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2014 Bypass Take Action Message

Posted on June 11, 2014 at 7:25 AM

Dear West Waukesha Bypass Opponent,

We need your letter! It's so important! And, please pass this e-mail on to others!

We have heard from a reliable source in the Wisconsin DOT that they aren't 100% supportive of the West Waukesha Bypass, that they are doing it because Waukesha County wants it! So we need to let Waukesha County know that we, the residents of Waukesha County, don't want the Bypass.   So, this letter is going to County Executive Dan Vrakas.

Our Action Message is to ask County Executive Vrakas to stop the Bypass!

E-Mail County Executive Dan Vrakas. Please take this action by June 20, 2014.

E-mail to;   countyexec@waukeshacounty.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.   Be sure to add your name and address.

Use any Subject you like or use:

    Please Stop Planning The West Waukesha Bypass and Just Fix It!

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Dear County Executive Vrakas,

I'm writing you today to ask that you do what you can to cancel the planned West Waukesha Bypass expansion project and instead improve the route at a savings of many millions of taxpayers dollars!

Why am I against the West Waukesha Bypass? There are many reasons; environmental, health, social, safety, and financial. As someone who values Waukesha County's natural environment I'm sure you can understand why I feel that the destruction of the Pebble Creek Environmental corridor is just unacceptable!

The cost of this project is another big reason. The DOT will soon be asking for tax increases to pay for Wisconsin's deteriorating roads. We should be repairing and not expanding our roads at a time like this!   The coalition Opposed to the West Waukesha Bypass has proposed a "No Build, Improve" alternative. I ask that you consider this alternative.

Our transportation system has reached a tipping point. A new report analyzes the costs of building new roads at the expense of maintaining existing ones. The report by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense supports the Coalition Opposed to the West Waukesha Bypass' "No Build, Improve Alternative" to building the bypass. The Wisconsin DOT and Waukesha County should heed the message in this report! Here are some of the report's highlights.

Departments of transportation (DOTs) across the country are spending more money building new roads than maintaining the ones they have despite the fact that roads are crumbling, financial liabilities are mounting and conditions are not improving for America’s drivers. Between 2009 and 2011, the latest year with available data, states collectively spent $20.4 billion annually to build new roadways. During that same time, states spent just $16.5 billion annually repairing and preserving roads while roads across the country were deteriorating. These spending decisions come with serious implications for DOT finances and taxpayers.

If states spent the $20.4 billion annually on repair rather than expansion (in the past), they could have cut the number of roads in poor condition in half by 2011 and would have been on target to eliminate the backlog of roads in poor condition by 2014. (but road building continued)

State leaders including governors, legislators and DOT officials, have the ability to change these priorities for the better.

Wisconsin statistics are similar to the national average. Much more money is spent on new roads vs repairing and maintaining existing roads. The average annual Wisconsin expenditures on road expansion versus repair for 2009 – 2011 are:

Road expansion $544,000,000 or 61% of the road budget.
Road Repair $349,000,000 or 39% of the road budget.

$195,000,000 more is spent on road expansion than road repair in Wisconsin. This trend must be reversed or Wisconsin and Waukesha roads will continue to deteriorate.

The West Waukesha Bypass will cost over $65 million taxpayer dollars. The DOT is now planning an I43 expansion that will cost $450 million. The Zoo Interchange will cost many millions more than that! And, all the while our existing roads continue to deteriorate. It's time for Waukesha County to re-examine its own role in transportation spending. There is no appetite for new taxes for new roads in Wisconsin. The time has come to place a moratorium on building new roads in Waukesha, including adding new lanes. It's time to put all our resources toward repairing our existing infrastructure and make reasonable safety improvements! We can no longer afford the huge financial, social, safety, and environmental toll that Wisconsin's road building binge is causing.

Source: Repair Priorities 2014: Transportation spending strategies to save taxpayer dollars and improve roads is the latest report by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzing road conditions and spending priorities in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. The update also assesses how these priorities have changed since the release of the first edition in 2011.

Sincerely

(Your Full Name)

(Your Address)

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