[milwaukee-electric] Feds approve Milwaukee streetcar plans.

[mrcooby]

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced this morning that the Federal Omnibus Budget Bill that was signed into law this week includes a provision to spend the $91.5 million that has been on hold since 1991 on transportation in Milwaukee.
The provision for Milwaukee dedicates spending 60 percent of the remaining $91.5 million to for Barrett's downtown streetcar rail project and 40 percent of the funds for new energy-efficient buses to operate on Milwaukee County's bus rapid transit routes.
The funds had been allocated for Milwaukee but could not be spent because the federal government previously had required the Milwaukee mayor, the Milwaukee County executive and the governor of Wisconsin to each agree on how the transit dollars would be allocated.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker refused to compromise with Barrett on the use of the funds. So, even though the feds had allocated the $91.5 million, it could not be spent.
Barrett, a former Congressman, then bypassed Walker's objections by convincing key members of Wisconsin's Congressional delegation to alter the stipulations of the funding in the new federal bill.
"It was approximately two years ago that I said, 'It's obvious we're not going to agree on this. Let's do what kindergarteners do and cut the pie in half,' and he (Walker) said, 'No,'" Barrett told BizTimes Milwaukee today.
"Mayor Barrett made it quite clear that if the county executive would not sign off on an agreeable solution for spending the $91.5 million, the mayor would ask our Congressional delegation for assistance," said Patrick Curley, Barrett's chief of staff.
Barrett said he worked with Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. David Obey (D-Wausau) to change the terms of the Milwaukee transit allocations to bypass Walker's objections.
"I thought, 'I gotta move at some point.' We approached the Congressional delegation and said, 'We need your help,'" Barrett said.
The new Milwaukee provision in the $410 billion bill originated in the House, was reaffirmed in the Senate and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Wednesday.
Barrett said the timing of the bill is "opportune," because Obama's economic stimulus bill allocates $8 billion in funding for intercity rail that could connect Chicago through Milwaukee and Madison to the Twin Cities, and the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail project also is moving forward.
With the downtown rail project and new bus rapid transit routes, passengers will be able to move around the city and the county once they arrive in Milwaukee from the intercity and KRM trains, Barrett said.
"Our intent is to continue working with the FTA (Federal Transit Administration). We want to accelerate things," Barrett said.
For more information about Barrett's downtown rail transit plan, visit www.city.milwaukee.gov/transit.
Fran McLaughlin, director of communications for Walker, said this morning she was not aware that the omnibus bill included the provisions to bypass the county executive and allocate the funds for Milwaukee. Walker was not available for comment.