(The following appeared on the Wisconsin State Journal website on March 16, 2011.)
PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wisc. — The state is considering spending about $30 connecting Reedsburg and Madison.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) negotiated with Union Pacific Railroad in November to purchase track in Madison needed for a proposed passenger rail line to Milwaukee. WisDOT rail supervisor Frank Huntington estimated the purchase price to be more than $30 million.
The Madison-to-Reedsburg line was included in those negotiations even though it wasn’t needed for high-speed rail, Huntington said, because Union Pacific wanted to sell all its remaining track in the Madison area as part of the deal.
The deal fell apart after Gov. Scott Walker signaled his intention to stop the rail project, and the $810 million in federal money went to passenger rail projects in other states.
Now the DOT is considering purchasing the same track with state money.
The full story is on the Wisconsin State Journal website.