Sorry it took me awhile to respond. I read the piece but didn't know that you wanted to hear back from us. I'm the person who manages the website and I have been pretty busy over the week, which is why it took me so long.The city has actually not been the problem in getting this moving. The city is ready and willing to move the project forward. The problem is that a staff member of a conservative group from Waukesha County launched a complaint on the project with the Public Service Commission. The argument is over whether the city has to pay for moving the utility lines on Broadway. Usually the utilities pay any relocation costs from construction projects, but the conservative groups (MacIver Institute and Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty) have disputed this in the Public Service Commission.Another thing: Dale Kooyenga, a State Rep from Brookfield, inserted a provision into the current budget designed to kill the Streetcar project. The provision states that the city would have to cover the costs of relocating utility lines in streetcar construction projects. It settled the matter, but it settled it against the city. I haven't heard about any progress about the streetcar since.Basically, Milwaukee wants to build rail, but people outside of Milwaukee are standing in the way.
____________________Kieth CrumTreasurer,Milwaukee Transit Riders UnionCell: (414) 248-7652BlackBerry Messenger: 2A53311D
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