Also on this page: WisDOT to skimp on environmental review for Zoo Interchange. Doyle: No decision on transit, but $28 million for freeway.

City officials call for full Zoo Interchange study
WisDOT plans environmental shortcut

Oct. 16, 2006 -- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation should conduct a full environmental impact study of the Zoo Interchange reconstruction project, two key city official say.

"That's our expectation," said Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Barrett.

Murphy

WisDOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi has said the department will conduct an environmental assessment instead, which is a much less thorough and comprehensive review.

Curley cited areas of homes and businesses in the city that could be affected by the project.

"It's just too much property to rush through to accommodate an agenda that's not in the best interests of the City of Milwaukee," Curley said.

"I think strongly they should do a full EIS on this issue," said Ald. Michael Murphy, whose district includes the Zoo Interchange area. “This a complex project that has lasting impact on the county for the next 50 years.”

While conducting an environmental assessment would not preclude a full environmental impact study later, Busalacchi has said the state wants to save time and money on environmental studies -- a clear indication that an in-depth look at the environmental impacts of the project is not planned.

Murphy said traffic has been an issue in the neighborhoods around the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center for some time and there have been proposals to deal with the problem that would not require a full reconstruction of the Interchange.

“There are other plans how they could accomplish it…It’s always been a matter of priorities and money,” he said.

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WisDOT to skimp on environmental review for Zoo Interchange

Sept. 25, 2006 -- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation does not plan to conduct a full environmental impact statement for reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange, according to a WisDOT official.

"The department is proceeding with an environmental assessment of this study
area," WisDOT spokeswoman Peg Schmitt wrote in an email.

An environmental assessment is an environmental review "lite," a relatively quick and dirty review of potential impacts.

WisDOT officials have indicated they are defining the Zoo Interchange project boundaries specifically, in part, to shortcut environmental reviews.

The preliminary boundaries for the project area are 76th St. on the east, 116th St. on the west, the Union Pacific Railroad south of Greenfield Ave. on the south, and Center St. on the north, Schmitt said.

The lesser version of the environmental review is being undertaken in part because it is cheaper and quicker than a full review, WisDOT officials have said. That is preferred by highway officials even though the projected will affect the Milwaukee County Zoo, the Milwaukee County Grounds, and the Menomonee River Parkway.

Gov. Doyle, caving to Republican political pressure, has directed that Zoo Interchange reconstruction be accelerated and that $28 million be included in the 2007-09 state budget for environmental and engineering studies.

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Doyle: No decision on transit
Earmarks $28 million for
Zoo Interchange study

Sept. 18, 2006 -- Gov. Doyle, standing in a park-and-ride lot where bus service may be doomed because of a lack of funding, said last week that he did not know what should be spent on transit.

Doyle came to the potentially doomed transit site to announce his recommendation that the state spend $28 million to accelerate Zoo Interchange reconstruction.

The Milwaukee County Transit System has requested that the Route 45 freeway flyer service, which serves the park-and-ride, be eliminated.

Doyle said he hoped to propose an increase for transit, but that he did not know how much. He said he had about five months to figure that out before his budget proposal is due.

Doyle

As soon as Doyle arrived at the Route 45 park-and-ride lot on Watertown Plank Rd., he stode across the asphalt and shook hands with Brian Swenson, a vice president of the road building firm HNTB.

HNTB officials were sponsors of a Doyle fund-raiser held by a top Wisconsin Department of Transportation official while the firm was negotiating a multi-million contract with WisDOT.

During his press conference, Doyle said he would propose spending $28 million in the next two years for preliminary engineering and design work so the Zoo Interchange project can start in 2012, rather than in 2016 as previously proposed.

Doyle did not mention any potential funding sources for the massive project, and it is unlikely the feds will be full partners, as they have been on the Marquette Interchange project.

Mary Peters, President Bush's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, has cautioned that "You just can't depend on the federal government to bring the money in that was around when the interstate system was first built."

Doyle boasted that his 2005-07 state budget include a 16% increase for roads. He did not mention transit, which received 2% annual increases, until specifically asked.

Rebuilding the Interchange, which is now the state's busiest because Marquette Interchange reconstruction has knocked that one out of the running, will benefit commuters from "Oshkosh to Oconomowoc," he said.

The governor did not mention Milwaukee. Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Barrett, said the Doyle administration didn't tell them what would be announced at the press conference, either. The mayor's staff, Curley said, learned it from a reporter.

State Secretary of Transportation Frank Busalacchi said he did not known if any homes would have to be destroyed to make way for the new interchange.

"That's why we do preliminary engineering," he said.

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