Barrett,
Zepnick speak out on Zoo Interchange veto
July
25, 2005 -- Here is what Mayor Tom
Barrett and State Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee)
said about Gov. Doyle's veto of $35 million
of the $38 million Republican appropriation
for Zoo Interchange reconstruction studies.
Barrett: “Governor Doyle took the appropriate
action in vetoing the Legislature’s $38
million appropriation for the Zoo Interchange.
The funding was excessive and the message it
sent, divisive. I thank Governor Doyle for recognizing
that Milwaukee-Waukesha regional cooperation
is not a one-way street.”
Zepnick: "Instead of spending the $3 million
on preliminary studies for the freeway, maybe
we should use the money to educate Waukesha
County residents about the fiscal and environmental
impact of their restrictive zoning practices,
super-size homes and garages filled with gas
guzzlers. What's next? Tapping into our water
supply and then blaming Milwaukee for sewerage
overflows? Nah, who would be that arrogant and
reckless?"
CASH
applauds governor's Zoo Interchange veto
July
2, 2005 -- Gov.
Doyle’s decision to veto all but $3 million
in funding for Zoo Interchange reconstruction
studies is in the best interest of state taxpayers,
Citizens Allied for Sane Highways said Thursday.
Doyle
said he would veto $35 million of the $38 million
Republicans added to the budget for the studies.
“Governor
Doyle protected the pockets of taxpayers,”
CASH co-chair Robert Trimmier said. “His
budget already was exceedingly generous in highway
project funding. There are more pressing needs
in this state right now than the Zoo Interchange
studies. The $35 million the governor is cutting
from the studies’ funding is better used
meeting those needs.”
“The
governor did the right thing with this veto,”
CASH co-chair Gretchen Schuld*t said. “The
$38 million is just too much to spend now on
a project that won’t be done for a decade.
It is a relief to see that fiscal sanity has
a home in the governor’s mansion.”
CASH
is a coalition formed to oppose freeway expansion
in Milwaukee.
*Full
disclosure: storyhill.net editor Gretchen Schuldt
is co-chair of CASH.
SEWRPC
takes issue with Barrett
But doesn't address Milwaukee mayor's main
points
July
11, 2005 -- Mayor Barrett was off-base
in his criticism of the Southeastern Wisconsin
Regional Planning Commission, a SEWRPC official
said in a letter to two state senators.
SEWRPC's
letter defended the planning agency and said
its environmental justice and community outreach
efforts satisfied Bush Administration officials.
The
letter, by SEWRPC Executive Director Philip
Evenson, parried criticisms Barrett leveled
at the agency as he opposed funding for Zoo
Interchange reconstruction funding in the 2005-07
biennium.
Many
of Barrett's statements "are without foundation
or deserving of additional information,"
Evenson wrote.
Barrett
was highly critical of SEWRPC's regional freeway
study that called for the expansion of 127 miles
of Milwaukee-area freeways, including the Zoo
Interchange. Most of the negative impacts, including
the destruction of homes and businesses, would
be in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.
SEWRPC "chose to further divide the metro
area on transportation issues," Barrett
wrote. "The result is a climate in which
any freeway project in Milwaukee County will
be unnecessarily contentious, resulting in wasted
dollars and delays."
Evenson
did not address that criticism.
Barrett
said there was no need to fund the Zoo Interchange
reconstruction studies in 2005-07, a point Evenson
also did not address.
Evenson,
in his letter to Senate Marjority Leader Dale
Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Minority Leader
Judith Robsin (D-Beloit) said the freeway planning
process was endorsed by supervisors who represent
most of the region's population.
SEWRPC's
creative combining of distinct governmental
units -- its argument is akin to saying the
California Legislature represents most of the
populations of California and Wisconsin -- already
has drawn the wrath of Milwaukee County Supervisory
Lynne DeBruin. During testimony before an FHWA
panel, she called it "fraudulent, misled
the public and state decision-makers and undermined
SEWRPC's relationship with Milwaukee County."
In
addition, supervisors voted on the plan without
having to consider how to pay for it, as the
$7 billion SEWRPC proposal did not include a
funding mechanism. William Drew, chairman of
the SEWRPC freeway study advisory committee,
maintained that cost was irrelevant to the planning
process.
Evenson
also disputed Barrett's contention that the
city of Milwaukee is on record against the plan.
The city is on record in opposition only to
the part of the plan that would widen 19 miles
of city freeway, while it supported constructing
the freeway to modern design standards, Evenson
said.
Zoo
Interchange funding advances
July
1, 2005
-- The proposed $38 million in funding for Zoo
Interchange reconstruction studies won Senate
approval this morning.
Another
$30 million or so was approved for the much
less controversial studies for the reconstruction
of north-south I-94 from the Illinois-Wisconsin
state line to the Mitchell Interchange in Milwaukee.
An
attempt by Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee and
Sen. Judith Robson (D-Beloit) to delete the
Zoo Interchange project failed on a party line
vote.
Sen.
Tom Reynolds, who represents the Interchange
area, supported the Zoo Interchange studies.
State
Department of Transportation officials have
said actual reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange
likely could not begin until after 2016, and
have expressed concerns that conducting studies
too far in advance of actual construction could
invalidate them.
Construction
on that project, which WisDOT records show is
expect to cost more than $1.6 billion, should
start about 2009.
State
Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield), however, told
the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel he would like to
see Zoo Interchange reconstructed at the same
time the North-South corridor is reconstructed.
That project should start about 2009.
Kanavas
also criticized Mayor Tom Barrett for his opposition
to the studies. The mayor "just does not
get it," he said.
Other
Zoo Interchange pages.