Racine takes steps to revive KRM commuter line

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The city of Racine last week took another step to revive the 33-mile Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail project.

The Racine Common Council on April 15 passed a resolution for the mayor and city clerk to enter into a contract with rail provider DB E.C.O. North America Inc. to study possible passenger train infrastructure along the existing Union Pacific line along Lake Michigan. An iteration of the KRM project was proposed more than a decade ago, but the plan died in 2011.

The project could return with partnerships with the private sector and the development community, said Trevor Jung, the city’s mobility coordinator and project leader.

“For us, this is not about politics. This is about making your community a stronger place,” said Jung.

The city hasn’t finalized the contract, but officials expect the study will be completed by spring of 2025. It’s spurred by a $5 million congressional grant as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Racine passed a measure for federal investment in 2021.

The project would serve around 25% of the state’s population concentrated in southeast Wisconsin, Jung noted. Racine is in the third-largest economic region in the U.S., he added.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), the KRM passenger rail would provide access to over 400,000 jobs within 30 minutes by transit. Nearly 50% of households in the corridor would have incomes less than $50,000, planners added.

“That’s not even including the jobs created by building the system,” Jung said. “This would be just about once the system is built and the access workers will have to jobs in the corridor.”

Project planners estimate the track will need up to 10 stations, along with other technical support needed for trains, track and rail infrastructure.

Racine re-engages with passenger rail after prior proposal

Discussion over the KRM line started as early as the 1990s and was subject to controversy among different groups throughout the 2000s, including state lawmakers, Milwaukee officials and transit officials. The state founded the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority to boost the project, but SERTA was later repealed in 2011.

The study will consider different funding sources for the project, including transit-oriented development, Jung said.

Jung used the Brightline high speed passenger train in Florida as an example and said that rail system that uses revenue from increased property values around train stations to fund its own operation. Having train stations nearby would encourage developers and other private investors to build in the area, he noted.

“If you have a passenger rail in your community, that’s a catalytic service that brings about private investment,” Jung said. “You have commercial and residential development that comes around from being connected to jobs, which are spurred by the infrastructure. What we’re looking at is how to capitalize development around stations to contribute to the actual service itself,” he added.

If Racine finalizes a contract with DB E.C.O. North America Inc., the rail service provider will create three task groups for concept planning, decision making and setting up applications for federal funding. DB E.C.O. will also work with engineering firm AECOM to perform the value capture analysis for transit-oriented development.

The Southeast Wisconsin Regional Plan Commission; the Wisconsin Department of Transportation; and representatives from Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee will form a steering committee to guide the two firms.

“This is the start to re-engaging in this work,” Jung said. “We are bringing these consulting teams on board, and this is just the beginning of this exciting effort.”