Tell Governor Evers: Stop I-94 E/W Expansion Project

In 2020, 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. In June 2021, the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee included funding for the I94 expansion project in their proposed transportation budget, which was signed into law by the Governor.

The I94 expansion project is

uneconomic and costly - this project is estimated to cost more than $1 billion.
unnecessary and ineffective - study after study shows that adding lanes to a highway does not decrease congestion and often makes congestion worse.
a step backwards for climate - single passenger vehicles make up 80% of carbon emissions in the transportation sector. Adding more cars to the road is a step backwards for the climate.
unjust - highway expansion projects disproportionately impact Communities of Color by segregating communities, removing community resources, aiding in white flight and adding air pollution. This project in particular is part of a racist infrastructural legacy in Milwaukee. Highway expansion projects also negatively impact low income people who cannot afford cars and people with disabilities who cannot drive by worsening our transportation system and taking resources from other much-needed projects.
bad for public health - increased air pollution from highway projects has a detrimental effect on neighborhoods' air quality and the health of residents. A recent Harvard study demonstrated that people who live near high-polluting infrastructure like highways were more likely to contract COVID-19 and were more likely to have a severe case.
harmful to public transit and other multimodal transit solutions - not only does funding this project prioritize resources to highways instead of public transportation, walking and biking, but it also creates infrastructure that is unfriendly to public transit, walking and biking.

Contact your the Governor, the Lt. Governor and the Secretary of Transportation and call on them to cancel the I94 highway expansion project.

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The 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 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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