Ted Bobrow

The road goes on forever

By - Jan 1st, 2008 02:52 pm

As work on the Marquette interchange reconstruction project nears completion, I find myself impressed by the enormity of the project as well as with the relative lack of inconvenience it’s caused. Sure, there were occasional delays, as well as closed exits and lanes that added minutes to commutes, but overall, the level of congestion and other problems never seemed to exceed tolerable levels. After all, if you choose to live in an urban area, a certain degree of crowding and waiting is part of life.

In a way, it’s too bad. Anyone who feels that we are overreliant on the automobile knows that the only time most people will consider alternative options to driving is when there are significant costs associated with cars.

In other words: no pain, no gain.

Of course, Americans are notoriously attached to their cars. Even skyrocketing gas prices don’t seem to make a dent in our dependence on the automobile. Here in Milwaukee, we are fortunate to have it pretty easy when it comes to getting around. Driving from one side of town to the other rarely seems to take more than twenty minutes. The rush hour traffic reports usually sound like we live in some kind of Pleasantville with clear roads and minimal delays.

People who grumble about traffic or the cost of parking clearly haven’t traveled much. Drivers in Chicago, New York and Boston face extreme traffic congestion, as well as expensive parking costs that encourage alternatives. Not surprisingly, all three cities have extensive subway systems.

The one place where there is gridlock here in Southeastern Wisconsin is on the road to funding new or expanded mass transit options. The proposed extension of Chicago’s Metra system from its terminus in Kenosha to Racine and Milwaukee, known as the KRM line, gets a lot of support – that is, until the subject of dedicated local funding comes up.

Under pressure

The proposed increase in the tax on rental cars to support the KRM didn’t survive the state budget, leaving advocates for the line hoping they can build support for a referendum on a regional sales tax increase. Good luck with that.

In addition, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and County Executive Scott Walker are at odds over proposals to improve the local transit system, continuing an impasse that goes back more than ten years and leaves about $100 million in federal funding on the table.

Sigh. It’s yet another example of a pressing public issue crying out for leadership and regional cooperation. Which brings us back to the Marquette interchange project and the efficient, though costly, road construction program. Why is it that road construction barrels on while so many other needs struggle for funds?

To adapt a popular bumper sticker, perhaps one day schools will have dedicated funding and road planners will hold bake sales. But that won’t happen anytime soon. With the Marquette project wrapping up, the state has ambitious plans to expand Interstate 94 down to the Illinois border at a cost of nearly $2 billion.

The Milwaukee Common Council voted in December to oppose the widening of I-94 from six to eight lanes and called for the savings to fund rail alternatives, including the KRM. While state transportation planners might be forgiven for asking why the Milwaukee legislators are sticking their noses in a project south of the city’s border, it doesn’t take an engineering degree to wonder how expanding transit options could relieve pressure on the highway.

Let me go on record as someone who feels the KRM proposal has merit. Using existing rail tracks, the KRM extension would provide commuters in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee with an affordable and convenient alternative to driving when traveling to Chicago, northern Illinois or within southeastern Wisconsin.

And it isn’t only mass transit advocates who favor the KRM. Business groups including the Milwaukee Seven and the Greater Milwaukee Committee argue that the KRM will promote economic development and help connect businesses with potential employees.

Julia Taylor, GMC president, takes a long view of the process and is encouraged that support for the KRM appears to be growing. Yet the local funding requirement appears to be a serious obstacle without a simple solution. Some advocates of Milwaukee’s bus riders, many of whom are low income, question why a suburban rail line deserves a local dedicated funding source while the bus system struggles for adequate funding each budget cycle.

Empty alternatives

In another transit-related development, renovation of Milwaukee’s downtown Amtrak station was recently completed and a ceremony was held in November christening the terminal as the “Milwaukee Intermodal Station” to reflect the combination of the city’s bus and train station. Much was also made of the station’s capacity to accommodate the KRM line as well as other rail options. The station’s sleek, attractive new glass shell does make for a more inviting destination. But until the additional options are added to fulfill the station’s potential, this renovation amounts to a glass half empty.

Most people are probably more concerned with their daily commutes and fluctuations in gas prices than transportation policy issues, and attempts at raising awareness have been feeble. Let’s face it, those ramp lanes giving priority to cars with more than one occupant are a weak attempt to get people to carpool.

As long as the cost of driving and parking is relatively low, people will continue getting in their cars at will. The City of Milwaukee set a bad example when it granted Manpower’s request for free parking for its employees in the package of incentives to lure the company’s corporate headquarters downtown.

In order for drivers to choose other options, those choices need to exist. Milwaukee’s bus system, as extensive as it is, doesn’t always offer useful options for many commuters. Some employers, including SC Johnson and Quad Graphics, offer bus service to employees who commute. Employers should be provided with tax benefits and other incentives to make these services available to their workers and employees should get benefits for using them.

So while we may be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the Marquette interchange project is concerned, the expansion of I-94 to the south and other road construction projects are just beginning to appear on the horizon. Hopefully, the KRM line and other transit options will press forward, though funding is less certain. People who love cities usually develop an ambivalent relationship with congestion. Crowds and delays are symptoms of a dynamic urban environment. Here in Milwaukee, we crave the benefits of a major metropolitan area, but we also enjoy the conveniences of a small town.

Additional growth and extenuating economic circumstances may lead us closer to the point where we are genuinely craving alternatives to the automobile. But for the moment, anyway, it appears we aren’t there yet. VS

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