5 minute read
This Modern World
In October 2017, Judge J.P. Stadtmueller dismissed the case without prejudice, a legal term that allows for out-of-court settlements.
Given the history, it’s no wonder that Milwaukee’s Black community expects only the worst outcome from the current plan which, despite its best intentions, will bring with it continued social and environmental challenges for urban residents.
“This is yet again a mayoral move to accommodate spending and travel into downtown for folks outside the city, rather than investing in things the city needs and has needed for decades,” says community activist Vaun Mayes, head of Program the Parks MKE and Community Task Force MKE. “We still somehow find money to pay what will likely be predominantly white and outsider companies to come in and do that work, while people in the inner city sit jobless watching others work in our city. I sincerely hope the next mayor will truly get input from stakeholders, such as myself, before doing whatever they think is best for the city.” Multiple calls and emails seeking comment from other Black community leaders, including Common Council President Cavalier Johnson, County Supervisor and school board member Sequanna Taylor, and NAACP Milwaukee President Clarence Nicholas received no response.
The disproportionate distribution of value characterized by WisDOT’s I-94 redevelopment plan, which favors suburban commuters’ transportation needs over those of central city residents, is only one aspect that plan critics find unacceptable. Research shows that, in most cases, more traffic lanes lead to more traffic, increasing carbon emissions that further damage the health and wellbeing not only of area residents, but also the environment itself. Given climate change’s increasing rapidity, the last thing anyone needs is more exhaust fumes in the air, according to a 43-page report by a consortium of environmental groups issued in response to WisDOT’s plan.
“Fix at Six: A Sustainable Alternative to Expanding I-94 in Milwaukee” was authored by transportation consultant Mark Stout at the request of environmental and social rights groups 1000 Friends of Wisconsin; the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin; Midwest Environmental Advocates; the Sierra Club-Wisconsin Chapter; Wisconsin Environment; and WISPIRG, the state chapter of the federation of Public Interest Research Groups. Released in September, the plan advocates for repairing the current six freeway lanes, but then spending the balance of budgeted funds on transportation alternatives that preserve the environment while better serving community needs, including health needs.
“Global warming is more acutely felt in urban areas with lots of concrete,” says Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates. “[WisDOT’s] plan is compounding harm done to communities of color and folks living in urban areas because of the way heat is trapped in urban geography.
“We also know increased traffic decreases air quality and is associated with severe health consequences in communities in and around freeways,” he adds. “The highway’s expansion will not benefit those communities, but encourage more traffic to move into and through the city, which is an environmental injustice to residents. The current plan simply repeats the injustices of the past.”
The Fix at Six plan supports repairing existing roads and bridges as needed, but also includes adding a bus/rapid transit lines along National and Greenfield avenues, creating walkable and bikeable neighborhoods along the eastwest I-94 corridor, reducing the existing Stadium freeway to a boulevard, and maximizing other sustainable options, including creation of commuter rail lines to Milwaukee’s western suburbs and, eventually, to Madison.
“There has been strong opposition to the WisDOT plan since its inception in 2012,” says Gregg May, transportation policy director for 1000 Friends. “Particularly egre-
gious is the $1.1 billion to add an additional lane in each direction. It’s a project that doesn’t offer any benefit to people who don’t or won’t drive. We could build a commuter rail system between Madison and Milwaukee for less money than that.”
Environmental as well as social issues are among the key problems of the WisDOT plan, agrees Saadie Ali, interim director of ACLU Wisconsin. According to the National Environmental Protection Act, WisDOT is obligated to fully assess all social impacts of their development plans, he adds.
“The interstate system is an infrastructural cornerstone in Milwaukee’s racial segregation,” Ali says. “A highway of this magnitude creates physical barriers that devastate minority neighborhoods. At the same time, it reifies the economic, social, and spatial mobility of wealthy white suburbanites.”
The Fix at Six plan takes a more holistic approach to transportation needs, Ali explains, calling for options available to all community members while evaluating the intersection between transportation and housing needs. Such evaluation can lead to more effective and equitable housing and zoning practices. “I’ve seen estimates that roughly $250 million could be saved by bringing the size of the project down from eight to six lanes,” Ali adds. “Reinvesting that quarter of a billion dollars back into bus, biking, and housing infrastructure would be a huge win on its own.”
ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM?
More equitable distribution of assets also would go a long way to reduce “environmental racism,” a part of environmental injustice that has been exacerbated largely by freeway site selection and the general destruction of communities of color across the U.S., Gibart explains.
“The state has a choice about which path to follow and whether it will continue down the path of past environmental inputs that are burdensome to communities of color,” Gibart says. “For a city like Milwaukee that’s historically been highly segregated, the plan would make it possible for community members to move more easily about the city. In the process, the community’s cohesion would improve, leading to a more diverse, communicative and equitable community.” “These kinds of projects are meant to last for generations and we’re in the position now to build a more just economic and equitable future for Milwaukee and for Wisconsin,” he adds.
Reggie Jackson, former lead griot for America’s Black Holocaust Museum and co-owner and lead trainer for the newly minted consulting firm Nurturing Partners, agrees.
“We all need to become better listeners,” Jackson says. “Elected officials need to stop telling people what they are going to do and rather ask them what they should do. A collaborative approach will get the project done more quickly and with better results. I am hoping things will be different this time.”
Michael Muckian was the banking and finance writer for the Milwaukee Business Journal and is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Financing and Accounting and The One-Day MBA in Finance and Accounting.
