Milwaukee — $20 Million for Extension

July 2016

Progressive Railroading reports that the Milwaukee Common Council voted to approve $20 million for the proposed Fourth Street Extension of the city's under-construction streetcar line.

The money will comve from two existing and one new tax increment districts and will serve as the local match for a pending $20 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant request, according to a notice from Milwaukee Streetcar managers on the project website.

The 0.75-mile extension would connect to the city's downtown convention center, the Shops of Grand Avenue and the future site of the Milwaukee Bucks Arena. City officials applied for the TIGER VIII grant for the extension on April 29.

The first 2.1-mile phase of the Milwaukee Streetcar route will run from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to the city's lower east side. Utility relocation work is underway. Plans call for the line to open in 2018.