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Rail proponents keep pushing for KRM
Published November 20, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
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The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority (RTA) agreed unanimously Monday to pursue several legislative options to advance both the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail and public transit for the region.
The board reached consensus to broaden its approach to focus on a total transit solution, by trying to advance both simultaneously.
After reviewing the outcome of the state budget process, the RTA agreed that it would review the potential legislative options available and leverage the continued "enthusiastic support of business and civic leaders" to achieve consensus from local and state elected officials on how to best fund both public transit and KRM.
Several options the Authority will consider include potential support for or modification to legislation currently proposed by the Alliance of Cities; separate legislation to be introduced during the current session; or a new budget request for the 2009-2011 biennial budget.
The board cited continued support from the community for a solution to local transit and commuter rail discussions, including a renewed effort by the Milwaukee 7 in support of transit issues, the Miller-Coors headquarters debate and recent comments by Patrick Ryan, a Milwaukee native and executive chairman of Aon Corporation, who is heading up Chicago's efforts to secure the 2016 Olympic bid.
At a recent meeting of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Ryan said that transportation was the greatest challenge that must be addressed in competing for the 2016 Olympics.
"I continue to be encouraged by the amount of progress we've made and business support that has been demonstrated for creation of KRM and a solution to the public transit funding issue," said Karl Ostby, chairman of the RTA. "Because of the continued support we've heard from regional business leaders, and because transportation plays a key role in economic decisions such as the Miller-Coors merger and Chicago's Olympic bid, we remain steadfast in our goal of addressing these transit issues."
In addition, the group considered whether to put on hold its federal funding application for the KRM, as the application would be considered incomplete without identifying a local funding source for the project. The meeting concluded with the group agreeing to reconvene in December to recommend next steps regarding potential legislative proposals and the FTA application.
The RTA was created by the Wisconsin State Legislature and governor in July 2005 to serve Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties. The RTA is responsible for identifying a permanent, dedicated funding source for the local share of capital and operating costs for commuter rail and public transit in the region.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee 7 Regional Economic Development Council met this morning in Delavan this morning to discuss the importance of investing in a regional transportation system and to establish the Milwaukee region as a "Water Capital."
The Milwaukee 7 Regional Transit Panel includes: State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Caledonia); Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian; Dennis Kuester, chairman of Marshall & Ilsley Corp.; and Jane Hutterly, executive vice president or worldwide corporate and environmental affairs, S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.
