by jboullion | Aug 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Andrew Weiland in BizTimes.com:
Although U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood insists that high-speed rail is inevitable in the state, Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials indicate a new governor could stop the $810 million project planned between Milwaukee and Madison. However, it would be costly to do so.
The Republican candidates for governor in Wisconsin, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Congressman Mark Neumann, have pledged to stop the high-speed rail project if elected.
“As governor, I will stop this train dead in its tracks,” Walker said.
“This is an Obama wasteful spending boondoggle that I will stop immediately in its tracks as governor,” Neumann said. . . .
Although the federal government is providing the construction funds for the Milwaukee-to-Madison high-speed rail project, the state Department of Transportation, and not the federal government, is in charge of the project, said John Oimoen, passenger rail program manager for the Wisconsin DOT.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. DOT declined to directly answer a question asking if a future governor could cancel the high-speed rail project in Wisconsin.
“We’re not going to speculate on hypothetical situations,” said U.S. DOT spokeswoman Olivia Alair.
If a new governor wants to stop the high-speed rail project, the federal funds would have to be sent back to the federal government. By the time a new governor is sworn in, in January, the state will have allocated more than $100 million in engineering and construction contracts, Oimoen said. Construction is expected to begin in October on “land bridges” over wetland areas west of Watertown, he said.
A new governor could direct the Department of Transportation to cancel engineering and construction contracts. However, the state would have to pay a “significant” amount of money to contractors for claims that they would make for their equipment, material and labor costs incurred on their cancelled projects, said Paul Trombino, division operations director for the state DOT.
“I’m not saying it can’t be done,” Trombino said. “We have the ability to get out, but there could be significant costs to get out of a contract.”
The state has a $2.5 billion budget deficit, which could make it difficult to find funds to reimburse the federal government for money already spent on the high-speed rail project by January when the new governor takes office, and to pay the claims filed by contractors for the cancelled contracts.
“In the short term, it creates a major budget problem if we just decide we’re going to stop everything and scramble to send the funds back to Washington that we have already spent,” said state Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee). “I think it will be very difficult to cancel the project, and I think it would be unwise to do so.”
by jboullion | Aug 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation:
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is announcing two community workshops to discuss the design process for the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail project. The workshops are scheduled from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on August 25, 2010 and August 30, 2010. The August 25 workshop will be held at the Sun Prairie Municipal Building, 300 E. Main Street, Sun Prairie, WI. The August 30 workshop will be held at the Waterloo High School at 865 N. Monroe Street, Waterloo, WI.
At the workshop WisDOT and consultant staff will be available to discuss design activities in the Milwaukee-Madison rail corridor. Staff is also interested in hearing from the community on issues of concern to them as design continues to get underway. The team preparing the planning and environmental studies for rail stations in the corridor will also be on hand to answer questions about the station development process.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting, provide input and ask questions concerning this project. Maps showing project corridor and potential station sites will be on display.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, or would like more information, contact Alyssa Macy at (414) 550-9407. Written comments regarding the project can be mailed to Alyssa Macy, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, High-Speed Passenger Rail Program Management Team, 433 W. St. Paul Avenue, Suite 300, Milwaukee, WI 53203-3007. To request an interpreter for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, please call 711, the Wisconsin Telecommunication Relay System, at least three working days prior to the meeting. Ask the communication assistant to contact Alyssa Macy of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation at (414) 550-9407.
For more information, contact:
Alyssa Macy, High Speed Rail Program
(414) 550-9407, WisconsinRail@dot.wi.gov
by jboullion | Aug 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Larry Sandler on JSOnline.com:
The debate over a planned high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison has spawned dueling websites and online petition drives.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, who is stressing his opposition to the train route as a key campaign issue, recently set up a “Stop the Train!” site, www.notrain.com. Visitors to that site are encouraged to sign on to Walker’s open letter to President Barack Obama opposing the project, which would be built with $810 million in federal stimulus money but then would require $10 million a year in state tax dollars to operate.
Walker, the Milwaukee County executive, faces former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, also a high-speed rail critic, in the Sept. 14 GOP primary. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the leading Democratic candidate, supports the train line.
In response to Walker’s site, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association set up its own Web page to back the rail project. Visitors to that page can send a message to gubernatorial candidates and elected officials voicing support for the train line.
by jboullion | Aug 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kevin Featherly in The Daily Reporter:
Minneapolis — Looking to get their share of transit money, leaders from eastern Twin Cities suburbs are planning a $1.4 million, 18-month study to identify mass transit options for the Interstate 94 corridor into Wisconsin.
The leaders, known as the Gateway Corridor Commission, hired CH2M Hill, a global engineering, consulting and construction firm with offices in Mendota Heights.
Ted Schoenecker, transportation planning manager for the Washington County Public Works Department, said the commission is approaching the study with no preconceived notions about which mass transit option would be best for the stretch of I-94 from St. Paul into Wisconsin, known as the Gateway Corridor.
Some options include a light rail line from St. Paul to Woodbury; a light rail line to Woodbury with a bus rapid transit link to Eau Claire; and a commuter rail line from St. Paul to Eau Claire that could share infrastructure with a high-speed passenger rail line that might one day run from St. Paul to Chicago.
Schoenecker said those are a few among many possibilities. “There could be 400 options beyond that,” he said. “So determining the best options is really the gist of what this study is going to do.”
The commission will launch its study in September and should complete it by spring of 2012. The study will determine potential ridership, project alignment, transit mode and costs for a transit way along the corridor.
Clint Gridley, Woodbury’s city administrator, said developing a mass transit strategy along the corridor is one of his city’s economic development priorities.
by jboullion | Aug 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jon Hilkevitch in the Chicago Tribune:
Reflecting the increasing strain of gridlocked traffic, a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving bus and train service is so important to the region that repairing and expanding expressways and toll roads should take a back seat, a Tribune/WGN poll shows.
Most suburbanites support investing more in mass transit than roads, sharing the long-held stance of a large majority of city residents, the poll found. Suburban residents also said they are driving less and taking more advantage of expanded suburban train and bus service in communities where the automobile has been king.
Drivers who said they would back spending more on mass transit cited the growing stress associated with congestion; high gasoline prices; and, to a lesser degree, the environmental and financial benefits of riding transit instead of inhaling belching emissions from cars.
Jim Ceithaml, a semiretired teacher from Elgin, said he has given up driving.
“I wish the mass-transit system were expanded a lot,” he said, particularly suburb-to-suburb service that has been promised for years. . . .
Fifty-two percent of suburbanites said they agree with investing more of limited government resources in public transit, versus 32 percent who chose improvements to highways and toll roads. In a 1999 Tribune poll, 34 percent of suburban residents said more money should be spent on mass transit than on roads.
