Zombie Highway is Back!

Gov. Tony Evers and WISDOT Secretary-designee Craig Thompson announced that the state would seek to resume plans to rebuild and expand 3.5 miles of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee. Then-Gov. Scott Walker had cancelled the billion-dollar expansion of I-94’s East-West Corridor in 2017, citing high costs and community opposition to the project, including litigation by several groups concerned about racial and environmental justice.

This announcement comes at a time when communities are still experiencing increased economic hardship due to the COVID pandemic, we have ten years left to stop climate change, and we have heightened awareness around structural racism in our society. Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by our polluting, car-centered transportation system, and by highway expansions like this one. The I-94 project will double down on these negative impacts on all fronts.

Tell the Evers Administration not to move forward on a project that is proven to be harmful and offers no solutions to the real transportation issues our communities are facing.

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The recent report by Transportation for American, 'Congestion Con', further demonstrated what we already know- expanding highways does not solve congestion issues and instead leads to more cars using the highway.

The transportation sector is now the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for almost a third.  Moving forward with a highway expansion that will lead to more cars on the road is irresponsible.  The Task Force on Climate Change is currently working on the plan to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Allowing this expansion to move forward will weaken the impact their plan will have.

More importantly, highways play a role in racial segregation and economic divides. Historic land-use policies segregated communities, and many cities used federal funding to build highways while simultaneously clearing low income and African American neighborhoods. These policies have lasting implications, as these physical barriers continue to isolate some neighborhoods from goods and services. Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by our polluting, car-centered transportation system, and by highway expansions like this one. It's clear that what the Communities of Color in Milwaukee need is an expansion of the transit system across the region, not this proposal.

Finally, a project like this is expected to cost nearly $1 billion.  That money can better be spent improving our local roads, expanding our transit systems, and creating bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.  At a time when people are driving less as millennials prefer transit over car ownership, seniors are outliving their ability to drive, and others are choosing to drive less or not at all, those are the people that should be served by transportation investment.  We also don't know what the permanent impacts of the COVID pandemic will have on our transportation use, so moving forward with any expensive, permanent proposal is imprudent.

I look forward to hearing back from you about this important issue.

I'm writing to you to ask you to cancel the plan to move forward on the I-94 East-West Interstate expansion in Milwaukee. This project will undermine our ability to move forward on climate and racial justice. The recent report by Transportation for American, 'Congestion Con', further demonstrated what we already know- expanding highways does not solve congestion issues and instead leads to more cars using the highway. The transportation sector is now the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for almost a third. Moving forward with a highway expansion that will lead to more cars on the road is irresponsible. The Task Force on Climate Change is currently working on the plan to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Allowing this expansion to move forward will weaken the impact their plan will have. More importantly, highways play a role in racial segregation and economic divides. Historic land-use policies segregated communities, and many cities used federal funding to build highways while simultaneously clearing low income and African American neighborhoods. These policies have lasting implications, as these physical barriers continue to isolate some neighborhoods from goods and services. Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by our polluting, car-centered transportation system, and by highway expansions like this one. It's clear that what the Communities of Color in Milwaukee need is an expansion of the transit system across the region, not this proposal. Finally, a project like this is expected to cost nearly $1 billion. That money can better be spent improving our local roads, expanding our transit systems, and creating bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. At a time when people are driving less as millennials prefer transit over car ownership, seniors are outliving their ability to drive, and others are choosing to drive less or not at all, those are the people that should be served by transportation investment. We also don't know what the permanent impacts of the COVID pandemic will have on our transportation use, so moving forward with any expensive, permanent proposal is imprudent. I look forward to hearing back from you about this important issue.

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