This blog has taken note often of the environmental and fiscal wreckage in store for Milwaukee and taxpayers if the double-decker eight-lane eyesore WisDOT wants to build is allowed to deface Story Hill and trash several cemeteries from Miller Park to the overbuilt-in-progress Zoo Interchange.
The issue highlights WisDOT's wild spending on huge projects that serve the state-roadbuilder complex but are not supported by good data, accurate traffic projections and credible budgeting, as the organization 1000 Friends of Wisconsin has recently documented.
Regrettably, the road-builders have bought their way onto the state ballot to guarantee themselves continuing and guaranteed profits at taxpayer expense for more such huge highway projects, argues Capital Times editor Paul Fanlund.
There is a public meeting Tuesday about all this, and here are the details:
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is proposing a $1.1 billion expansion of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee between N. 16th Street and 70th Street (between Marquette and Zoo Interchanges) that includes a massive double decker structure.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 5:30 PM
Burke's Irish Castle: 5328 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee
WisDOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb (invited)
Community leaders and residents want WisDOT to provide options that:
* Don't waste tax payer dollars,
* Are safe for drivers and the community,
* Preserve and honor nearby cemeteries,
* Connect people to their work, homes, and services,
* Protect the quality of our air and water, and
* Support local businesses and create local jobs.
Alternatives should include fixing (rehabilitation) the highway and reliable, efficient transit.
The issue highlights WisDOT's wild spending on huge projects that serve the state-roadbuilder complex but are not supported by good data, accurate traffic projections and credible budgeting, as the organization 1000 Friends of Wisconsin has recently documented.
Regrettably, the road-builders have bought their way onto the state ballot to guarantee themselves continuing and guaranteed profits at taxpayer expense for more such huge highway projects, argues Capital Times editor Paul Fanlund.
There is a public meeting Tuesday about all this, and here are the details:
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is proposing a $1.1 billion expansion of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee between N. 16th Street and 70th Street (between Marquette and Zoo Interchanges) that includes a massive double decker structure.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 5:30 PM
Burke's Irish Castle: 5328 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee
WisDOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb (invited)
Community leaders and residents want WisDOT to provide options that:
* Don't waste tax payer dollars,
* Are safe for drivers and the community,
* Preserve and honor nearby cemeteries,
* Connect people to their work, homes, and services,
* Protect the quality of our air and water, and
* Support local businesses and create local jobs.
Alternatives should include fixing (rehabilitation) the highway and reliable, efficient transit.
And now our lemming legislature has placed on the Nov ballot a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT prohibiting the state from using revenue raised via gas taxes from ever being used for anything other than road building. Yes, a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. What other group has a non-touchable state fund? Hunters! Governor Divide-and-Conquer is at it again.
ReplyDeleteCharles P. Pierce, writing in Esquire calls our state "the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Koch Brothers formerly known as Wisconsin." Sad, but becoming more true with each of these take-overs of a previously public function.