Sierra Club
Press Release

Advocates condemn approval of I-94 expansion

The project is currently under review for Civil Rights violation

By - Mar 8th, 2024 03:36 pm

Milwaukee, Wis. – Today the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WISDOT) announced that the expansion of I-94 in Milwaukee received federal approval (formally called a Record of Decision or ROD). In response, Sierra Club – Wisconsin Chapter Campaign Coordinator Cassie Steiner issued the following statement:

“It is extremely disappointing that the Federal Highway Administration issued a ROD on a project that is currently under investigation for Civil Rights violation. The expansion of I-94 has received opposition from racial justice, religious, environmental, public health and transportation advocacy organizations for more than a decade, and all of those concerns are still true. Expanding this segment of highway will increase greenhouse gas emissions, cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars, increase air and water pollution especially for neighboring communities, and will almost certainly make congestion worse and car crashes deadlier.

It is also disappointing to see the continued lack of transparency in this process. Announcing a decision on a project on a Friday afternoon, prior to publishing the final required documents (the FEIS) and without alerting stakeholders, is not the way that our government agencies should make or announce decisions.

Because the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will not be publicly available until next week, we do not know the details of the project beyond what WISDOT included in its press release. After analysis of the FEIS, we will be considering our options. We remain opposed to expansion of massive highway infrastructure, and we are committed to pushing for a thorough civil rights investigation.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

More about the I-94 East-West Expansion

Read more about I-94 East-West Expansion here

Mentioned in This Press Release

Organizations:

Recent Press Releases by Sierra Club

Coalition Admonishes I-94 expansion Record of Decision

Approval of the project harms civil rights, air and water quality, and climate

Majority (63%) of Line 5 comments show strong opposition

Climate, Treaty Rights, Waterways rank among highest areas of concern

Comments

  1. Duane says:

    Why not single out (for criticism) Tony Evers and his key role in reviving the project? I heard he was a big baseball fan. Baseball must have really screwed him up in the head with both his stadium and interstate financing fetishes.

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