Potholes! Parking! Parking meters that won’t accept direct credit card payments beginning October 1! It’s a roundup that has it all!
First up, potholes. Milwaukee roads and alleys are littered with the things. They’re everywhere. They’re on main drags. They’re on side streets. They’re outside Cactus Club.
View this post on Instagram
How to fix the pothole problem? Urban Milwaukee reports that on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Common Council approved a $300,000 pilot program that would “cut out the bad pieces of concrete instead of repeatedly filling the holes with asphalt.”
Urban Milwaukee notes the program wouldn’t eliminate the vast backlog of potholes reported to the Department of Public Works (DPW). Instead, the program “is intended to test whether the city can more permanently fix problem spots, particularly in alleys, by replacing individual sections of deteriorated concrete rather than repeatedly filling holes with asphalt.”
Separately on Tuesday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson unveiled his $2.26 billion 2027 budget to the Common Council. The proposed budget allocates a whopping $19.2 million for local road repair and reconstruction. Per WISN 12, this is “the highest amount ever proposed for roads.”
But how to offset some of that $19.2 million? Johnson is proposing that “parking ticket fines be increased by $10 across the board, overnight parking permits would double from $55 to $110 annually, and downtown parking meter rates would start at $3 per hour, when most start at $2.25 right now,” says WISN 12. The changes could generate $6 million for local road work.
Speaking of parking meter rates, the City’s current parking meters will stop accepting direct credit card payments beginning October 1. Yay.
Last week, DPW announced that Park-O-Meter, a.k.a. the company that provides the software for the City’s parking meters, “will cease operations effective October 1.” Because of this, “credit card payments made directly at the parking meters will temporarily be unavailable beginning October 1.” Folks can continue to use coins, or pay via the existing ParkMobile app.
“The company’s decision to cease operations was unexpected and provided the City with limited advance notice,” reads last week’s announcement. “The City is working to transition to a new vendor as soon as possible.”
Mayor Johnson’s proposed 2027 budget, meanwhile, will be discussed and debated by the Common Council throughout October. A final vote is scheduled for November 6.
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Mandatory Milwaukee: Potholes!
• The Brewers are giving Milwaukee $27,500 to buy an asphalt hot box to fill potholes