Milwaukee reckless driving: Speed bumps, roundabouts, bumpouts among 50 projects

MILWAUKEE - Speed bumps, roundabouts and bumpouts are being placed all around Milwaukee in an effort to curb reckless driving, but some are questioning whether it will be enough.

"The Milwaukee Slide" isn't a dance move or a song. You might have witnessed it on the road when a driver tries passing in the parking lane.

"I don’t like it," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. "In other cities, people pass on the right at high rates of speed, as well. It's not something unique to Milwaukee. I don’t like the name Milwaukee Slide."

The curb extensions are aimed at preventing it, giving pedestrians a safe place to stand and "Milwaukee Sliders" no place to go.

"We want to have that added benefit of the pedestrian safe area but also restrain dangerous driving behavior like that passing on the right," said Brian DeNeve, DPW spokesman.

It’s one of the many reckless driving maneuvers city leaders are trying to eradicate with things like speed bumps and curb extensions.

"They are helping," said Grace Robinson, who lives off Buffum. "A lot of people pay attention to them, but when you have young people out here stealing cars, they don’t care about the speed bumps. It’s not their cars."

FOX6 asked Mayor Johnson if these changes will be enough.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"Having infrastructure changes helps slow traffic, generally," said Johnson. "Folks who steal vehicles and get behind vehicles and drive recklessly and things like that, that’s what we have law enforcement for."

DPW officials noted 50 construction projects underway in the city, with a majority of them having anti-reckless driving features. They asked that drivers be patient amid the construction.