Possible Revival For Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail Line

Route map of the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line. Image from New Starts grant application.

Work is underway on reviving the long-contemplated Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line.

The 33-mile line would follow the lakefront from the Chicago-focused Metra station in Kenosha north to downtown Milwaukee, linking several south suburban communities with a 53-minute end-to-end trip.

Backed by Senator Tammy Baldwin, the City of Racine received a $5 million federal grant in 2022 to update a more than decade-old plan. A new study will explore updated station locations and funding mechanisms, which could include directing property tax revenue from real estate development near the line. The federal government is expected to cover a substantial portion of the construction costs, if local funding is identified.

“Studying and engineering is the work that is about to start,” said City Engineer Kevin Muhs to the City of Milwaukee Public Works Committee on Nov. 29. In the ensuing weeks, the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson formally endorsed Racine restarting the planning effort, but did not commit specific Milwaukee financial resources to the project.

“There’s a long way to go. This is not something that’s imminent by any means,” said Muhs.

“Probably in the category of wishful thinking,” said committee chair Alderman Robert Bauman of the effort.

The KRM project was first studied in the late 1990s, with a preferred route and configuration identified in 2006. In 2009, the Democratic-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature granted a regional transit authority (RTA) responsible for the project the ability to levy an up-to $18 rental car tax to fund the KRM’s operations. And in 2010, the RTA applied for federal support to perform engineering on what was estimated as a $233 million project.

But Republicans took control of the Legislature and, with Representative Robin Vos leading the way, killed the proposal in 2011. Vos, who represents southern Racine County, had switched from supporting initial funding to calling it part of a liberal Democrat agenda.

An $18 million federal grant to fund the KRM’s initial operating costs was redirected to bus systems in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties. The $1.2 million remaining from an initial $2 rental car tax was split between the counties.

Bauman attributed the project’s prior failure to the inability of Democrats to advance the project when they controlled the state government. Infighting about potentially funding the Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha bus systems with a sales tax delayed the KRM project, until Republicans, including Scott Walker, were elected in fall 2010.

Compared to the inland Amtrak Hiawatha Service line, the KRM service would stop more frequently and operate at lower speeds. A total of 14 round trips per day were contemplated in the most recent plan.

The lakefront line would operate on freight tracks owned by Union Pacific. It would cross over onto tracks owned by Canadian Pacific, that feed into the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, near E. Greenfield Avenue in the Harbor District. A subsidy agreement for Komatsu Mining‘s South Harbor Campus development includes a purchase option for Milwaukee to acquire land near the site for a station.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), which Muhs formerly led, is providing technical support for Racine’s study effort.

Racine Mayor Cory Mason, who previously supported the project during his time in the State Assembly, is a key proponent of reviving the idea, believing there’s still a need for the project. “We think it’s greater now than what it was 10 years ago,” said the mayor in May.

The KRM line is called for in the SEWRPC Vision 2050 plan and the State of Wisconsin‘s 2050 rail plan.

It was expected that the Metra line running between Kenosha, Waukegan and Chicago was to synchronize its schedule so riders could transfer between the KRM and Metra lines.

Two private companies are also said to be interested in creating commuter rail service in the Milwaukee area. But neither has significantly advanced, despite one seeking federal support for developing the KRM project.

“We actually did submit to the [Federal Transit Administration] to get into the New Starts program on behalf of [Wisconsin Transit & Realty Group],” said state chief of railroads and harbors Lisa Stern to a city committee in March 2023. “We had developed an agreement with them so there would be no costs to the state.” But the application had to be withdrawn because the for-profit company didn’t have the funding to move forward.

A separate company, Transit Innovations, is pursuing a different plan to connect the western suburbs. It involves substantial real estate development near the stations.

Related Legislation: File 231075