I-94 East-West is one of Wisconsin’s most important commercial corridors, connecting Milwaukee and Waukesha County people, produ
cts and jobs to the rest of the region and the state. But the road’s age and ongoing deterioration create major congestion, safety and economic development challenges. TAKE ACTION HERE
Planned reconstruction of the East-West was set to start in 2020 – but the Joint Finance Committee just slammed the brakes on this key project by leaving it out of the 2017-19 state budget. If legislators don’t change their minds and enumerate the East-West, the fix will be delayed two years or more.
That means:
- Project costs would skyrocket due to inflation;
- The state would waste $20 million already spent on planning, environmental study and early engineering that would need to be redone;
- The road would need a disruptive, $60 million “Band-Aid” resurfacing that would add costs and traffic hassles while ignoring long-term safety and design problems;
- Maximum benefits of the $2.5 billion Marquette and Zoo interchanges would go unrealized because the road linking the two is inadequate; and
- The state could risk losing federal funding for the project.
Legislators will be making their final budget decisions in the coming days. Take action NOW and use this simple tool to urge your lawmakers to keep Wisconsin “Open for Business.”
TAKE ACTION HERE