The Journal Sentinel story linked here about road-building v. Amtrak expansion in SE WI is informative and its shorter online headline - - "I-94 project on faster track than Amtrak expansion" - - dryly encapsulates Gov. Scott Walker's 15-year-one-track, road builder-friendly, anti-rail, highway binge.
Other useful references:
And:
And:
Other useful references:
And:
And:
And:
And:
Spoiler alert: the number, in cash and trains, is $50 million.
A reason that is little discussed is the built in corrupt nature of the ongoing contracting/campaign contributions. Roads require ongoing maintenance and occasional replacement with very lucrative contracts which yield likewise lucrative campaign contributions in order to get those contracts. Once the rails of a railroad are laid down the maintenance costs are far less than for roads. Also being in Wisconsin nobody needs to plow/salt the railroad and supply that service and its' chemicals at a lucrative price also. Environmentally the rail approach is far better and politically it reduces the opportunity for pay for play. Which is precisely why the Republicans are against it.
ReplyDelete