Recently, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced that less than a year after breaking ground, the Interstate 94 expansion project will take an additional two years and an extra $60 million (“Report: I-94 work may take until 2035 to finish,” Aug. 14).
Over the next nine years, this project will spend enough money to fix every road in Milwaukee, twice. While some of this work is necessary to address aging infrastructure, the WisDOT and Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to expand the freeway means we are creating an even larger financial liability when the current infrastructure reaches the end of its life. This is not sustainable — not to mention wasteful. Highway expansions have repeatedly been shown to not reduce long-term congestion.
At the same time, our transit system is seeing significant cuts due to lack of funding, isolating our most vulnerable neighbors from jobs, medical care and social lives. Better transit not only serves the 40% of Americans who can’t drive, but improves congestion by giving drivers an alternative and reduces our climate impact — something that should be on the minds of all Wisconsinites following recent flood disasters.
It’s time for us to build for the future: no more unnecessary freeway projects, fully funded public transit and a world that will better serve the next generation.
Nate Loy, Milwaukee
Here’s some ideas on how to start getting construction season right
This letter is for the city road crews around the area, including Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee County, Wisconsin and federal departments of transportation.
In Wisconsin, it has been a joke for as long as I can remember – there are two seasons, winter and construction. While I could talk about how mild winters are eating into the first part of the joke, I’ll talk about the second part.
As a retired guy doing gig work, I see the whole city. Forest Home Ave., it took a year and a half for a repave, adding a few lights and turn lanes. A couple bridges on N. 76th Street south of Brown Deer Road has been going on for years. Interstate 43, how many years was that from Glendale to Grafton, only to finish and have a new project start at Silver Spring?
And now the big ones: Interstate 41 has been being worked on forever. First the roads now the bridges? Then Interstate 94. They were talking about this 30 years ago, only to start up and now want to extend the project because of utility problems? What, when the project was bid those utilities were hiding? I could go on.
Let’s fix a few things. First, talk to each other: Where are you working, when and how long? Second, no need to have a long stretch coned off only to be working in a quarter mile of it. And last, don’t have a start date on projects, have a manning date. How many times has a job been started and for weeks we’ve not seen anything but cones? Not a soul working, not even any equipment.
There was a time in my life that people respected government executives. Now, both sides of any argument can agree that things need to change at the top, and even a bit lower in the food chain.
Let’s start getting this right.
Gary Hasseldeck, Greendale
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: It’s time to say no to more unnecessary freeway projects | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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