Gov.
appoints Holloway to SEWRPC
Dec.
6, 2004 -- County Board Chairman Lee Holloway
has been appointed by Gov. Doyle to serve on the Southeastern
Wisconsin Regional Planning
Commission. His term will expire in Sept., 2010. Holloway,
of Milwaukee, is African-American. The commission was
all white for several years and has been criticized
for its lack of diversity.
Also
on this page:
North-south
project could take 68
homes, 9 businesses.
DeBruin
looks to defund
SEWRPC.
The
$685,000
Marquette Interchange web site. |
WisDOT
seeks 30% borrowing increase to cover Marquette costs
North-south corridor property acquisition would begin
under agency plan
Nov.
29, 2004 - Highway rehabilitation borrowing
would jump 30% during the next fiscal year to fund
the Marquette Interchange reconstruction project,
under the State Department of Transportation's budget
request.
The request
would increase highway rehabilitation general obligation
borrowing authority by $172.2 million, to $737.7 million,
according to the budget request.
WisDOT
also wants any increase in federal formula funding
to be directed to the Marquette project "in an
effort to maximize the use of federal funds on this
project." The federal transportation bill has
been stuck in Congress.
The department
also plans to begin acquiring land and moving utilities
in preparation for the proposed I-94 north-south corridor
reconstruction.
The entire
Marquette bond, including principal and interest totaling
$180.7 million would be repaid the following year,
in fiscal 2007, according to the budget request.
That is
about $26.4 million more than would be raised over
the two years through increased fees for vehicle registration,
original and transfer titles and state rental vehicles.
Marquette
work scheduled for fiscal 2006, which begins in July,
"will center primarily on the construction of
the South Leg and on the Core," the budget request
says.
The department
is also requesting an additional $93.2 million in
state and federal funds over the next biennium for
a variety of projects including the Marquette Interchange;
pre-construction and environmental work on the north
south I-94 corridor, the next portion of the area
freeway system proposed for reconstruction; and other,
unidentified southeastern Wisconsin highway projects,
according to the request.
Of that
amount, WisDOT would use $9.6 million next year and
$19.7 million in fiscal 2007 for the north-south corridor
work, the request says.
Construction
on that proposed project may proceed more quickly
because much of the environmental analysis around
the interchanges has been completed," the request
says. "The Department needs additional funding
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, conduct
Preliminary Engineering, and begin real estate acquisitions
and relocate utilities in this corridor." 
North-south
project could take 68 homes, 9 businesses: SEWRPC
Here
is what the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning
Commission's regional freeway study said about reconstructing
the north-south I-94 corridor from the Illinois
Wisconsin state line to the Mitchell Interchange,
as WisDOT proposes to do:
-
Reconstructing and expanding the freeway from
the Illinois state line to the Milwaukee County
/ Racine County line, a 24-mile stretch, would
cost about $548 million and chew up 290.4 acres
of land, including 25.9 acres of wetlands and
44.2 acres of primary environmental corridor.
Twenty-four homes and nine businesses would be
destroyed.
-
Expanding the 6.5 mile stretch from the Racine
County /Milwaukee County line to the Mitchell
Interchange would cost $159 million and require
4.6 acres.
-
Rebuilding
the Mitchell and airport interchanges would cost
$208 million, require 26 acres be converted to
freeway use and destroy 44 homes.
All
of the costs are in year 2000 dollars.
The
$685,000 Marquette Interchange web site
HNTB scores again with WisDOT
Nov.
19, 2004 -- The web site for
the Marquette Interchange project
is costing taxpayers more than $685,000, according to
State Department of Transportation contract documents.
WisDOT
also agreed to let the politically-connected HNTB engineering
firm -- part of the Marquette Interchange design team
-- to retain the intellectual property rights to the
source code it developed for the taxpayer-funded site,
according to DOT documents. To read that contract clause,
click here.
“This
is just absurd,” said Robert Trimmier, co-chair
of Citizens Allied for Sane Highways. “The state's
broke, and here WisDOT is shelling out almost $700,000
for a web site. To top it off, it is giving away rights
to a project that taxpayers paid for. This is a rip-off,
and someone needs to be held accountable.”
HNTB
and CH2M Hill together form Milwaukee Transportation
Partners, the joint venture overseeing Marquette design
work. HNTB and CH2M Hill, separately, are the largest
subcontractors to that joint venture, records show.
WisDOT's
project spokesman, Brian Manthey, said the site will
be "an incredibly important tool for travelers"
that will mitigate traffic problems during the length
of the project.
HNTB
is a major political donor to Gov. Jim Doyle. storyhill.net
reported
last year that the governor received $25,000 in a single
day from HNTB officials.
The
web site deal was assigned to MTP as an amendment to
the Marquette Interchange preliminary design contract.
WisDOT authorized $685,330 for the web site and related
equipment, records show.
The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in August that WisDOT
signed a $165,000 contract calling for HNTB to maintain
the department’s road signs inventory, work that
had previously been done by a $30,000-a-year short-term
employee.
That
preliminary design contract was amended 57 times as
of October, raising its cost from $9,999,999 in late
2001 to $20,500,365. To read more about the contract,
click
here.
*Full
disclosure: storyhill.net editor Gretchen Schuldt is
co-chair of Citizens Allied for Sane Highways
DeBruin looks to defund SEWRPC
But it will have to way til next year
Nov.
8, 2004 - County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin,
thwarted in her effort to strip Southeastern Wisconsin
Regional Planning Commission funding from the 2005 county
budget, is already planning for 2006.
DeBruin
wanted to propose that the County Board delete $837,000
in SEWRPC funding from the 2005 budget to be adopted
Monday.
At
the very least, she said last week, she wanted "to
tell the federal government there's a problem with SEWRPC."
DeBruin
has since learned, however, that the county is obligated
to fully fund SEWRPC's budget request unless it objects
within 20 days of receiving the request. SEWRPC's 2005
request was filed with the county this summer.
"Please
clarify precisely what...timelines need to be fulfilled
in order to initiate the withdrawal process for 2006,"
DeBruin wrote in a memo to Corporation Counsel William
Domina and County Clerk Mark Ryan.
DeBruin
requested other information that would allow her to
request the county eliminate or reduce SEWRPC funding
in 2006. She specifically asked for:
-
Procedures
and options available if the county wants to reduce
its SEWRPC funding in 2006 while maintaining some
kind of commitment to the agency.
-
How
to correctly formulate a resolution to eliminate
or reduce 2006 SEWRPC funding.
-
Procedures
available for the county to officially object to
SEWRPC's designation as the region's federally-recognized
planning agency.
DeBruin,
who represents Story Hill on the County Board, also
asked to be notified immediately upon county receipt
of the 2006 SEWRPC funding request.
The
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
is the agency that recommended 127 miles of freeway
expansion, with the city of Milwaukee bearing the brunt
of the negative effects. Milwaukee County has the same
number of votes on the commission as smaller counties,
such as Walworth County, but is taxed much more heavily
to support it.
