http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/123860974.html
Milwaukee officials are proceeding with plans for a modern streetcar line downtown, aiming for a public hearing next month and a Common Council vote later this year, Mayor Tom Barrett and City Engineer Jeff Polenske said Tuesday.
At the same time, the city will mount another bid for additional federal funds to extend the line northeast to E. Brady St. and northwest to the Pabst Brewery redevelopment, Barrett said.
Barrett and Polenske spoke to reporters after a luncheon at the Milwaukee Athletic Club, where business leaders and others interested in the project heard from two Portland, Ore., business people about the positive impact of their city's streetcar line on nearby businesses.
If the council approves, the city would use $54.9 million in long-idle federal transit aid, matched by $9.7 million in tax-incremental financing, to build a 2-mile streetcar line from the lower east side to the downtown Amtrak-Greyhound station. Modern streetcars, resembling light rail vehicles, would run every 10 minutes weekdays and every 15 minutes in early-morning, late-night and weekend service, starting in 2013.
Consultants are working on preliminary engineering and finishing an environmental assessment of the proposed route, Polenske said. That would lead to a public hearing in early to mid-July, Barrett and his aides said.
The city also plans to seek another $45 million to $50 million in federal aid to extend the line on each end, Barrett and Polenske said. Federal officials have rejected two previous grant applications for those extensions.
City officials are pushing ahead at a moment when the Republican-dominated state government has opposed building new high-speed rail and commuter rail lines. But the city is prepared to move forward on the streetcar without state aid if need be, Barrett and Polenske said. The project's $2.65 million annual operating cost would be covered by a mix of fares, advertising and sponsorship revenue and parking fees, Polenske said.
More of the article at the above link.
in response to your article, it does seem like a good idea in concept. But Scott Walker won't dare fund passenger public transportation. I want the CNS&M back.
Mr. Railman in response to your article, it does seem like a good idea in concept. But Scott Walker won't dare fund passenger public transportation. I want the CNS&M back.
The article clearly stated that the city is proceeding without state aid and can fund it itself. So it doesn't actually matter what Scott Walker wants.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I wonder what the ratio is of federal money for a project to extra cost involved in complying with all the demands to qualify for the federal money.
In short, I wonder how much faster and cheaper a project could be completed if no federal funding was involved.
I also wonder what a two year, multi million dollar environmental assessment is studying when a rail project is using an existing ROW, whether it is a rail ROW or an existing street.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
After Milwaukee got rid of the streetcars, they still had this real nice system of electric buses. Quiet. Pollution free. The only limitation was that they had to follow the catenary. But as busses follow a route anyway....
Of course they got rid of them. Replaced them with diesel-powered busses. Much better to breathe in exhaust gases that to see a few wires over the roads.
"Progress is always change, but change is not always progress"
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