Number
090256
Version
SUBSTITUTE 2
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. MURPHY, BAUMAN AND KOVAC
Title
Substitute resolution expressing the City of Milwaukee’s position on the proposed reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange.
Analysis
With this resolution, the City of Milwaukee takes the following position relating to the proposed reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange:
1. The preferred alternative is to rebuild the interchange under the 6-lane Modernization Alternative, which minimizes the total cost of the interchange reconstruction project and the number of property acquisitions in the City of Milwaukee.
2. The preferred alternative for the east leg of the interchanges is the E1 alternative identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which utilizes “Texas U-turns” to provided I-94 access to and from 76th Street and 84th Street. The 6-lane E1 alternative eliminates the need for the acquisition of 20 residential properties and one commercial property.
3. The preferred alternative for the north leg of the interchange is the NI alternative identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which utilizes frontage roads to provide freeway access to and from the local street system. The N1 alternative also introduces a new roadway crossing US 45 between Wisconsin Avenue and Watertown Plank Road, thereby creating a more direct link between the Milwaukee County Research Park and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center and providing some traffic relief to the existing street system.
4. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation should provide access to I-94 from Blue Mound Road, as long as further property acquisitions can be avoided (note: the remaining alternatives under consideration for the north leg of the interchange provide for Blue Mound Road access to I-894 and US 45, but not I-94).
5. The money saved by reconstructing the Interchange with 6 lanes, rather than proceeding with the option that expands it to 8 lanes, should be appropriated to local governments for the maintenance and reconstruction of existing local roads and bridges.
6. The number of structures in the city of Milwaukee acquired and demolished for this project should be kept to a minimum.
7. Any reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange should make provisions for a transit and bicycle-trail right-of-way that extends from the former West Allis Air Line railroad right-of-way on the southern edge of the Interchange northward toward the Milwaukee County Grounds and Swan Boulevard to preserve the option of installing mass transit service and bicycle facilities from downtown Milwaukee to the County Grounds at a future time.
8. As a mitigation measure, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation should provide a westerly extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail along the former West Allis Air Line railroad.
9. As a traffic mitigation measure, commuter rail service should be operated along the Canadian Pacific mainline between Milwaukee and Watertown throughout the duration of the construction phase of the Zoo Interchange project.
Body
Whereas, The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has released a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange (the junction of Interstates 94 and 894 and U.S. Highway 45) that describes 4 alternatives for the project with the following costs:
1. Do nothing $0
2. Rebuild interchange in its $960 million
current configuration
3. Rebuild the interchange with 6 lanes $2.16 billion
and safety improvements
(6-Lane Modernization Alternative)
4. Rebuild the interchange with 8 lanes $2.31 billion
and safety improvements
(8-Lane Modernization Alternative)
; and
Whereas, An expansion of the Zoo Interchange to 8 lanes will encourage motor vehicle use and dependence, thereby increasing air pollution and reliance on foreign oil supplies, and leaving the Milwaukee-area economy and residents of the region at the mercy of gasoline price fluctuations; and
Whereas, The Zoo Interchange reconstruction plans make no provisions for improved mass transit in or around the Interchange and ignore the public’s growing preference for a balanced, multi-modal transportation system that gives travelers and shippers a variety of options for personal and business travel and cargo transport; and
Whereas, An audit of the City’s residential street paving program by the City Comptroller found that over one-fifth of Milwaukee’s residential streets are in poor condition and that the cost of bringing all residential streets up to fair or good condition could be as much as $780 million over 25 years; and
Whereas, It is fundamentally unjust for the federal and state governments to saddle local property taxpayers with the burden of paying to maintain and reconstruct existing local streets and bridges while at the same time funding the expansion of Interstate highways; and
Whereas, The Common Council finds that the costs to the City of Milwaukee, its residents and taxpayers of reconstructing and expanding the Zoo Interchange to 8 lanes far outweigh the benefits of the additional lanes; and
Whereas, The Common Council further finds that the $150 million that may be spent to expand the Zoo Interchange from 6 lanes to 8 lanes could be more wisely used to provide additional aid to local governments for street and bridge maintenance, thereby preserving and improving the region’s existing infrastructure; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City of Milwaukee takes the following position with respect to the proposed reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange:
1. The preferred alternative is to rebuild the interchange under the 6-lane Modernization Alternative, which minimizes the total cost of the interchange reconstruction project and the number of property acquisitions in the City of Milwaukee.
2. The preferred alternative for the east leg of the interchanges is the E1 alternative identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which utilizes “Texas U-turns” to provided I-94 access to and from 76th Street and 84th Street. The 6-lane E1 alternative eliminates the need for the acquisition of 20 residential properties and one commercial property.
3. The preferred alternative for the north leg of the interchange is the NI alternative identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which utilizes frontage roads to provide freeway access to and from the local street system. The N1 alternative also introduces a new roadway crossing US 45 between Wisconsin Avenue and Watertown Plank Road, thereby creating a more direct link between the Milwaukee County Research Park and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center and providing some traffic relief to the existing street system.
4. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation should provide access to I-94 from Blue Mound Road, as long as further property acquisitions can be avoided (note: the remaining alternatives under consideration for the north leg of the interchange provide for Blue Mound Road access to I-894 and US 45, but not I-94).
5. The money saved by reconstructing the Interchange with 6 lanes, rather than proceeding with the option that expands it to 8 lanes, should be appropriated to local governments for the maintenance and reconstruction of existing local roads and bridges.
6. The number of structures in the city of Milwaukee acquired and demolished for this project should be kept to a minimum.
7. Any reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange should make provisions for a transit and bicycle-trail right-of-way that extends from the former West Allis Air Line railroad right-of-way on the southern edge of the Interchange northward toward the Milwaukee County Grounds and Swan Boulevard to preserve the option of installing mass transit service and bicycle facilities from downtown Milwaukee to the County Grounds at a future time.
8. As a mitigation measure, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation should provide a westerly extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail along the former West Allis Air Line railroad.
9. As a traffic mitigation measure, commuter rail service should be operated along the Canadian Pacific mainline between Milwaukee and Watertown throughout the duration of the construction phase of the Zoo Interchange project.
; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City Clerk is directed to send copies of this resolution to Governor Doyle, the City of Milwaukee’s representatives in the Wisconsin Legislature and Secretary of Transportation Busalacchi.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB09247-4
JDO
07/14/2009