The federal government and state transportation officials signed a deal this weekend locking in $810 million in transportation funds for the proposed high-speed rail line between Madison and Milwaukee, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The deal would allow Gov. Jim Doyle to deal with most of the contracts in the last weeks of his term, potentially thwarting Republican gubernatorial candidate Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's plans to stop the construction of the rail line.
Walker, the frontrunner for the governorship in many polls, has been an avid opponent of the project and calls it a waste of tax dollars.
""This is just raw political power at its worst,"" Walker told the MJS. ""This is why the Doyle administration is corrupt and unwilling to listen to taxpayers.""
However, Cari Anne Renlund, executive assistant to state Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi, defended the decision to the MJS.
""We are merely trying to get the money obligated so the work can begin,"" Renlund said. ""These are stimulus dollars. The goal of it was to get people working.""
The Madison-Milwaukee route would be part of a larger rail network connecting to Chicago and potentially the Twin Cities.
—Ariel Shapiro
