I may be a liberal, but I know a dumb idea when I see one and the proposed Milwaukee Connector Rail system is about as dumb as they come. I agree with Mark Belling and that is a rare occurrence. Why in the hell would you spend so much money on a system that runs on the current street and has to obey traffic signs? Why not just make more energy efficient busses that have those neato opening doors? That is all this is.
If the City is going to do light rail, it should do it correctly and have it on its own track, separate from traffic. The point of light rail is to provide for fast and efficient travel. This is neither fast nor efficient. Their proposed routes are right-on, the means of travel is way off. When are people going to learn that unless light rail is more convenient, people will avoid it. Anyone who has ridden the bus knows that it is a long long ride, typically 3 -4 times longer than if taken by car. This system will be a tad shorter than a bus ride but nowhere near as short as a car ride.
As much as I do not believe that Milwaukee has the population density to support light rail, if they are going to spend the money anyhow, the City and County should do the right thing and push for real light rail. It should have been part of the Marquette project and the previous I-94 reconstruction. They could have laid the track in the middle or sides of the freeway like in Chicago. This would have provided connections from downtown to Marquette, Miller Park, State Fair, and Waukesha/Brookfield. This current attempt is a joke and is only being brought forth because elected officials are too chicken to stand up to Belling and his listeners who take credit for killing real light rail.
