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March 31, 2010

The Wednesday Update

March 31, 2010  Volume 4,  Number 13   IN THIS ISSUE:  Failure to Lead; Barrett Bypass II

March 31, 2010 Vol 4, Number 13	Wednesday Update
In This Issue: 1. Failure to Lead 2. Barrett Bypass II 3. They asked so let's     tell them	Failure to Lead Five years ago, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett urged the Legislature to deny funding for preliminary engineering studies on repairs and upgrades to Milwaukee’s Zoo Interchange. In the summer of 2005, Barrett wrote: “Let’s get agreement on our transportation priorities, before throwing $38 million at the highway engineers without a plan for what a successful interchange and freeway system will look like. Unlike the Marquette Interchange, the Zoo Interchange will stand long enough for us to resolve these issues.” This week, people making their way around the Milwaukee area discovered just how wrong Barrett’s predictions were. State transportation officials suddenly closed the interchange last Friday morning after discovering that cracks in concrete support structures had expanded so drastically, they feared the overpass could collapse onto the freeway below. The rerouting of traffic is adding delays around the state’s busiest interchange. The potential for traffic snarls for emergency service providers will add anxiety to the inconvenience during the anticipated two months that detours will be in place. The criticism that began immediately drew a defensive response from Mayor Barrett, who was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel saying , “My interest is rebuilding this bridge for the people who rely on it daily, not grandstanding and posturing." The Mayor's argument would play a little better if he hadn’t opted five years ago to side with local activists who don’t want the state to upgrade the deteriorating infrastructure. Barrett says it’s unfair to blame him for failing to exercise leadership back then. And he thinks he’s ready to be Governor? The Barrett Bypass – II When state transportation officials closed the crumbling Zoo Interchange Friday, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker was anything but slow in spotting an issue of substance in his campaign for governor.  For the GOP front-runner in the gubernatorial race, it was a twofer: Public safety potentially compromised by: 1) The Mayor’s opposition to early engineering studies on clearly necessary reconstruction, and; 2) The Governor’s raids on the state transportation fund, draining it of more than a billion dollars. At a press conference Friday, Walker said:  "It is amazing that Governor Doyle and Mayor Barrett can advocate spending $810 million on a new 'high-speed' rail line while the state government cannot even fix one of the busiest interchanges in Wisconsin. Years of raiding the transportation fund and years of Milwaukee politicians like the mayor fighting work on the East-West corridor have now led to a crisis that will have a negative impact on commerce." Judging by what state engineers have said about the condition of the Zoo Interchange, Barrett and Doyle are pretty lucky the negative impact has so far been confined to commerce. Monday saw the appearance of pro-Walker billboards that got straight to the point. They depict the familiar orange sign warning of a traffic hassle, with the message:   “Tired of Traffic? Blame Barrett.”   They Asked - So Let's Tell Them Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is developing a long-range rail plan. It’s called Wisconsin Rail Plan 2030 and it will seek to identify and address the state’s rail-service needs for both freight and passenger rail.   As part of the planning process,  transportation officials have posted a public survey to determine what Wisconsin residents like and dislike about rail service and to find out what the public thinks we need. With the obvious failure of Wisconsin government to keep transportation systems people actually use, in working order. The survey can be found by clicking here, and will take just five minutes to complete.   Hint: Here's your chance to tell them what you think of the Doyle-Barrett plan to spend $800 million on a train no one will ride while the state can’t find enough money to maintain its busiest highways.