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Settling months of debate Gov. Jim Doyle announced Thursday that Madison’s new high speed rail station connecting Madison and Milwaukee will be located at the Wisconsin Department of Administration building, down the street from Monona Terrace at 101 E. Wilson St.
The project will be paid for almost entirely by national stimulus money. Wisconsin is receiving $823 million of Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to put towards high speed rail construction to connect its major cities in order to create jobs and improve commerce.
“When President Obama announced his initial investment in high speed rail in this country, it set the stage for Wisconsin to become the absolute biggest winner,” Doyle said at a press conference.
Wisconsin will be receiving more than 10 percent of funds nationwide set aside for high speed rail development, Doyle added.
Work will begin this year on the rail section connection between Madison and Milwaukee. The governor said the trains should be running on the tracks within the next few years.
The new station, is being billed as the next step toward creating a high speed rail connection between Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, and eventually the Twin Cities.
Doyle said thousands of jobs in construction, engineering and design would be created for the state through the project, as well as long-term positive commercial effects.
“This is not just about a rail station, this is about economic development and it’s about the redevelopment of this whole district. We’re going to use this as a catalyst to completely re-imagine that side of Capitol Square,” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said at the press conference.
In addition to the new rail station, there will also be a new hotel, a bike parking station and a public market added to the area, as well as new office space, Cieslewicz added.
“What we’re really envisioning here is a very dynamic urban space with added value to the city,” Cieslewicz said.
Public workshops were hosted earlier in June by the Department of Transportation to give people an opportunity to provide input for the construction and design of the station, with about 200 people attending the events, according to the governor’s office.
Four other locations were previously reviewed for the new station, but the site near Monona Terrace in the ground floor of the existing Department of Administration building was ultimately chosen. This was due to people’s need for nearby connections to other forms of transportation such as buses and taxis, as well as concerns over convenience, such as parking, Doyle said.
The announcement of the station location also coincides with new numbers from the census showing Dane County’s growth at twice the rate of any other county in Wisconsin, according to Dane County executive Kathleen Falk. This growth necessitates the economic opportunities provided by the high speed rail line, Falk said.
“That kind of economic engine here needs a 21st century transportation system, and thanks to the governor and President Obama, that’s what we’re going to have,” Falk said at the press conference.
The support for the high speed rail project has not been unanimous however. Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker said the controversial project will cost taxpayers money they cannot afford, and that, if elected, he would put a stop to the rail plans.
“Our state’s transportation fund has been raided to the tune of $1.2 billion, which has delayed badly needed investment in our existing roads and bridges across Wisconsin,” Walker said in a statement.
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What a terrible waste of money on the part of the Federal Government, the state and the city of Madison. Nearly a billion dollars spent on something that will not be used and the state/city will be hung with the on going cost of operating a dinosaur form of transportation which culturally will never be adopted. Another example of how Obama and this administration are wastefully spending money in the wrong place to stimulate the economy.
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Will someone please tell me
(a) the fare structure (approx. at this time)
(b) the needed annual subsidy if the fares don’t cover costs.
I like rail, I am for rail, but it has to make financial sense. If costs/fares get swept under the rug in all the discussions I can’t help suspecting that if these were made known the rail link would be a harder sell. As the rail link should serve the public (and be paid for by them) I think the public should get all the pertinent information up front.
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Excellent choice! This is an incredibly important project and I can’t wait to see it rolling. When people criticize this, remind them of what the interstate highway system cost - this is every bit as significant and it’s only phase 1. Wisconsin should be proud to be part of the beginning.
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This is profoundly inefficient Progressive Socialism in action, progressively bankrupting both the State and the Nation.
When people defend this profligate waste as analogous to the Interstate Highway system, remind them their analogy is less than worthless and demonstrates either ignorance or willful deceit. The highway systems provide direct, point to point pick up and delivery of people, manufactured goods, fresh foods, and raw materials throughout the nation. Highways are egalitarian. They serve everyone. High speed rail moves only people, only between urban centers, and only when the damn thing is running. High speed rail effectively serves only the elitist urbanites. You know, the ones that are always prattling about ‘social justice’.
If you don’t live near a station, you have to drive to get to the damn thing, pay to park, pay the train fare, wait for the train, and hope it is running on time. For anyone outside of the immediate urban areas next to the stations, the costs and delays outweigh any potential benefit. If more stations are added to serve more customers and locations, the “high speed” train runs slower and slower, causing our egalitarian urban elitists to bitterly complain about the degraded service. Everyone else just drives directly to their destination.
When Scott Walker is elected, Wisconsin can take real pride in knowing that he will put an end to this moral, ethical, and financial stupidity.
Remember In November!