Local politicians and hundreds of concerned Wisconsin citizens gathered at the Crowne Plaza Tuesday evening to discuss the embattled high-speed rail line in an event sponsored by the Wisconsin and Minnesota transportation departments.
Although the meeting was held to address the plan of a rail line between the Twin Cities and Milwaukee, not necessarily including a stop in Madison, the focus of the event ultimately turned to the link between Madison and Milwaukee that Governor-elect Scott Walker has vowed to stop.
""Scott Walker has said he is all about jobs and economic development, and he should be,"" Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said. ""But it's curious way to start by turning down 5,000 jobs, just so they can be created for a similar product in New York, or Illinois or Florida.""
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk addressed criticisms that the rail will be a financial burden for the state by noting the projected yearly costs to run the line have gone down significantly, from over $7 million to just over half that.
Falk also said the federal government is likely to pick up 90 percent of the yearly cost, putting the burden on Wisconsin at about $750,000, which she called a ""steal.""
The plan presented at the meeting examined the goals of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which, when it was devised in 1995, and aimed to connect cities all over the Midwest, including Madison, Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis.
However, the audience was less interested in the projected ridership of the lines and other findings of the study and more interested in the political future of the Madison-Milwaukee line.
During the lengthy Q-and-A session, most stood up to show their support for the rail, but there were dissenters. One attendee placed a sign at the podium that read, ""high speed rail will never even come close to sustaining itself.""
However, the overall crowd sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the project. One elderly woman addressed how important the alternate transportation system would be for all Wisconsinites.
""I am 72 years old,"" she said. ""How much longer do you want me on the road?""
