The closure of the South 35th Street and West National Avenue intersection for northbound drivers will now begin Thursday, May 28, two days later than first announced. The change pushes back a traffic disruption on Milwaukee’s south side, where the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is leading the work and the 35th Street Viaduct will remain open while part of the roadway is closed.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa and Ald. Peter Burgelis said at a May 20 press conference that construction would begin Tuesday, May 26, before Tiffany Shepherd later said the start was delayed because of the Memorial Day holiday. The revised date matters because the intersection is a key route for commuters and neighborhood traffic, and it now enters rush hour planning with a different start than residents were told earlier in the week.
Zamarripa said there was no communication between the Department of Transportation and the Common Council to help notify neighbors on the south side when the closure was initially planned. Burgelis said he learned about the project when a constituent tagged him in a Facebook post about the closure, a sign of how quickly the announcement moved ahead of the outreach surrounding it.
She said she will be meeting with Public Works and Milwaukee Water Works to discuss how people should navigate the south side during the closure. Zamarripa also said she was concerned about the latest limiting of access to 35th Street and that it has become untenable for residents trying to get around a city street network that keeps changing under construction.
The immediate question now is not whether the project is coming, but how long drivers will be dealing with the detour once it starts Thursday. Officials have confirmed the revised start date, but they have not said how long the closure will last.
