Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

Has Scott Walker Finally Found a Way to Kill the Milwaukee Streetcar?

Building a streetcar in a Midwestern city without rail transit is political bloodsport. As Cincinnati can testify, something about the threat of adding rail transit to a city that doesn't have it really agitates some elements of the Midwestern right wing establishment.

false

In Wisconsin, Republican state lawmakers already did their best to kill the Milwaukee streetcar, back in the 1990s, under Governor Tommy Thompson. But those efforts were thwarted when representatives of the city of Milwaukee lodged a successful civil rights complaint through U.S. DOT, securing hundreds of millions of dollars for a Milwaukee transit project.

But James Rowen at the Political Environment reports that as the project is nearing construction, rail-hating state officials may have found a way to sabotage it without violating their consent agreement with the feds. Republicans on the state's budget committee have proposed a rule that would prevent the cost of construction from affecting utility bills, a move the Journal Sentinel said would "likely would kill the project" as it  approaches the utility relocation phase.

Rowen says Governor Scott Walker is trying to appeal to his talk radio base, at the expense of the state's largest city:

Just as Walker obeyed city-fearing, suburban-focused talk radio and denied the two largest state cities a federally-funded Amtrak line - - and the state a spot in a regional rail network connecting cities with major university and research center employers - - Walker continues to marginalize Milwaukee over the streetcar plan.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Friday Video: Check Out Lorde On a Bike!

The Kiwi singer is on the top of the charts — and in our bike-riding hearts.

April 25, 2025

RELAX: A New City Rule for Private Seating in Public Space Is More of the Same

A proposed new rule governing how much space restaurants can occupy on open streets is hardly controversial, John Surico writes.

April 25, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Double DOT Incompetence Edition

What this city needs is a place to walk on the Queensboro Bridge ... and for the federal DOT to get out of our way. Plus other news.

April 25, 2025

Breaking: US DOT Threatens Cities for ‘Santuary,’ ‘DEI’ Policies

Advocates are raising the alarm about yet another vague and disturbingly broad letter from Sean Duffy — and the fierce battle that's likely to follow it.

April 24, 2025
See all posts