Canal St. still hidden E-W Milwaukee route

Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist always said you'd make better time taking city streets during rush hour than taking your chances on the so-called 'freeways.'

Sure was true today, when I needed to get from downtown to a West Milwaukee destination south of Miller Park. I took the route I always take - - Michigan Street, left on the beautiful 6th Street Bridge, then a right turn on Canal St. across from the Harley-Davidson Museum. Through the Menomonee Valley to Miller Park Way.

Want to see what westbound traffic looked on Canal St. looked like 4:45 p.m.

And at 5:20 p.m., as I headed back downtown? That's the westbound traffic on the left, below.

I counted 43 vehicles heading west from the roundabout to the light at the 6th Street Bridge from 5:21 p.m.-to-5:25 p.m. I didn't measure the distance. My guess is that it's at least a half-mile.

I'll bet things were a wee bit more congested up on I-94 westbound out of the city.