Wisconsin Is Confident About High Speed Rail

Maybe too confident? It’s true that Governor Doyle and the state have been downright aggressive in pursuing high-speed rail. But an article in the Milwaukee Business Journal says:

The state Department of Transportation’s railroad bureau is so confident that its high-speed rail application, submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration last summer, will be approved in the first quarter of 2010 that meetings with engineers, contractors and disadvantaged businesses were held in early January and proposals outlining companies’ interest in the project were due to be sent to DOT by Jan. 13.

The article mentions that the state expects a letter of intent from the Federal Railroad Administration in March. I’ve been following the high-speed rail money application news fairly closely, and I’ve heard nothing about letters of intent before. It would be great if this was true — a route between the state’s two largest cities, Madison and Milwaukee, would likely be popular.

We’ll probably find out about all projects receiving funding this spring or summer. As a Wisconsinite living elsewhere, I’m hoping that Wisconsin’s confidence is well-founded.