More Lanes in Milwaukee, Hope for Bikes in Suburban Kansas

128268048_8f8fee1783.jpgMore lanes not needed in Milwaukee. Photo by compujeramey via Flickr.

On the Streetsblog Network today: James Rowen, over at The Political Environment, writes about the Wisconsin DOT’s plans to add more highway lanes in counties that violate federal air pollution standards. He is not happy:

Why should WisDOT be expanding the highways in known air quality
non-attainment counties, and accelerating its plans after the
Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming set out a remedial agenda for
the state to implement?

Implement. Not undermine.

So
the feds are telling the state that Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha
Counties are in violation of air quality standards, but the state
continues to spend billions in federal highway funds to widen the roads
there.

On a recommendation by SEWRPC, which receives 100% of its funding from taxpayers.

That’s not government of, by and for the people. It’s government against the people.

Elsewhere on the network, KCBike.Info is drumming up support for a bicycle infrastructure plan in Olathe, KS, where the city council is considering "a combination of on-street bike routes and off-street trails. It is a
very progressive plan for providing transportation options in a
suburban community." And Santa Rosa CityBus is looking back at improvements made to that city’s bus system in its 50th anniversary year. 

  • @Sarah the funny thing about that photo is it was taken at rush our in Milwaukee, can’t you see all the traffic? (I know this because I was standing next to Jeramey when he took it)

  • Sarah Goodyear

    @Dave Reid That is so cool! I just found that photo at random on Flickr. Small world.

  • g

    The funny thing is that Milwaukee is generally small, compact, and flat, with wide streets. Even with the cold winters and snow, for most of the year it could be a bike commuter’s heaven if they’d only invest the money.

    Small cities like Milwaukee should realize that their future lies not in emulating the mistakes of big cities but in leading the march towards sustainability. Short commute times and a sense of community could be a selling point in attracting businesses from around the country.

  • Note that Milwaukee had a freeway revolt in the 1960s and 1970s that stopped freeways from being constructed. It also became a national leader in removing freeways when the mayor was John Norquist (now head of the Congress for the New Urbanism).

    for the history, see:
    http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/FreewaysParkEast.html

  • Rhywun

    I saw the maps of the counties that violate these new EPA rules and I couldn’t make sense of them. Small cities in the midwest with almost no industry left are in violation, while almost the entire South is clear.

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