DOT 2050 rail plan: Run passenger trains from Milwaukee to Madison, Green Bay

 

PEWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- When the Wisconsin Department of Transportation looks into the future, it sees passenger rail connecting the state's biggest cities. A long-term rail plan the agency released Tuesday calls for a new passenger connection between Milwaukee and Madison, as well as an extension of the Amtrak Hiawatha route to Green Bay and the Fox Cities. 

The plan doesn't set any actual policy, instead serving as a picture of what might be without the complicating factors of money and politics. 

The idea of connecting Milwaukee with Madison, the state's fastest-growing city, is not new. Amtrak broached the idea in its long-term plan, as well as a proposing the Hiawatha extension to Green Bay.

The DOT plan estimates annual passenger rail ridership would increase from 1.11 million in 2024 to 3.35 million by 2050 if the state adopted each of the suggested improvements and extensions.

DOT officials were not immediately available for an interview Tuesday. Its plan is similar to the 2050 total transportation vision released by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC). Both plans emphasize rail transit as an investment that would benefit employers by better connecting Wisconsin's biggest cities while encouraging development in towns with stops along the route.

"We do need to attract new residents to the region and compete with other regions," SEWRPC Interim Executive Director Benjamin McKay said. "Particularly large metro areas across the country, to grow our labor force."

Actual progress toward extended passenger rail has not moved far down the tracks, and that does not appear to be changing anytime soon.

State Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), a co-chair of the GOP-led Joint Finance Committee, indicated Tuesday at the Capitol funding passenger rail is not a priority for Republican lawmakers during ongoing budget talks.

"I haven't seen that report, that analysis," Marklein said when asked about the DOT rail plan. "We'll be dealing with that when we deal with the DOT [budget.]"

The DOT plan noted SEWRPC's vision of a passenger commuter rail system that would connect the region by running from Kenosha to Milwaukee, then from Milwaukee to Oconomowoc, with numerous stops in between. Old train stations, such as the one in downtown Pewaukee, could be revitalized as stops along the new route.

"Transit oriented development should attract residents and businesses around the station areas," McKay said. "And again, result in things like walkable, active neighborhoods, and they may also just attract visitors."

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly said in a phone interview Tuesday he supported connecting Madison to Milwaukee via passenger rail, even if the SEWRPC plan did not include a stop in his city. Reilly said he believed such a route could potentially attract new residents whose jobs required commuting to and from the two cities. 

SEWRPC Chief Transportation Engineer Christopher Hiebert said the challenge with both intercity rail expansion and commuter rail in Southeastern Wisconsin were familiar ones: cost and cooperation. Multiple units of government would need to agree on who pays for what, as well as what the route would include.

"That's a lot of people to bring to the table," Hiebert said. "It's not a completely impossible thing to do, but it does make funding those projects very complicated."

Supporters of high-speed rail continue to criticize the decision by Republican former Gov. Scott Walker, who rejected $810 million in federal money in 2010. Conservatives maintain the upfront federal support wasn't enough to justify the ongoing cost of operations and maintenance. 

Places that did accept the federal money, such as California, still haven't gotten high-speed rail running.

The DOT rail plan included cost estimates for short-term projects but not for the long-term extensions. Hiebert said, ultimately, extending passenger rail across the state, and committing to local commuter rail -- which would most likely involve the state creating a regional transit authority -- would come down to political will. 

"I don't think it'll never happen," he said. "I just don't have a good sense of how soon it will happen."