Survey finds support for rebuilding freeway system

BY David Steinkraus, Oct. 8, 2002

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 12:08 AM CDT

MILWAUKEE -- A survey of southeastern Wisconsin residents found fairly uniform and strong support for rebuilding and expanding the area's freeway system, officials said Monday. That was followed by some sparring over the leadership shown by Gov. Scott McCallum.

Results of the survey were released during a press conference at the Midwest Express Center. The survey is part of the development of a highway system reconstruction plan, and specifically was the result of questions raised during public informational meetings, said Ken Yunker, deputy director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. SEWRPC is leading the plan's development.

At the press conference, McCallum said the survey shows people of the region know that a good highway system is necessary for the economic strength of the state.

Among the survey's findings:

In the region, 82.4 percent of survey respondents (81.8 percent of those in Racine County) said traffic congestion is a severe and growing problem at peak travel times or other times.

Rebuilding the freeway system with additional lanes in their counties of residence was supported or strongly supported by 75.3 percent of survey respondents (72.7 percent in Racine County).

Rebuilding the freeway system with additional lanes in some other county in the region was favored or strongly favored by 73.5 percent of survey respondents in the region (77.9 percent in Racine County).

"I am committed to making investments in all modes -- transit, rail, airports, and highways -- to keep our citizens safe and to support economic growth in Wisconsin," McCallum said.

"The 270 miles of freeway in southeastern Wisconsin are the backbone of the transportation network and the lifelines of our economy. Quite simply, this freeway system means jobs for the people of this region and for all of Wisconsin."

Already the estimate for rebuilding the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee has decreased from $1.9 billion to between $750,000 and $860,000, McCallum said.

The financing for the plan, and the survey itself, were blasted afterwards by Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist. "The survey was loaded," he said.

It wasn't, said Yunker. It was designed not to lead people to a conclusion, and it was done with the help of a company experienced in surveys, he said.

Norquist also knocked the lack of firm funding for the road work. There's no money in place for the Marquette interchange work, he said. "And then to go on from there and promise six and a half to seven and a half billion dollars of new spending for expanded highways in southeastern Wisconsin without any source of financing whatsoever is completely irresponsible. And it shows you why the McCallum administration has gotten the state in a deep deficit, not only in transportation, but, as we all know, bankrupted the state in terms of general purpose revenue."

There will be a funding plan in place, said Thomas Carlsen, acting secretary of the Transportation Department. Government doesn't put all funding in place ahead of time for projects planned out 20 years, he said.

The preliminary highway reconstruction plan calls for adding lanes on about 47 percent of the regional freeway system in addition to rebuilding the roads, which are reaching the ends of their lives. The cost is estimated at about $6.25 billion over 30 years.

Specifically for Racine County, the plan calls for widening Interstate 94 from six to eight lanes and separating exit ramps from frontage roads beside the highway.

But the issue is broader, said Racine County Executive Jean Jacobson, who served on the advisory committee for the freeway study. Two-thirds of all the state's commerce passes through the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee, and a large fraction of Racine County residents use these roads regularly, she said. "It's not just the fact that this I-94 runs through our county. It is a major artery to our everyday events."

The survey says that 45.8 percent of Racine County respondents, in households where there is one full-time worker, drive on the region's freeway system almost every day.

Surveys were mailed to more than 15,000 homes throughout the seven-county region that comprises southeastern Wisconsin. More than 27 percent of the surveys were returned, according to the study summary. Forms were mailed out in July under the signatures of the executives or board chairmen for each county. That local tie was probably the reason for the good rate of return, Jacobson said.

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