MADISON – Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is pulling the plug on reconstructing I-94 in Milwaukee between the Marquette and Zoo interchanges.
The change of heart came two weeks after federal authorities warned the state it would pull its authorization for the project if the state didn’t come up with a funding plan, according to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS).
The news comes after Walker signed a state budget that did not include funding for the project. The estimated cost for the projected was projected to be about $1 billion.
Transportation Secretary David Ross sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration which asked the federal government to formally rescind its authorization for the project.
MJS reports that “…Michael Davies at the Federal Highway Administration sent Ross a letter telling him his agency would revoke its approval for the project if Ross didn’t detail a funding plan for it by Sept. 30.”
“This action clearly highlights the absence of any coherent plan to rebuild the freeway system in southeast Wisconsin,” Craig Thompson, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Development Association, said in a statement. “It will diminish investments already made and make it nearly impossible for business to make informed decisions.”
Walker had no comment MJS reports.
