(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to give $21 million for improvements to Milwaukee’s PurpleLine transit in the near future.
The BUILD grant award, announced by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley on Wednesday, will invest in one of the county’s most heavily utilized bus routes, serving more than 1.2 million riders each year.
According to Crowley, revisions to corridors will allow people to connect to more than 50,000 jobs and access to services throughout the county.
“I will partner and collaborate with anyone to deliver results and investments for Milwaukee County. That’s why I am proud we are bringing home federal funds to support our residents who are traveling to work, school, healthcare, and other essential services,” Crowley said in a statement.
PurpleLine, which operates for 18 miles primarily along 27th street, connects municipalities like Milwaukee, Greenfield, Franklin, Oak Creek and Glendale.
New improvements also include traffic signal updates, new bus shelters at almost 70 bus stops, 15 of which currently have no bus shelters, raised transit platform heights for disabled passengers, and other pedestrian and bike-friendly features.
Full implementation is anticipated in 2027.
The grant comes at a challenging period for the Milwaukee County Transit System amid the surprise announcement of the system’s $10.9 million budget deficit, leading to the resignations of two Milwaukee transportation leaders and MCTS’ decision to use remaining COVID-19 relief funds to help fill the deficit through 2025.
MCTS has an overall structural deficit of $12 to $18 million.
The operating deficit – and operating cuts to service hours that may occur because of it – are largely separate from investments like the BUILD grant, which is a competitively awarded infrastructure project.
The BUILD grant supports long-term infrastructure, not daily operations, and is funded through a separate federal channel with different application criteria.
However, persistent budget instability could weaken Milwaukee County’s competitiveness for future federal grants if operational constraints begin to undermine project feasibility or stakeholder confidence.
