Dodge Street (Racine, Wisconsin)

Dodge Street is an east-west residential street in Racine, Wisconsin. It follows the northern bank of the Root River for 0.24 mi, or four blocks, between Michigan Boulevard in the east and Erie Street in the west. It is the first cross street north of the Root River for North Main Street, crossing the foot of the Main Street Bridge. Dodge Street is equivalent to 1100 (north) in Racine's addressing system; that is, buildings along cross streets immediately north of Dodge have street addresses beginning with 1100, while buildings immediately south of it have addresses beginning with 1000.

History
Dodge Street was first laid out in the original plat of Racine, and appears on maps of the settlement as early as 1843.

In 1904, Michael Colbert and James Murphy sued William Pugh, owner of the former Lathrop dock property which is now Pugh Marina, to extend Dodge Street through the property, eastward from Michigan Boulevard to the lakeshore. Instead, Pugh converted the property into a coalyard.

In 1996, the Main Street Bridge was demolished and replaced, effectively cutting off easy access to Dodge Street from downtown Racine. Motorists were discouraged from using Dodge and Erie streets as a shortcut to get to downtown from the north during the construction process, since these streets were not equipped to handle the additional traffic. In 2001, it was made illegal to turn left onto the Main Street Bridge from Dodge Street, due to traffic safety concerns.