Efforts to build a high speed rail line connecting Madison and Milwaukee suffered a major blow Thursday, after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it is withdrawing the $810 million awarded to Wisconsin and sending it to other states. The DOT also took about $400 million in federal funding for rail away from Ohio.

Governor Jim Doyle says the decision is a “tragic moment for the State of Wisconsin.” In a statement, Doyle blamed the decision on Governor-elect Scott Walker’s adamant opposition to the rail project. [Read more...]

Avid supporters of high speed rail dominated an informational meeting in Madison Tuesday night, even though a proposed line connecting Madison and Milwaukee was not the focus of the event.

The meeting is part of a series of sessions being held around the state to outline a study being conducted by the Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Transportation on viable routes for a high speed rail line connecting Milwaukee and the Twin Cities. [Read more...]

Governor-elect Scott Walker wants federal officials to put funding toward improving Wisconsin’s roads, not its rail lines.

In a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Walker asked that the state be allowed to use $810 million in stimulus money to improve roads and bridges. That funding is supposed to be used on a high speed rail line connecting Madison and Milwaukee. [Read more...]