Eau Claire (WQOW)- Several groups are hoping to get the state Department of Transportation back onboard with high speed rail.
The city of Eau Claire is part of a group asking the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to consider an Eau Claire rail line for high speed rail. The request is to include the line as part of an ongoing environmental impact study currently being done by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The high speed rail line would take passengers from Milwaukee to the Twin Cities.
"We're basically asking to be considered again in the study for the environmental review, not for actual construction. That's what's really important at this stage is that we still keep an Eau Claire route in the running for studying it on par with other routes that have been recommended," says Ned Noel, Associate City Planner.
The WisDOT was recently awarded more than four million dollars in federal funds. The city of Eau Claire and other groups would like to see the state use that money to participate in the study.
"The state of Wisconsin told us originally that they didn't have money to fund more routes for potential high speed rails so now that the money is available we figured lets make the request to see if we can get back into the actual studying of the passenger rail routes," says Noel.
The state must decide whether or not to participate in the study by the end of the year.
