To settle a lawsuit challenging the Zoo Interchange reconstruction, the state will dedicate $2.87 million between 2014 and 2018 to establish bus routes to help Milwaukee's central city residents reach suburban job centers.
The settlement will be finalized today, said Kimberlee Wright, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates. The organization and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued the state on behalf of Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope and the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin.
The lawsuit argues that the plan to expand the Zoo Interchange without improving transit violates federal planning standards, and will contribute to economic and racial segregation in the region. The parties have been negotiating for a settlement for about a year after federal Judge Lynn Adelman wrote that the lawsuit against the site was likely to succeed.