
Aaron Colonnese
Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network
Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network
Milwaukeeans should not be forced to accept a harmful and wasteful highway expansion that threatens their communities.
On March 16, WISPIRG and more than 20 other community, environmental and public interest organizations penned a letter asking U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to review — and ultimately halt — the proposed I-94 expansion in Milwaukee before the project moves ahead.
Research tells us that adding highway lanes rarely results in congestion relief. Instead, it just draws more traffic. This cycle puts an increased and unnecessary burden on our communities, on the climate and on taxpayers.
“We do not have to add lanes or expand I-94’s footprint to support Wisconsin’s pandemic recovery,” the letter reads. “Repairing the highway without expansion and investing in local roads, public transit, walking and biking, and electric transportation infrastructure would stimulate the local economy while setting us on a course toward a brighter, cleaner, more equitable transportation future.”
Learn more about our campaigns to transform transportation in Wisconsin.
Photo: Rather than relieving traffic congestion, research shows that expanding highways often ends up exacerbating it by drawing more cars — and therefore more air pollution — to the roads. Credit: Aaron Kohr via Shutterstock
Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network