(Image Source: Seattle Weekly)

BY STEVEN HSIEH

Two newly elected Republican governors say they will not climb aboard President Obama’s high-speed rail program.

Governor-elects from Wisconsin and Ohio say the project, which uses 10.4 billion dollars of federal stimulus dollars to connect major U.S. cities, is impractical considering their state deficits.

In Wisconsin, current governor Jim Doyle put the brakes on construction of an 810 million dollar railway connecting Milwaukee and Madison-- but not until after the election.

Milwaukee Fox affiliate WITI has the word from Governor-elect Walker - and Pat Goss, the executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association.


Walker: “I don’t want the taxpayers of this stuck with a bill of anywhere from seven and a half to 10 million dollars per year for a rail line when we have roads and bridges that need to be fixed today.”
Goss: “We’re still perplexed as to the decision to not proceed here … our hope is a decision is made soon so our contractor can have a clear picture of what next year will look like for them and their employees.”

An Op-Ed for Racine’s Journal Times claims Governor Doyle should have backed away from rail project when voters first objected.  

“A Madison-Milwaukee train project may be viable in the future as population grows and the burden on the interstate increases. But Doyle's stubbornness and hubris in driving this spending project in the face of the public's opposition may make the concept a political third rail for years to come. Politicians won't come near it.”


In Ohio, Governor-elect John Kasich repeated a campaign pledge to halt the 400 million dollar rail project in his state. Here’s Mr. Kasich moments after winning the seat.


“I was over in Plain city the other day and they had a little train in the deli I was.  And the train was going around, and you know what?  I think that train goes faster than the 30 mile-per-hour high-speed train.  That train is dead.  I said it in the campaign.  It is dead.” (The Columbus Dispatch)


A Cleveland resident questions Mr. Kasich’s plan to stop the project in an open letter on DC’s Streets Blog.  He says the country’s moving forward—and Ohio needs to get on board.

“While other states are competing....expand transportation options beyond driving, Ohio...seems to delight in pursuing outdated strategies of questionable value in a future of energy uncertainty. I worry, in short, that Ohio is becoming less competitive, falling farther behind.”


And a writer for TreeHugger says those cancelling the rail projects are putting politics over progress.

“…the missing chunks in the middle of the country would set back the already lagging rail plans considerably, making it the goal of establishing any sort of reliable nationwide rail infrastructure an even further away daydream.”


So where would the extra money go?  New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo says he’ll take it, adding that high-speed rail could be the 21st century equivalent of the Erie Canal.