Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Wisconsin

Midwest Govs Go All Out to Raise More Money for Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 22, 2013 | 7 Comments

We’ve been watching how governors around the country are getting extra “creative” as they try to keep their transportation budgets solvent. Yesterday we witnessed an excise tax on bicycles floated in Washington State. But the award for the wildest funding scheme may go to renowned highway spender Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, who wants to […]

Wisconsin Over-Invests in New Roads Destined for Underuse

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 28, 2013 | 2 Comments

Scott Walker, maybe we would respect your decision to pull the plug on high-speed rail in your state a little more if you weren’t such a hypocrite about transportation spending. The Wisconsin governor refused to pony up an estimated $4.7 million a year to provide 21st century intercity rail service to his constituents. But he’s only […]

U.S. DOT: Wisconsin DOT in Violation of Civil Rights Act

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 4, 2012 | 1 Comment

Score one for environmental and civil rights groups in Wisconsin in their campaign against the highway-centric Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The U.S. Department of Transportation has found WisDOT to be in violation of federal civil rights statutes, following a complaint by advocates for minority groups in Milwaukee. WisDOT has been found “deficient” and given 90 […]

WisDOT Faces Civil Rights Suit Over $1.7 Billion “Zoo Interchange”

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 17, 2012 | 13 Comments

In the politically polarized Milwaukee region, there are two widely divergent visions of what transportation should do. There’s the Waukesha vision, which might be summarized as all highways, no transit. This suburban Republican stronghold — one of the most conservative counties in the country — has for years been systematically severing the already limited transit connections […]

FHWA: Small Investments in Bike/Ped Infrastructure Can Pay Off in a Big Way

By Tanya Snyder | May 1, 2012 | 3 Comments

If you ever doubted whether a small investment in biking and walking could have a large impact, here is your proof. The last transportation law, SAFETEA-LU, provided four communities with four years of funding to build an infrastructure network for nonmotorized transportation (a fancy way of saying “sidewalks and bike paths”). It wasn’t a lot […]

Christie, Walker, Kasich, and Scott All Deceived the Public to Kill Rail

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 13, 2012 | 8 Comments

Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Florida — the Republican governors in each of these states recently aborted a major rail project claiming it was too expensive. Their methods were remarkably similar; their justifications aligned. In many ways, it was like they were all working from the same playbook. Now that the Government Accountability Office has exposed New Jersey […]

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