Community Corner
KRM Officially Not Happening; Funds to Bus System?
The Regional Transit Authority will find out if the $6 million for the rail line can be redirected into bus systems.
Anyone hoping for a rail line to link Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee can forget about it. The Southeaster Regional Transit Authority met July 25 for a final time.
With an agenda dictated mostly by the 2011-2013 biennial budget, which dismantled the RTA here and in Dane County, the group decided to find out if $6 million already earmarked for the rail line by Congress can be legally redirected into the Belle Urban System as well as bus systems in Kenosha and Milwaukee.
In a story from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Julie Taylor, and RTA member, is quoted as saying, "It's a day of disappointment. The needs of transit are not going to go away. The needs of transit are stronger than ever. We didn't get there today, but there's always tomorrow."
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The KRM rail line had a projected budget of $284 million. Money left in the bank funded by a rental car tax totals about $1.2 million. Half that amount will go to Milwaukee, about $612,000 and Racine and Kenosha would each receive $306,000.
$15 million in federal aid to help ease road congestion and air pollution must be returned.
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