Posted on January 21, 2014 at 10:20 PM |
Winter Campaign Take Action Message
#2. We Can Stop the Bypass! But we need your letter! It's so important! Please pass this e-mail on to others!
Dear West
Waukesha Bypass Opponent,
Have you been reading the newspapers recently? The State
DOT is running out of money. Politicians and DOT officials have now
admitted that there isn't enough money to maintain Wisconsin's
deteriorating transportation infrastructure and to build new highways.
Governor Walker has tasked his Transportation Secretary to make
recommendations on where the needed money might come from. Initially
all the press was about raising more taxes, now we are reading articles
recommending that the DOT evaluate all planned NEW highway expansion
projects and cancel or delay projects that are not critical. We must
convince Secretary Gottlieb that the West Waukesha Bypass project should
be one of the projects that is canceled!
So Action Message #2 is to encourage Secretary Gottlieb to do two things;
E-Mail Secretary Mark Gottlieb and the cc the Transportation Investment Management at the e-mails
listed below. Please take this action by February 7,
2013.
E-mail to all three e-mail addresses; sec.exec@dot.wi.gov and cc bop.dtim@dot.wi.gov
Write your own letter or use the sample letter below. Copy and paste
this entire letter into your e-mail. Make sure to sign it with your
full name and address. Put it
in your own words and add any key points you might like to make.
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Dear
Secretary Gottlieb,
I'm writing to comment on the transportation funding problems we are facing in Wisconsin. As I understand it, there is just not be enough tax money coming in to
pay for highway expansion, safety, and maintenance projects. As you
develop recommendations on how to deal with these funding problems, I
encourage you to look at a multifaceted plan. Specifically, I do not
believe the answer is to tax our way out of this problem, we need to
look for ways to save money as well. Before new taxes are recommended, I ask that currently proposed highway expansion projects be evaluated,
scaled back and/or canceled. This is the only solution that makes
sense. And it is the only solution that the people of Wisconsin will
accept.
An example of an unnecessary highway expansion project is the West Waukesha Bypass. This project as an example of wasteful highway dollars. Canceling this one project would save state and local governments over $65+ million dollars. There
are many problems with this Bypass project. One of the biggest
problems is that the expansion project is no longer a Bypass, as even planners
admit. It is a huge highway expansion project through neighborhoods,
past schools, through farmland and an important Waukesha environmental
corridor. It is being built because it's been on the maps for over 50 years. The project is based on obsolete traffic count projections and erroneous accident statistics. It brings noise, water and air pollution to resident's front doors. Even the community it will run through, the Town of Waukesha, is on record as supporting a "no build" option.
As another example of the flawed planning process, simpler, cheaper,
and even safer viable alternatives were not considered during the
planning process because the project is being built to Bypass
specifications (4-lane), even though as mentioned earlier, planners
admit it is no longer a Bypass.
I support a sustainable
transportation funding plan that includes not only new sources of
revenue but a stronger focus on improvement and maintenance with less of
a focus on large new highway expansion projects. There will never be
enough money to do both!
Categories: None
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