Posted: April 20, 2010 |(0) Comments

Shorewood — What if … ?

… You could narrow a major north-south street and in the process create a connection to a park and perhaps vacant land for housing?

… And what if you could win a grant to help with the costs of the reconstruction of the bumpy, degraded street?

Those tantalizing ideas will float through focus groups and public meetings over the next two months as the village makes an all out effort to develop a master plan for Wilson Drive. Village staff hope to have a plan prepared prior to a July 31 deadline for a state Department of Transportation grant that would help pay for the road reconstruction.

A Wilson Drive Master Plan would center on at least two elements, a desire to open access to Estabrook Park, on the west side of the street, and a realization that narrowing the 58-foot width of the street to 34 feet would create a swath of village-owned land. That strip, 48 feet deep and a mile long, could present development possibilities.

Opening park to community

Mark and Linda Keane, village residents and owners of a consulting business, Studio 1032, have worked with Milwaukee County on ways to open parks to the community.

The west side of Wilson Drive abuts Estabrook Park, but the dense thicket of trees and undergrowth obscure any view.

"At the curb on Wilson, you are only 215 feet from the Milwaukee River but there is no perception of that," Mark Keane said.

The river and park offer educational, environmental and recreational opportunities and providing access to them through a change in Wilson Drive would give the village waterfront recreation not only at its front door on Lake Michigan but at the back door on the Milwaukee River, he said.

"This is part of a natural greenway that we can stitch back into the fabric of the village," he said.

The Keanes, Trustee Jeff Hanewall, Village President Guy Johnson, Community Development Authority President Pete Petrie and Village Manager Chris Swartz have been discussing the possibilities for the somewhat forgotten west side of the village in recent weeks.

County park officials have been very supportive of opening Estabrook Park to the village along Wilson Drive, Swartz said.

Residential land?

Petrie said the vacant land would be an opportunity for the village which has precious few open spaces for development.

Housing that could bring young families to the community has been a constant refrain in recent months, and Petrie said that option could be explored for some of the vacant space.

Petrie said more information needs to be developed about possible uses.

"It has been frustrating to hear people say 'family-friendly' housing but no one can define what that means," he said.

No one is suggesting a line of solid development along the strip. Petrie and the Keanes suggested keeping green nodules that would open the view into the park from three points along Wilson Drive.

The land would have limitations because of its depth. Hanewall talked with several architects who said the tight dimensions would require a creative use of the land.

"The group felt this would be a doable project," Hanewall said.

The Village Board was enthusiastic about developing a master plan for the street, approving $12,500 for it.

Swartz plans to move ahead with focus groups and a public information meeting in May, as well as gathering information from developers, banks and others who could offer insight into the economic realities and possible development of the strip.