While the JFC proposal does not include funding for the I 94 E/W, we are still advocating for its enumeration. As part of an active coalition, CARW recently participated in a press conference with Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, MMAC VP of Government Affairs, Steve Baas, and Waukesha County Business Alliance Policy Chair, Jeff Hoffman. They, and others, have been committed to communicating the benefits of funding this vital corridor. Below, see a radio spot that the coalition has prepared. In addition, there is information to contact legislators.
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As State budget talks come down to the wire, we’re taking to the airwaves with a new radio spot
With lawmakers poised to make important decisions on the 2017-19 State Budget in the coming days, the I-94 East-West Eco Connect coalition is launching a new radio campaign to help take our message to Madison. Our first radio spot will air Wednesday morning – you can listen to it here and read a press release and script here.
We are coming down to the wire – it’s critical for those who understand the importance of the East-West freeway to the state’s economy to contact lawmakers and tell them to put the project back in the budget. We will be sharing our messages on the coalition website, on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages and in media outreach.
Unless legislators restore that funding and enumerate the project in the upcoming budget, the East-West rebuild will be delayed two years or more. That means:
- Project costs would skyrocket due to inflation;
- The state would waste roughly $20 million it has as already invested in planning, environmental study and early engineering work that would need to be redone if the effort is stalled;
- The road would need a highly disruptive, $60 million-plus “Band-Aid” resurfacing in 2020 that would add costs and traffic hassles while doing nothing to solve safety and other long-term problems with its outdated design;
- Maximum benefits of the newly modernized Marquette and Zoo interchanges – a $2 billion investment by the state – would continue to be unrealized if the road linking the two is not updated; and
- The state could possibly be risking losing federal funding for the project.
Here are three ways YOU can help.
- Call the state’s Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472 and tell your legislator to put money back in the budget to keep the East-West project on track.
- Share our radio spot on your website and social media channels, and encourage your stakeholders to contact their legislators, as well.
- Develop your social media posts supporting enumeration of the I-94 East-West project. Feel free to link back to information on the coalition website. Using the hashtag #wibudget and tagging others like @WIGOPSenate and @WIAssemblyGOP will also help your message get noticed.
Thanks for your support and for your willingness to help.
The I-94 East-West Econ Connect coalition
P.S. This is crunch time! Please share our radio spot and help spread the word today.