Settling months of debate Gov. Jim Doyle announced Thursday that Madison’s new high speed rail station connecting Madison and Milwaukee will be located at the Wisconsin Department of Administration building, down the street from Monona Terrace at 101 E. Wilson St.
The project will be paid for almost entirely by national stimulus money. Wisconsin is receiving $823 million of Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to put towards high speed rail construction to connect its major cities in order to create jobs and improve commerce.
“When President Obama announced his initial investment in high speed rail in this country, it set the stage for Wisconsin to become the absolute biggest winner,” Doyle said at a press conference.
Wisconsin will be receiving more than 10 percent of funds nationwide set aside for high speed rail development, Doyle added.
Work will begin this year on the rail section connection between Madison and Milwaukee. The governor said the trains should be running on the tracks within the next few years.
The new station, is being billed as the next step toward creating a high speed rail connection between Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, and eventually the Twin Cities.
Doyle said thousands of jobs in construction, engineering and design would be created for the state through the project, as well as long-term positive commercial effects.
“This is not just about a rail station, this is about economic development and it’s about the redevelopment of this whole district. We’re going to use this as a catalyst to completely re-imagine that side of Capitol Square,” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said at the press conference.
In addition to the new rail station, there will also be a new hotel, a bike parking station and a public market added to the area, as well as new office space, Cieslewicz added.
“What we’re really envisioning here is a very dynamic urban space with added value to the city,” Cieslewicz said.
Public workshops were hosted earlier in June by the Department of Transportation to give people an opportunity to provide input for the construction and design of the station, with about 200 people attending the events, according to the governor’s office.
Four other locations were previously reviewed for the new station, but the site near Monona Terrace in the ground floor of the existing Department of Administration building was ultimately chosen. This was due to people’s need for nearby connections to other forms of transportation such as buses and taxis, as well as concerns over convenience, such as parking, Doyle said.
The announcement of the station location also coincides with new numbers from the census showing Dane County’s growth at twice the rate of any other county in Wisconsin, according to Dane County executive Kathleen Falk. This growth necessitates the economic opportunities provided by the high speed rail line, Falk said.
“That kind of economic engine here needs a 21st century transportation system, and thanks to the governor and President Obama, that’s what we’re going to have,” Falk said at the press conference.
The support for the high speed rail project has not been unanimous however. Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker said the controversial project will cost taxpayers money they cannot afford, and that, if elected, he would put a stop to the rail plans.
“Our state’s transportation fund has been raided to the tune of $1.2 billion, which has delayed badly needed investment in our existing roads and bridges across Wisconsin,” Walker said in a statement.
