The state Department of Transportation today announced $37.5 million in federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grants for southeastern Wisconsin transportation projects.
The grants include $6.4 million for the proposed Milwaukee County bus rapid transit system, $9 million for the proposed Kenosha Racine Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line and $4.2 million for a 3.4-mile expansion of the Kenosha streetcar line.
Last year, Congress agreed to split $91.5 million in unused federal funds that had been set aside for transportation in Milwaukee, allocating $54.9 million to the city for the downtown streetcar project and $36.6 million to Milwaukee County to create bus rapid transit service. The $6.4 million CMAQ grant will provide funding for a 12-mile long bus rapid transit line, which will operate along West Fond du Lac Avenue southeast into downtown Milwaukee and then southwest via National Avenue and Greenfield Avenue. The bus rapid transit line will have 56 new bus stations with real-time passenger information systems and signal prioritization. For the system, 18 low floor, 60-foot vehicles will be purchased.
The last biennial state budget, signed by Doyle, included a provision to authorize a car rental tax of up to $18 per rental in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties to fund the KRM. The South Eastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA) board has yet to implement the full rental car tax rate for the KRM. SERTA plans to seek additional federal funds for the KRM project, which is expected to cost about $200 million to establish.
The 3.4-mile expansion of the Kenosha streetcar line will add on to the current 2-mile electric streetcar system operated by the city of Kenosha.
The CMAQ grants also include $880,000 to install detection equipment, controllers and emitters for a transit priority system at 100 signalized intersections in Milwaukee for the downtown streetcar project and the bus rapid transit system.
State doles out $37.5 million in federal funds for transportation projects in region
Operand type clash: text is incompatible with int
advertisement
Sorry, the story you tried to comment on is not accepting comments.