Alderman Outraged At Drexel Interchange Project -- WISN Milwaukee

He has a point:

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee alderman is exchanging jabs with one of the area's biggest employers and another city's mayor.

At issue is a proposed interchange at the intersection of Interstate 94 and Drexel Avenue.

The Oak Creek City Council committed to the project Monday night in a special vote which Milwaukee Alderman Bob Bauman said could end up hurting Milwaukee.

"So here you have a Milwaukee-based company, Northwestern Mutual Life, investing in an interchange in the suburbs which will harm their home city," Alderman Robert Bauman.

Bauman said a Department of Transportation study showed a new interchange could take business away from downtown Milwaukee where Northwestern Mutual is headquartered.

The new interchange would be near Northwestern Mutual's offices in Franklin.

"I feel very badly that this alderman feels that way in regards to the suburbs," Oak Creek Mayor Dick Bolender said.

Bolender said Northwestern Mutual committed $1.6 million to the proposed Drexel Interchange's $13 million price tag.

"I feel bad Milwaukee's not getting things we are. But I also feel that interchange will not only benefit Oak Creek but also South Milwaukee because they use Drexel Avenue to come to the west. It'll also benefit Franklin," Bolender said.

Northwestern Mutual would not talk on camera but sent a statement saying, "Northwestern Mutual provided funds to support the Drexel Interchange project through an agreement made with the DOT when it initially built a campus in Franklin several years ago. This initiative should not be connected to any other current transit projects under consideration."

"So if they have an extra $1.6 million laying around that they can use to fund an interchange on I-94 at Drexel Avenue, we have projects in downtown Milwaukee which could use a similar investment of $1.6 million and we'd be very, very happy to have it," Bauman said.

The DOT has set a May 1 deadline for cities to commit to funding. Franklin has yet to commit.

Franklin's mayor said he could call a special vote this week.

via www.wisn.com