The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works is leading a redesign for the full reconstruction of N. Water Street from E. Kilbourn Avenue to E. Pleasant Street. This project aims to develop a design that will transform the corridor into a vibrant, multimodal street that supports current and future transportation modes and land uses.

Located within the downtown entertainment district, N. Water Street has been identified as a catalytic project in the Connec+ing MKE Downtown Plan 2040 that should prioritize transit and pedestrian use with enhanced public spaces.

N. Water Street is a major transit corridor for Milwaukee County Transit Services (MCTS), with high ridership for four routes. The corridor is listed on the City of Milwaukee's bicyclist and pedestrian high injury networks due to the high number of past and predicted crashes.

Preliminary design is 100% locally funded through Tax Incremental Financing (TIF). The City is working to identify funding for the final design and construction.