Transportation
Two of Wisconsin's main Interstate highways intersect in Milwaukee. Interstate 94 comes north from Chicago to enter Milwaukee and continues west to Madison. Interstate 43 enters Milwaukee from the southwest and continues north to Green Bay. Milwaukee has two branch interstate highways, Interstate 894 and Interstate 794. I-894 extends from the western suburbs to the southern suburbs, bypassing downtown. I-794 extends east from the Marquette Interchange to Lake Michigan before turning south over the Hoan Bridge toward the airport, turning into Highway 794 along the way.
Milwaukee is also served by three US highways. U.S. Route 18 provides a link from downtown to points west. U.S. Route 41 and U.S. Route 45 both provide north-south freeway transportation on the western side of the city.
U.S. Route 41, connects the city with the Fox Valley, is being considered for expansion which will qualify it for an upgrade to Interstate status.[citation needed] The proposed Interstate 41 would become Milwaukee's third main Interstate.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, serves Milwaukee, operating its Empire Builder daily in both directions between Chicago Union Station and the Pacific Northwest. The city is also served by the Hiawatha Amtrak express service six times daily between Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Milwaukee County Transit System provides a bus transit system. In addition, Milwaukee is home to two airports, General Mitchell International Airport on the southern edge of the city, and the smaller Timmerman Field on the north side.
A tram system known as the Milwaukee Connector was proposed and passed by the common council, but mayor Tom Barrett vetoed the bill over problems of cost and availability. Currently, a 0.5% sales tax is being proposed for the counties of Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha by the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to fund a commuter rail from Kenosha to downtown Milwaukee. The tax would also be used to fund the bus systems in those counties which currently rely on property taxes.
In recent years, Milwaukee has become one of the more bicycle friendly cities in the Untied States. In 2006, it obtained bronze-level status from the League of American Bicyclists , a rarity for a city its size. The city has over 65 miles of bicycle lanes and trails, most of which run alongside or near its rivers and Lake Michigan.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
