The Joint Finance Committee approved $2.5 million in bonding for developing a construction cost estimate for a rail maintenance facility in Milwaukee.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation had originally requested $5 million. Along with granting half of the request, the committee also required a study of hosting the facility in Illinois.
The shed, which will serve trains running between Milwaukee to Chicago, fulfills a contract with Spanish firm Talgo to build train sets for the popular Hiawatha line.
Democrats chided Republicans for endorsing a study of a project that would create jobs in Illinois and for rejecting federal funding for a high-speed rail that could have paid for the project.
Republicans charged back that they’re simply making the best of a “boondoggle contract” signed under the Doyle administration.
– WisPolitics.com
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