Milwaukee streetcar simulation: UrbanMilwaukee.com

♦

Milwaukee, Wisconsin — After well over a decade of controversy and political gridlock, engineering design is now under way, and squabbling has even started over who must pay for moving utilities.

Planners and city officials are aiming to start construction in 2014, with tentative completion and opening of the line targeted for 2016. The initial 2.1-mile starter line is projected to have an investment cost of $64.6 million. That’s about $31 million per mile — but the cars and maintenance shop (carbarn) are included. (For comparative purposes, when freeways and similar large road projects are discussed, the costs of motor vehicles and all their garages and maintenance facilities are never included in project estimates.)

The Federal Transit Administration has committed funding of $54 million to the project.

The route extends from 4th St. on the southwest, eastward along St. Paul, northward along the Van Buren corridor, then westward on Ogden to its northeastern terminus.

Map: Walker’s Point Blog

Consulting firms HNTB and HDR have been hired to perform final engineering work.

For more details, check out this recent article in the Milwaukee Business Journal: Milwaukee hires engineer to continue streetcar design work.