Americans for Prosperity joins fight against Milwaukee streetcar project

National conservative organization Americans For Prosperity (AFP) has joined a local campaign that aims to stop the city of Milwaukee from building a downtown streetcar line.

AFP’s Wisconsin chapter has set up a new website, www.astreetcarnameddisaster.com, that includes an online petition calling for a binding referendum on the proposed two-mile streetcar line that would run on fixed tracks powered by overhead catenary lines. The streetcar would operate between the Milwaukee Amtrak/Greyhound intermodal station, downtown and the city’s east side.

In summer 2011, the Milwaukee Common Council approved the $64.6 million project, which Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and other supporters have claimed would spur economic development and promote business in the downtown area. Federal dollars would cover about $54.9 million for the initial route and $9.7 million would come from local sources.

Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan, one of five city aldermen to vote against the streetcar project, has continued to try to stop its progress. He also wants the city to hold a public referendum on whether to build it; the Milwaukee Common Council has declined to put forth a ballot measure, however.

But last week, Donovan’s anti-streetcar efforts attracted support from AFP to organize the online petition. AFP has ties to the national Tea Party movement and others who favor limited government and cutting taxes.

“We truly believe this project is a disaster for taxpayers, ratepayers and local business owners,” said Luke Hilgemann, executive director of AFP’s Wisconsin chapter, in a statement posted last week on the group’s website. “We started this petition drive to give those people a voice and we will continue to push this until the elected leaders in Milwaukee and the region allow the citizens to vote on this disaster they are expected to finance.”

In a statement on his website, Donovan said his streetcar opposition is driven by “common sense,” and that he’s convinced 70 percent of city residents are against the line’s construction.

“While Milwaukee continues to face major economic and other challenges, why are we even discussing this massive boondoggle of a project?” he said.

Instead of spending the federal dollars on a streetcar line, they should go toward repairing Milwaukee’s “crumbling streets,” Donovan said.

Changing the federal funds’ purpose from public transit to road repair would require congressional action, however.

Milwaukee Department of City Development spokesman Jeff Fleming agrees with Barrett that the streetcar project “makes sense” for Milwaukee. Similar modern transportation projects have spurred economic development in other major cities, he said in remarks reported last week by Milwaukee-area news media.