WisDOT ready to implement Obama’s stimulus package
Loaded and ready to go
Loaded and ready to go
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
It was a very exciting moment for Ruben Anthony, Jr., deputy secretary for the Wis. Dept. of
Transportation (WisDOT). Since WisDOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi was unable to go, Anthony was
headed to the White House on February 11 to present Wisconsin’s plans to spend the federal stimulus’
funding for infrastructure improvements as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“Usually I’m outside the gate looking in at the White House,” Anthony laughed as we sat in his WisDOT
office. “To be there to talk about transportation policy was incredible. The most exciting thing about it was
the day before getting there, the Senate had just passed its version of the stimulus bill. Now the conference
committee was meeting to talk about the House and Senate versions. And we were right there in the middle
of things talking about how we take this economic development policy and bring it back to our states and
make it work. We had the ear of the White House. Rahm Emanuel called the meeting together, but couldn’t
meet because he went and met with the conference committee to talk about how they were going to roll
out the stimulus. It was exciting. I’m a public administrator by training, but really being part of federal
policy development about economic development and knowing that this thing was going to turn into
something real for our state, it was exciting to be there. And then to be able to give some advice about how
we need to roll this out for the states was just an exciting time.”
Anthony and 40 other state highway administers talked with US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood about
their plans and the economic development aspect of the spending. Building roads was not enough. It had
to ripple through the economy. And combining infrastructure improvements with economic development
was right up Anthony’s alley.
“In this state, the Governor had just done economic development with the Marquette Interchange,”
Anthony said. “We set out with the $810 million Marquette Interchange project to frame it as an economic
development stimulus. It’s just coincidental that we’re going to get an opportunity to do it again. We had
just gone through this. We have the confidence that in this state that we can do it. We can roll out those
projects — the $300 million in projects plus we have another $400 million to go after that — and we know
we have the ability to do it so that it is inclusive so that not only those traditional types that are sitting on
the union benches would have an opportunity, but also places like Milwaukee that are extremely
economically depressed with 50 percent unemployment among African American males can take
advantage.”
While transportation equates to highways in most people’s minds, the ARRA also has something for
mass transit in it including the potential development of inter-city rail between Milwaukee and Madison
and beyond. “We talked about having $137 million in projects to make the connection between the biggest
urban center in Milwaukee and the biggest government center, Madison,” Anthony said. “We want to run a
train between Madison and Milwaukee. The $137 million will allow us to make some improvements on the
tracks between Milwaukee and Watertown as the first phase of making the connection between Milwaukee
and Madison, which is going to be great for the state.”
There may also be funds available to replace some of Wisconsin’s aging bus fleet. “We also talked
about the state’s ability to accept almost $200 million in funds if they were made available,” Anthony said.
“We have probably about 300 buses that we can replace with diesel fuel buses that would allow the buses
to be more cost-efficient and more fuel-efficient.”
Next issue: Collaboration and opportunity
Part 1 of 2
It was a very exciting moment for Ruben Anthony, Jr., deputy secretary for the Wis. Dept. of
Transportation (WisDOT). Since WisDOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi was unable to go, Anthony was
headed to the White House on February 11 to present Wisconsin’s plans to spend the federal stimulus’
funding for infrastructure improvements as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“Usually I’m outside the gate looking in at the White House,” Anthony laughed as we sat in his WisDOT
office. “To be there to talk about transportation policy was incredible. The most exciting thing about it was
the day before getting there, the Senate had just passed its version of the stimulus bill. Now the conference
committee was meeting to talk about the House and Senate versions. And we were right there in the middle
of things talking about how we take this economic development policy and bring it back to our states and
make it work. We had the ear of the White House. Rahm Emanuel called the meeting together, but couldn’t
meet because he went and met with the conference committee to talk about how they were going to roll
out the stimulus. It was exciting. I’m a public administrator by training, but really being part of federal
policy development about economic development and knowing that this thing was going to turn into
something real for our state, it was exciting to be there. And then to be able to give some advice about how
we need to roll this out for the states was just an exciting time.”
Anthony and 40 other state highway administers talked with US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood about
their plans and the economic development aspect of the spending. Building roads was not enough. It had
to ripple through the economy. And combining infrastructure improvements with economic development
was right up Anthony’s alley.
“In this state, the Governor had just done economic development with the Marquette Interchange,”
Anthony said. “We set out with the $810 million Marquette Interchange project to frame it as an economic
development stimulus. It’s just coincidental that we’re going to get an opportunity to do it again. We had
just gone through this. We have the confidence that in this state that we can do it. We can roll out those
projects — the $300 million in projects plus we have another $400 million to go after that — and we know
we have the ability to do it so that it is inclusive so that not only those traditional types that are sitting on
the union benches would have an opportunity, but also places like Milwaukee that are extremely
economically depressed with 50 percent unemployment among African American males can take
advantage.”
While transportation equates to highways in most people’s minds, the ARRA also has something for
mass transit in it including the potential development of inter-city rail between Milwaukee and Madison
and beyond. “We talked about having $137 million in projects to make the connection between the biggest
urban center in Milwaukee and the biggest government center, Madison,” Anthony said. “We want to run a
train between Madison and Milwaukee. The $137 million will allow us to make some improvements on the
tracks between Milwaukee and Watertown as the first phase of making the connection between Milwaukee
and Madison, which is going to be great for the state.”
There may also be funds available to replace some of Wisconsin’s aging bus fleet. “We also talked
about the state’s ability to accept almost $200 million in funds if they were made available,” Anthony said.
“We have probably about 300 buses that we can replace with diesel fuel buses that would allow the buses
to be more cost-efficient and more fuel-efficient.”
Next issue: Collaboration and opportunity
| Ruben Anthony Jr., WisDOT deputy secretary at the White House (top) and his Hill Farm State Office Building office |