Less than two months after a study suggesting myriad changes to improve the safety of East North Avenue, another examination is in the works to make Brady Street friendlier to pedestrians and businesses alike.
The area in question covers two blocks toward the east end of the street between North Warren Avenue and North Franklin Place — in restaurant-landmark terms, from Kompali Taqueria to Qdoba. The study could lead to pedestrian-only traffic in that hectic stretch, which includes the scene of a fatal hit-and-run this past September.
The Brady Street Business Improvement District (BID) board hired the same two firms that conducted the North Avenue study: engineering specialists Graef USA Inc. and architectural group TKWA UrbanLab. In that previous instance, one of the suggestions included converting half a block of East Ivanhoe Place in front of Crossroads Collective into a pedestrian plaza.
A similar fate is possible for the two-block section of Brady Street, although the situation presents more complications than its East Side compatriot. Among them are the Milwaukee County Transit System buses that use the corridor, and the general rerouting of traffic to and from Farwell and Prospect avenues.
Brady Street BID Executive Director Rachel Taylor told the Journal Sentinel the study could be completed by late spring. Following that, any changes would need to be approved by city officials.
