Key city officials urge balanced transportation planning
No expansion on North-South I-94, they say

May 6 -- The $200 million the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has proposed spending to expand North-South I-94 "could be better spent implementing a balanced transit strategy that includes mass transit alternatives and increased local road aids," top city officials said Monday.

Mayor Tom Barrett, Common Council President Willie Hines and Aldermen Robert Bauman and Michael Murphy signed the letter to letter to Robert Gutierrez, WisDOT project manager. Monday was the deadline for public comments on the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed $1.9 billion freeway reconstruction and expansion project.

Most of the trips along the corridor begin and end in the region and rail service could accommodate travel demand, the four said.

"This could potentially preclude the need for freeway expansion, and ever-increasing gas prices only reinforce the need for greater mass transit alternatives like commuter rail," they said.

The state spent $19.2 billion on highways from 1992 to 2007, but spent only $2.2 billion on transit during the same time period, the letter said.

"Clearly this does not represent a balanced approach, and WisDOT must play an equivalent lead role in regional mass transit initiatives as it does with freeway projects," the four elected officials said.

The amount of state aid the city receives for roads and streets declined from $27.8 million in 1999 to $26.32 million this year, they said. When adjusted for inflation, that is a 32% cut.

The city has increased its own spending to compensate for the state reduction, they said.

"These are the critical dollars that repair our streets and fix potholes that wreak havoc on our cars, buses and trucks," they said. "If we are to consider spending hundreds of millions of dollars for new freeway construction and expansion, we must also address how to upgrade and maintain our current infrastructure that is showing wear and tear."

WisDOT itself said that freeway expansion will not improve travel times in Racine and Kenosha Counties, they said.

"Instead of spending $200 million to reduce drive time by just 10 minutes for only those travelling southbound between Howard Avenue and College Avenue 30 years from now, WisDOT would better serve the public interest by investing these resources on important mass transit alternatives and increased local road aids that, in tandem with freeway reconstruction and renovation, move the region and Wisconsin forward," they said.

The four emphasized that they do not oppose reconstructing the freeway.

"The I-94 North-South Corridor project represents a tremendous opportunity to do just that - invest in our region's critical freeways, but also move forward on key mass transit projects and provide local municipalities the support they need to maintain local roads," they said.

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