It has been a while. It is nice to see the new line coming online.
The Milwaukee streetcar's lakefront line will start service Oct. 29, but initially will run only on Sundays because construction of the Couture apartment tower means its central station cannot open to passengers.
That “soft opening” with Sunday-only routes will last until April 2024, when daily service would be implemented and the Couture’s transit station would open to passengers, said Milwaukee Department of Public Works commissioner Jerrel Kruschke. That’s the same month the 44-story apartment tower is expected to welcome its first residents.
“We don’t have sidewalks that would be accessible,” Kruschke said. “If I decided to drop off a passenger at the Couture site, they couldn’t access Clybourn or Michigan (streets). That’s why we are not going to be utilizing those stops until they turn over that entire concourse to us. It’s for safety of passengers.”
Depending on the construction timing of the Couture, he said, the city could also add Saturday service during the October-to-April opening months.
The lakefront line of The Hop streetcar system runs along Michigan and Clybourn streets, with a crossover and central station at the ground level of the Couture tower. Most of its track was built in 2017 and 2018 at the same time as the existing Hop route that started service in November 2018. However, the city has pushed back the start of service on the lakefront line due to delays in the groundbreaking and construction of the Couture tower.
Personally, this will be a significant improvement to the usefulness of the Hop. However, I can't see myself using it regularly until it gets extended to the Deer District or Brady St.