Milwaukee Intermodal Station
Originally uploaded by compujeramey

It’s good to see Senator Dick Durbin demanding better service from Union Pacific on the Amtrak route that runs from St. Louis to Chicago.

What does this have to do with urban Milwaukee? The expansion and improvement of Amtrak (greater frequency of runs, faster service, ultimately lower prices) is good for Milwaukee’s most urban neighborhoods.

The downtown location of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station is great for nearby land values and for access by the greatest number of riders. Easy for us that live here to get out, and for travelers from other cities to get in. The money spent to redevelop the station was worth every penny.

So the station is great, but where can we as Milwaukeeans travel to easily through that station? Currently Minneapolis and Chicago are the only easy destinations (and the few small city stops along the way). Transferring to other lines in Chicago is plausible, but service delays and the frequency of runs make it somewhat difficult.

If Senator Durbin and the people of Illinois get their way, Union Pacific will improve the conditions on the rail line and Amtrak service will improve. This will increase the ease at which Milwaukeeans can get to St. Louis.

More efficient connections to big cities will only drive more people to Milwaukee’s inner-core of great neighborhoods. Better service is both great for business and great for urban residents.

Long-term hopefully this will lead to the development of a high-speed rail corridor that includes Milwaukee. The Chicago-St. Louis route provides a great opportunity to test and implement technologies because of the lack of freight travel and the relatively flat terrain.

High-gas prices, long security check times at airports, and increasingly more extreme weather conditions will lead more and more people to Amtrak and innovators like Megabus. What can be done to create a better, more efficient service? Improving the Chicago-St. Louis line is a good first step towards building a super-efficient rail network in the fresh coast.

Information from the infosphere…

• Seattle mayor Greg Nickels is working on a plan that will encourage all city employees to use public transportation, by giving the free transit passes.  Milwaukee should get behind this.
• The Daily Reporter has a good look at the issues affecting the 27th Street ramp off of Interstate 94.
• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has made a significant donation to promote the improvement of the Harambee neighborhood.  It would be great to see more companies jump on board to help the process along.
• Neal Peirce has a piece on the rebirth of rail as a well-traveled mode for inter-city movement.  He mentions how a leader is Frank Busalacchi, who ironically has been nothing but car happy in the past couple of years (failure of KRM funding source, expansion of I-94).
  • But state initiatives are also vital. Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi heads the "States for Passenger Rail Coalition" of 30 state transportation departments appealing for an 80-20 federal-state funding split to put some real steam behind rail expansion.
• The National Corridors Initiative is hosting a conference, "Carmichael Conference On The Future of American Transportation", in St. Louis discussing the promotion and expansion of inter-city rail travel in the United States.  I won’t be able to attend because of financial reasons (if you have $300 to pay for the conference and hotel, let me know), but look forward to seeing the results.  Inter-city transit is a huge boost for urban areas and Milwaukee could certainly use a boost with more linking with nearby Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine.
• The Milwaukee Public Library system will no longer transfer movies, television shows, or music CDs around the system and to the suburban libraries in a move that will cut costs and allow the system to be open longer.  I would like to see the system only transfer the media within Milwaukee and not to the suburbs, as I think it gives more access for the people of Milwaukee, especially those that benefit from the free resources of the library most.  Unfortunately, the system has decided to go with an all or nothing route.  I am glad that they chose this route over closing the library earlier though, as I think libraries having longer hours are a great way to deter juvenile crime.
• An intelligent look at how individual route management might work in New York City and does work in Copenhagen.  MCTS could use something like this for areas of its system to improve service.  Bus design and management should certainly be different for routes that serve UWM and Marquette vs those that serve primarily the workforce.

From time to time Urban Milwaukee will feature a collection of links we think are worth your time to read, but don’t merit us spending the time to fully summarize and insert our viewpoints yet.

• "Neighbors fed up with vandals, lack of patrols" - A story of chaos and vandalism ensuing in a northwestern Milwaukee neighborhood that the police don’t seem to care to fix.  If I lived there I would be scared for my life judging by the stories told and the police departments unwillingness to monitor things.
• "City ranks at bottom of health categories" - This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to you, but being host to most of the people that experience severe socioeconomic problems in this state means the city’s health ranking will be pretty low.  In other news, keep your pants on.
• "Experts say ‘most dangerous city’ rankings’ twist numbers" - Clearly, it’s disgusting how they glorify Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, and company as such dangerous places.  Offer a solution, not an insult.
• "All routes lead to Amtrak Station" - A summary, more or less, of the status of all transit projects in the Milwaukee-area.  If you’re short on time just know that the story ends with Scott Walker killing everything in favor of a weak express bus plan.
• "Developer completes Park East financing" - Mandel Group Inc. has all the money it needs for the first phase of the North End on the site of the former Pfister & Vogel tannery.  I’m excited to watch the progress of this and enjoy the results.