Milwaukee Hop streetcar expansion stalls

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee's leaders have talked for years about expanding the city's streetcar north and south. One plan is now a step away from being shelved, but that doesn’t mean the Hop expansion is permanently stalled.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Wednesday, Dec. 7, said he still wants to expand the Hop, and Alderman Bob Bauman, who represents the downtown area, said the expansion is not on ice, but at least one piece of legislation is a step away from going to the procedural junkyard.

The Common Council since 2019 hasn't touched the resolution laying out expansion north to Bronzeville. On Tuesday, Dec. 6, at the very end of the Common Council's Zoning Committee meeting, the committee members approved clearing the item from the docket, something that happens from time to time to old proposals that haven't been discussed.

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The Hop streetcar in Milwaukee

Zoning Committee Chairman Michael Murphy said the committee's actions were not intended to end the debate on Hop expansion, but was merely procedural. To move one way or the other on Hop expansion would be something that would be publicly debated.

"Expansion, we’re past that," Milwaukee Alderman Mark Borkowski told FOX6. "We can’t have that conversation. We have to think about the here and now."

"Anyone that knows the city’s finances, we are barely staying above water as far as doing the basic functions of city government," said Borkowski. 

Taxpayer's money, as well as private sponsorships, fund the streetcar, which doesn't charge passengers.

Some folks hopping on the Hop Wednesday said they support expansion.

"Looking long-term, transit is going to be what’s going to help the city in the long run, especially as more jobs and companies grow and develop in this region," said rider Derek Hansen. 

Another passenger, G Lloyd, doesn’t own a car and said he likes that the rides are free.

"I would normally have to rely on walking, so with the Hop around, I don’t have to walk downtown to go to the bank, stuff like that, so it’s really good," he said.

Candidates in the spring mayoral election laid out diverging paths forward for the streetcar.

The Hop streetcar in Milwaukee

"The ridership is just not there," said former Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan during a March candidate forum. "We haven’t even begun to charge people to ride, so we have an obligation to respect the taxpayer, and if Alderman Johnson wants to move this streetcar all over town, just how does he intend on paying for it when Milwaukee is faced with so many other monumental challenges?"

Johnson pitched Hop expansion at that March forum.

"If we want to grow, if we want to have amenities that are attractive for the next generation of worker, people like me, young, educated millennials that want to come to the city and lay down roots, to start a family, to start a business, then we have to be able to compete," said Johnson. "I have a desire to grow the city. I want to see more population. I want to see more business. I want to see more development, and the streetcar is an economic development tool that will help us to get there."

Right now, the two-mile loop goes to the Third Ward and east side. The tracks ahead are a permanently-stalled expansion or one where expansion gets back on track.

The Hop streetcar in Milwaukee

City lawmakers could dust off plans in the future, but given the city's budget problems, that could be years away.