The ACLU Asks SEWRPC to do our Freeways the Fair Way
June 13, 2002
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin today called a $6.2
billion plus freeway project unfair to low-income and minority residents
in Milwaukee. The civil liberties group called the planning process carried
out by the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission suspect. SEWRPC
will be making a recommendation to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
on how best to reconstruct freeways in Southeast Wisconsin. The ACLU is
already on record as considering legal action.
In a letter to Freeway Reconstruction Advisory Committee Chairman William
Drew, the ACLU wrote its concerns were premised on the hyper-segregation
that exists along racial lines in Southeast Wisconsin. "Without adequate
affordable and fair housing in many communities in the region, any plan
needs careful scrutiny," wrote Chris Ahmuty, ACLU of Wisconsin's Executive
Director.
The ACLU is asking SEWRPC to analyze the potential adverse effects of
the reconstruction and expansion more closely and with more community
input before advancing its recommendations to the Wisconsin Department
of Transporation. It hopes the preliminary plan calling for expansion
will be changed and its effects mitigated.
Today, ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said, "An enormous
project like reconstructing and expanding our freeways impacts everyone.
It's only fair that the benefits and adverse effects of such a project
should be shared equitably. SEWRPC is moving forward without adequately
assessing these benefits and adverse effects. SEWRPC and the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation must do our freeways the fair way."
The ACLU/WI's letter follows.
13 June 2002
William R. Drew, Chairman
Freeway System Reconstruction Advisory Committee
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
P.O. Box 1607
Waukesha, WI 53187-1607
Dear Mr. Drew:
I'm writing to provide you and the members of the Advisory Committee
our comments on the Freeway Reconstruction Study and its preliminary plan.
I'm writing on behalf of the thousands of ACLU members in Wisconsin.
The ACLU's interest in this matter is premised on the fact that metropolitan
Milwaukee is one of the most racially segregated areas in the nation.
Affordable and fair housing in many communities in the metropolitan area
is at a premium. Without adequate affordable and fair housing in many
communities in the region, any plan needs careful scrutiny. Until hyper-segregation
is ameliorated in the seven county region; any project will be suspect,
if it creates economic development opportunities and jobs in some areas
and concentrates adverse effects in other areas. Transportation infrastructure
in the region along with other factors has contributed over the years
to segregated housing patterns.
The consensus building model employed contains no meaningful mechanism
to ensure that the final plan will be an equitable one for low-income
and minority populations. Even if there was adequate input from these
populations, which hasn't yet occurred, the consensus building process
apparently has no parameters. It's like a legislative decision taking
place without a constitution. While your Advisory Committee may be viewed
as representing various interests and the seven County boards will vote
on recommendations, nothing in your planning process protects any population
from a consensus that unfairly affects them. The process does not include
the kind of environmental impact statement required to comply with the
U.S. Department of Transportation's environmental justice rules.
What's more the information provided to the public during the comment
period is not Complete or up-to-date. The Commission is developing an
evaluation of the distribution of benefits and costs of the preliminary
plan across the region, particularly with respect to low-income and minority
populations. It is unfortunate that this evaluation was not available
during the public comment period. The ACLU of Wisconsin anticipates that
community members will be able to review this evaluation in a timely fashion
before the Advisory Committee and the SEWRPC make any recommendations.
Please let me know, if and how this further community input will be facilitated.
I want to mention a specific concern regarding accessibility to the information
the public needs to make informed judgments: apparently none of the descriptions
of the plan are in Spanish. Given the fact that over 25% of the residential
relocations anticipated under the plan will occur by freeway segment 12
on Milwaukee's south side, the Hispanic community is likely to have a
special interest in the plan.
Regardless of the language in which some of the information is provided,
its usefulness, its credibility, is suspect. For instance, one concern
is the age of the travel habit and pattern data used in SEWRPC's forecasting.
The traffic survey data utilized in developing the preliminary plan comes
from 1991 and 1992. If newer data has been collected, using it would enhance
the plan's credibility significantly. If newer data doesn't exist, then
the plan's forecasts, regardless of the simulation model used, need to
be qualified.
If advanced as presented as the "reconstruction with additional lanes
alternative", would the plan have disproportionately high and adverse
effects on low-income and minority populations? Most probably.
SEWRPC maintains that, "the proposed additional lanes are not expected
to have a significant impact on land use patterns because the levels of
congestion in the year 2020 are expected to be about the same as existing
levels, & ." Congestion may or may not be the same on individual segments,
but the effects of the freeway don't stop in the right of way. It's ludicrous
to say that traffic volumes are not going to increase when there is additional
carrying capacity. Resulting increases in noise, vibration, and air and
water pollution, to name a few factors, will effect land use decisions.
Also, economic development opportunities will not be enhanced by the
reconstruction with additional lanes alternative at nearly the same level
in urban communities as in counties away from Milwaukee County. There
are apparently few, if any, additions to existing in-fill opportunities.
In Milwaukee's suburbs or Racine's suburbs, on the other hand, there is
land for new development.
SEWRPC should be well aware of the disparity in auto ownership and drivers
licensure between residents of Milwaukee's central city and Waukesha County,
for example. To the extent that jobs are created outside of Milwaukee,
many city residents will not be able to utilize the freeway system to
hold down those new jobs. Either the residents will have to move to the
jobs, which is difficult given patterns of affordable housing, or they
will have to find alternative means to reach these jobs. SEWRPC is silent
as to affordable housing.
It claims too much in regard to alternative transit. The Freeway Reconstruction
Study assumes that the regional transportation plan's mass transit recommendations
will come to fruition. That's wishful thinking.
Sooner or later an environmental impact statement that considers environmental
justice issues will need to be done. Why this research hasn't been done
prior to making recommendations is a puzzle. The less thorough Environmental
Assessment done for the Marquette Interchange is not even a partial substitute.
The benefit cost evaluation referred to above is not yet complete, and
in any case it doesn't appear to be a substitute for an EIS.
On behalf of ACLU's members and the low-income and minority populations
in the region, I urge the Advisory Committee to urge the Commission to
get its planning right the first time. In considering a $6.2 billion plus
proposal, the Advisory Committee and SEWRPC should be asking more hard
questions and getting answers. More data is or will shortly be available.
It should be used for the sake of the plan's credibility and fairness.
One cannot even begin to talk about possible mitigation of adverse effects
on low-income and minority communities. A meaningful DBE program, which
of course will be implemented, is still not the same as mitigation of
adverse effects, such as asthma or exacerbated housing segregation.
The ACLU of Wisconsin hopes to work with SEWRPC and others to ensure
equity for low-income and minority populations. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher Ahmuty
Executive Director
Cc: Kenneth Yunker
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