SEWRPC Gearing Up For Its Every-Four-Years Federal Review

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is given federal authority to approve certain transportation expenditures in a seven-county area, and every four years federal authorities come to town and assess whether the public thinks SEWRPC has done a good job with project planning and staffing.

In the past, transit advocates, environmentalists, city officials, rural property owners and organizations representing low-income residents have aired grievances against SEWRPC often focused on SEWRPC's highway agendas, and the mushy "open house" format used to conduct the public portion of the process after the 2004 procedure turned into a long and raucous hearing.

Gretchen Schuldt had provided a wonderful portal to some of that history.

I'll have more to say about this, but here from SEWPC is the first notification arriving by email today that the 2012 review process is about to begin again:

A public open house meeting on regional transportation system planning in Southeastern Wisconsin will be held on Tuesday, June 26, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.  

The meeting location is the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at State Fair Park, 640 S. 84^th Street, in Milwaukee.

This meeting has been scheduled by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), as part of a review process conducted every four years. 

The process is a planning certification review of metropolitan transportation planning conducted in Southeastern Wisconsin by the Regional Planning Commission, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and local units of government in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area. 

For this area, SEWRPC serves as the official metropolitan planning agency.  The review evaluates whether the areawide transportation planning meets Federal law and regulations.

For the meeting on June 26^th, representatives of the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, SEWRPC Commissioners and staff, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and area transit operators will be available in an “open house” format throughout the evening to individually respond to questions and provide information. At any time during the meeting, oral comments may be provided individually to a court reporter or submitted in writing.  A brief presentation will be given by USDOT at 5:30 p.m., and afterward oral comments may be offered during a public hearing in “town hall” format.  All written comments must be submitted no later than July 16, 2012, by mail, fax, or email to:

Planning Certification Review

Federal Highway Administration

525 Junction Rd., Suite 8000

Madison, WI  53717

Fax:  608-829-7526

Email:  Wisconsin.fhwa@dot.gov

We appreciate the past Task Force interest expressed in transportation planning, and are encouraging members and other environmental justice representatives to attend the public meeting on June 26^th to learn more and offer comments.  The SEWRPC website at http://www.sewrpc.org/SEWRPC/Transportation.htm contains much background information regarding transportation planning in the Region.