The public record: Feds approve Zoo Interchange project

From today’s federal register:

SUMMARY: This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA that are final
within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a
proposed highway project, Interstate I-94, I-894, and U.S. Highway 45
(Zoo Interchange) in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Those actions grant
approvals for the project. The project will replace the existing
roadway and bridges and reconfigure the study-area freeway system to
address safety issues and design deficiencies and provide additional
capacity. The project termini are 124th Street on the west, 70th Street
on the east, Burleigh Street on the north and Lincoln Avenue on the
south. Primary design features of the project include: All exits on the
right, through traffic stays left; full 8- to 12-foot shoulders on all
ramps and freeways; four lanes on each approach leg; three lanes on US
45 northbound and southbound through the core of the interchange; two
lanes on I-94 eastbound and westbound through the core of the
interchange (with a wider median that could accommodate a third lane in
the future); several ramps with two lanes instead of one; smoother
curves on all freeway-to-freeway interchange ramps (minimum 45 mph
design speed); 60 mph design speed on I-94 and US 45; access to and
from US 45/I-894 provided to US 18 (Bluemound Road), but no direct
access between I-94 and Bluemound Road.

DATES: By this notice, the FHWA is advising the public of final agency
actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). A claim seeking judicial review
of the Federal agency actions on the highway project will be barred
unless the claim is filed within 180 days of this Federal Register
notice. If the Federal law that authorizes judicial review of a claim
provides a time period of less than 180 days for filing such claim,
then that shorter time period still applies.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bethaney Bacher-Gresock, FHWA, 525
Junction Road Suite 8000, Madison, Wisconsin 53717; telephone: (608)
662-2119, email: Bethaney.Bacher-Gresock@dot.gov. The FHWA Wisconsin
Division’s normal office hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. central time. For
the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT): William Mohr, PE,
Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Southeast Region, 141 NW.
Barstow Street, Waukesha, Wisconsin 53187; telephone: (262) 548-6421 (262) 548-6421
email: dotdtsdsezoo@dot.wi.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that FHWA has taken
final agency actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1) by issuing
approvals for the following highway project: Interstate I-94, I-894,
and U.S. Highway 45 (Zoo Interchange) in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin,
Project I.D. 1060-33-01. The project involves reconstructing and
providing additional capacity on approximately 3.5 miles of Interstate
94 (I-94) and approximately 5.5 miles of United States Highway 45 (US
45) which includes a portion of I-894, and local streets affected by
the freeway. The actions taken by FHWA, and laws under which such
actions were taken, are described in the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the project, approved on October 3, 2011 (FHWA-
WISC-EIS-09-01-F), in the Record of Decision (ROD) issued on February
10, 2012, and in other documents in the FHWA or WisDOT project records.
The FEIS, ROD, and other project records are available by contacting
FHWA or WisDOT at the addresses provided above.

Will Busalacchi advocate for state transit funding?

County Executive Chris Abele’s appointment of former State Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi to head up the county’s transportation division is an unnecessary insult to Milwaukee, given Busalacchi’s unending efforts to make Milwaukee just another throughway for people driving home to the exurbs.

Will Busalacchi suddenly turn in his roadbuilder underpants to become an advocate for transit funding? Not if he is consistent with his past. Here’s just a small JS snippet from his days as head of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation:

And Busalacchi, in a response to (Mayor Tom) Barrett, said the city and county and not his department are responsible for the mass transit improvements needed to meet the planning goals for 2035.

“What is lacking is local and regional consensus and commitment to actually develop and implement these services, all of which are local responsibilities,” Busalacchi wrote.

Yup. Here’s a quick guide to Busalacchi’s state funding priorities: Unnecessarily expanded freeways, good; maintaining state roads and highways, not so very good at all; supporting transit, really bad.

Walker: heading into the transportation funding abyss?

Is Gov. Walker’s road-building binge going to keep Wisconsin mired in the budgetary blues?

His proposals to charge ahead with freeway creation and expansion all over the state never did make much economic sense — hey, gov, the economy will not be helped if trucks can get between cities on new freeways, but break their axles on ruined local roads — but they seem less and less reasonable when the federal highway trust fund is considered. Congress just can’t get a deal done on funding, which means that state taxpayers may end up funding more of the road binge than Walker and his gang are letting on.

From the Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON—A six-year $556 billion highway and transit construction program proposed by President Barack Obama is the latest casualty of Washington’s spending stalemate.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), who is leading talks on the issue, said Wednesday she is now considering a two-year measure that would freeze federal spending on road, bridge and transit projects at existing levels.

The White House had called for a six-year infrastructure bill in his fiscal 2012 budget in part as a measure to create jobs and boost the economy. But lawmakers haven’t agreed on how to pay for the bill, amid a broader debate over how to slash federal spending.

Ms. Boxer, the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said “funding challenges” could require a two-year, $109 billion bill setting funding at existing levels plus inflation. The bulk, if not all, of the funding for such a bill would come from the federal gasoline tax. Lawmakers would still need to plug a $12 billion shortfall under that bill, because gas-tax revenue is falling.

This just won’t solve it

As Gov. Walker pushes the state and country toward further dependency on oil and the despotic, murderous regimes it supports, new figures from the Energy Information Administration show a tiny, tiny increase in domestic oil production. The increase is not enough to even hint that Walker’s road-only policies are good ones, and the increase comes mostly from a jump in environmentally damaging shale production. Nothing to feel much good about here.Domestic oil production

Gas prices hit April high

From the Energy Information Administration’s This Week in Petroleum (emphasis added):

The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline increased more than a nickel from last week to $3.84 per gallon. This is $0.98 per gallon higher than last year at this time and is the highest price in April since EIA began tracking weekly data in 1990. The East Coast region tallied the biggest gain in price, more than six cents higher than the previous week, and was followed by the Gulf Coast where prices increased over five cents. The West Coast notched a gain of about five cents to send the average price to $4.08 per gallon; it remains the only major region in the country where gasoline averages more than $4 per gallon. The Midwest registered a four-cent increase on the week. The gasoline price in the Rocky Mountains was also about four cents higher but the region continues to have the lowest gasoline average in the country with the price at $3.61 per gallon.

No, really. Again, don’t worry about it. We don’t need alternative transportation that will reduce reliance on gasoline. Highways are all we need. Don’t think about it. Don’t think at all.