Every Friday, Stuff We Missed looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for, well, stuff we missed throughout the week. This week: the “KK Can Opener”!
• It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit much, but the dreaded “KK Can Opener” has struck/eaten again. Yes, another semi tractor-trailer was devoured by the beast late Thursday morning. And by “beast,” we mean “the northernmost railroad bridge over Kinnickinnic Avenue, near the border of Bay View and Walker’s Point, where semi trucks get stuck all. the. time.” There was nothing dangerous on board. The driver, police say, will be cited.
The infamous bridge—like its nearby counterpart to the south—has a relatively low clearance of 12 feet and 9 inches. Legally, trucks can be as tall as 13 feet and 6 inches. Thus the decades-spanning drama of trucks getting totally chomped.
But could Thursday’s meal be one of the “KK Can Opener”‘s final meals? Back in March Urban Milwaukee reported that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is kicking in a sweet $1.73 million to help with the construction of Komatsu Mining’s nearby South Harbor Campus project. And a good chunk of that will go lowering the section of KK below the bridge:
The $1.46 million road project will lower S. Kinnickinnic Ave. as it goes under a Canadian Pacific railroad bridge near E. Stewart St. at the north end of Bay View.
That project, which will give trucks access to the south end of the site from Interstate 94’s Becher Street off-ramp, is expected to take place in summer 2022. Road closures are expected, with traffic diverted to S. 1st. St.
Both bridges are owned by Canadian Pacific, which explains the inaction on the whole “Why doesn’t the city just jack up the bridges?” question.
For now, however, feeding season remains open. According to the of-course-it-exists KK Can Opener Facebook page, the southernmost bridge over Kinnickinnic Avenue got a taste of sweet, sweet semi earlier today. Happily, that truck appears to have backed out safely. [FOX 6]
• Milwaukee Public Museum’s butterfly exhibit is back! The Puelicher Butterfly Wing reopened this week for the first time since March 2020. And yes, there are new mask and distancing protocols in place. “For MPM, reopening the Puelicher Butterfly Wing represents cultural connection and a positive next step,” MPM president and CEO Ellen Censky said in a press release. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Speaking of masks, Mayor Tom Barrett will explore the need for another citywide mask mandate when the Common Council reconvenes in September. That’ll be fun. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A total of 841,074 people enjoyed the sights, sounds, and goofy food of the 2021 Wisconsin State Fair. That attendance number is down from 1,130,575 in 2019, but, you know, pandemic. More than 300,000 cream puffs and 47,000 grilled cheese sandwiches were sold. And don’t forget that 608 people were vaccinated! [OnMilwaukee]
• Want to be the captain of the S/V Denis Sullivan, a.k.a. Discovery World’s currently docked three-masted schooner? Well, the job’s open. Apply today! [Urban Milwaukee]
• Donut Monster is officially open for donut business at 316 N. Milwaukee St. in the Third Ward. [OnMilwaukee]
• A new tavern called On Tap is coming to the old Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub space at 1203 N. 10th St., in the city’s ever-busy Brewery District. “On Tap will have a more upscale menu than Jackson’s did,” says [Urban Milwaukee]. On Tap plans to open as soon as its license application is approved by the Common Council.
• That old RadioShack at 807 E. Capitol Dr.—you know, kind of where Humboldt meets Capitol, and kind of across the street from TMJ4 where we used to drop in on The Morning Blend all the time and gosh it would be nice to drop in on The Morning Blend again—is gonna be a cocktail lounge. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!