Public Domain
Interstate 94 sign
Milwaukee’s latest disruptive freeway expansion could face a proverbial “gapers’ block” as members of the legal system and others pause for a closer look at the project’s implications.
In response to federal approval of the Interstate Highway 94 East-West corridor expansion, Midwest Environmental Advocates and Legal Action of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in August in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on behalf of four environmental and social justice organizations. The $1.75 billion construction plan will increase I-94 from six lanes to eight lanes between 16th and 70th streets and greatly expand the Stadium Interchange.
The lawsuit asserts that the project using state and federal funding was approved “without adequate consideration of a wide range of project impacts, including social, racial, economic, land use, environmental, employment, indirect and cumulative impacts; and without adequate consideration of mitigation requirements and options.” The suit also cited the impacts of “increased urban sprawl and associated segregation; and the unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of transportation system investments.”
The four plaintiffs are Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH), Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Sierra Club–Wisconsin Chapter, and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. MICAH is represented by Legal Action of Wisconsin, while Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Sierra Club–Wisconsin and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin are represented jointly by Midwest Environmental Advocates and Milwaukee attorney Dennis Grzezinski.
The plaintiffs allege that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) refused to consider a reasonable alternative that would incorporate a public transportation element and fix safety and operational concerns of the corridor without expanding the highway. They also allege that transportation officials failed to consider or mitigate the disproportionate harm to the predominantly non-white residents of the project area. Environmental, public health and social justice organizations have opposed this expansion since the project was first proposed more than a decade ago. Many who testified at public hearings during the state’s environmental review process urged consideration of a “Fix at Six” alternative, a plan that would fix safety and operational concerns of the corridor without expanding the highway.
“State and federal transportation officials used an incomplete and highly selective environmental analysis to justify moving ahead with a project that will increase our dependence on cars, add to greenhouse-gas emissions, and reinforce a long-standing pattern of neglecting public transit,” said Dan Gustafson, senior staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates. MEA is the only nonprofit law center in Wisconsin that provides legal services directly to individuals and grassroots groups, according to its website.
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“Studies show that highway expansions simply motivate more people to drive, eventually causing the same traffic congestion this is meant to mitigate,” added Grzezinski. “Investing in public transportation and rebuilding the highway without greatly expanding the existing footprint is a viable alternative that would benefit all Milwaukeeans,” he said.
Impacts to Local Rivers & Stormwater Management
Grzezinski told Shepherd Express that environmental impacts of Milwaukee’s extensive freeway system and other roadways are known but were not addressed in the 1-94 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (FSEIS). “For example, Milwaukee’s rivers are already impaired with excessive chloride pollution, deposited from road salting, as documented under the Clean Water Act,” he said. “The FSEIS does not explain that this freeway expansion will aggravate that situation or how it will be solved.” he said.
Grzezinski also cited the fact that the impact study does not specifically address effects on stormwater management of taking 54 additional acres for this freeway project, of which 27 acres will be paved. Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District has spent hundreds of millions in recent decades to address fooding and sewer overflows within its service area, Grzezinski said. “The last thing we need is to preclude 54 acres in the Menomonee Valley from serving any stormwater management uses, which also affects that rest of the metro area.”
Other impacts cited in the lawsuit include effects on air and water quality from increased emissions, increased urban sprawl and associated segregation, and the unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of transportation system investments.
Disproportionate Harm to Communities of Color
In December 2023, federal authorities launched a civil rights investigation into allegations that the expansion of I-94 would lead to racially discriminatory impacts on communities of color near the interstate. In March 2024, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the WisDOT released the approved Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) approving the project, despite the ongoing federal civil rights investigation into the allegations.
Milwaukee is one of the most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the country. “Moving forward with the project before federal authorities have concluded their investigation is completely inconsistent with the state’s obligation to protect the civil rights of impacted local residents,” said Rev. Dr. Richard Shaw, President of MICAH. Milwaukeean Adele Nance, a member of MICAH, objects to “expanding I-94 to help suburban residents … get to and from their homes a few minutes faster and believes that doing so harms Milwaukee residents,” according to the suit.
Defendants have defined the “primary study area,” in which the greatest impacts of the project will occur, as “portions of Milwaukee, West Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and West Allis that are adjacent to the project corridor.” Persons of color, predominantly Black and Latino residents, constitute 59.4 percent of the primary study area population. People in poverty constitute 23.9 percent of this same population, with most of that concentrated east of the Stadium Interchange and north of I-94. Although the document does not disaggregate poverty by race, the neighborhoods identified as the poorest areas in the study area are most heavily populated by persons of color.
One in five households in the primary study area have no motor vehicles. Persons in the project area who have jobs are more likely than other Milwaukee County residents to commute to work by transit. The FSEIS does not include information on what percentage of persons in the study area are unemployed (and thus do not “commute”) but need or use transit for other purposes, such as getting to school or medical appointments.
“Unfortunately, with this highway expansion, transportation officials have chosen to repeat the mistakes of the past rather than invest in solutions that benefit all, like fixing roads and bridges, expanding public transportation, and investing in walkable and bikeable communities,” said Karyn Rotker, staff attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin.
On October 24, 2024, attorneys for the federal defendants submitted a response. It states that: Plaintiffs lack standing to assert the claims alleged in the Complaint. Some or all of Plaintiffs’ claims are not ripe or are moot. Plaintiffs fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies for some or all of their claims. On October 28, attorneys for WisDOT filed a similar response and requested dismissal of the case. Plaintiffs are likely to request the court to issue a preliminary injunction pausing the project while the case is pending.
