Lake formed a committee to tackle pedestrian safety concerns.

"We're not looking for lots of money to be spent, we're looking for practical things that can be done with stop lights and crossing signs," Lau said.

Lau said they'd like to see pedestrian-activated safety crossings and traffic signals at Lafayette, Kane and Brady.

"We want our traffic signals to actually become stoplights again, so they -- people don't have a green light from Ogden all the way down to North," Lau said.

St. John's on the Lake hosted a community meeting where people living on Milwaukee's east side pitched some of these potential solutions to Ald. Robert Bauman, Ald. Jonathan Brostoff, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, DPW engineers and other city leaders.

HAPPENING NOW: A community meeting at St. John’s on the Lake to discuss reckless driving and pedestrian safety concerns on Prospect Ave. This comes after a resident was killed in a fatal crash. @MilwaukeePolice Chief, @RepBrostoff and @RobertBauman3 here tonight. @CBS58pic.twitter.com/BgCOEJtjWL

— Gabriella Bachara (@GabbyBachara) February 27, 2023

"There's a lot of short-term, relatively inexpensive fixes that could be done relatively quickly, and then there's some longer-term issues in terms of the roadway geometry itself," Bauman said.

Community members also suggested converting the streets back to two-ways, improving public transit, protecting bike lanes and narrowing the roadways.

DPW engineers said they're working with the state to develop long-term solutions on Prospect and Farwell avenues in the next decade.