Copyright 2000 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
August 28, 2000 Monday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 03B
LENGTH: 480 words
HEADLINE:
Commuter railroad studies continue on track;
Meetings to
discuss line linking Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Chicago
BYLINE: LARRY SANDLER of the Journal Sentinel staff
BODY:
A major study of commuter
rail service will start to pick up steam this week, with a series of public
information meetings on a proposed line linking Racine, Milwaukee and Kenosha to
each other and Chicago.
Also this week, the state's passenger rail task
force will stop in Racine to discuss who should run commuter
rail systems, if any are built in Wisconsin.
Commuter
railroads, such as Chicago's Metra system, run full-sized trains on existing
freight rail tracks, usually linking a major city to its most
distant suburbs. The only such service in Wisconsin now is a Metra line that
ends at Kenosha. But that could change within a few years, depending on the
results of several studies under way throughout southern Wisconsin.
One
of the biggest studies is looking at whether to extend the current Metra line
from Kenosha to Milwaukee, by way of Racine. Amtrak already runs six round- trip
trains daily from Milwaukee to Chicago, but planners say commuter rail would
fill a need for shorter distance trips within Wisconsin.
Other options
under review in the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission study
are whether to extend the line only to Racine, expand express bus service
instead of using trains, or do nothing at all, said Ken Yunker, assistant
director of the commission.
At meetings this week in Racine, Kenosha,
Cudahy and Milwaukee, planners will ask the public whether the study is asking
the right questions as it looks at routes, stations, costs, potential ridership
and other issues, Yunker said.
Those meetings will be held from 2 to 4
p.m. Tuesday at Madrigano Auditorium, Kenosha Gateway Technical College, 3520
30th Ave.; 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Racine Building, Racine Gateway Technical
College, 1001 S. Main St.; 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cudahy City Hall, 5050 S.
Lake Drive; and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in Milwaukee's Downtown Transit Center, 909
E. Michigan St.
In other commuter rail developments:
-- The
state task force, which previously came out in favor of expanding Amtrak
service, has turned its attention to commuter rail. Key questions are who should
build, operate and pay for such systems, said Casey Newman, a state Department
of Transportation policy analyst.
Racine Mayor Jim Smith will address
that panel at Wingspread Conference Center in Wind Point at 1:30 p.m. today. A
final report is expected by the end of the year.
-- The planning
commission is conducting two other feasibility studies of extending Metra lines,
one from Antioch, Ill., to Burlington and Silver Lake, and one from Fox Lake,
Ill. , to Walworth. Both studies are expected to wrap up this fall.
--
Madison- area authorities are conducting a full-scale study of whether to build
a commuter rail system in Dane County, following a favorable feasibility study.
Planners will bring those options to a public information session next month.
LOAD-DATE: August 28, 2000 
