‘Rail deal quietly locked in‘ reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Just days before an election that could decide the fate of a planned high-speed rail line, state and federal administrators quietly signed a deal to commit the state to spending all $810 million of the federal stimulus cash allocated to the Milwaukee-to-Madison route, transportation officials confirmed Monday.

The unannounced weekend agreement frees outgoing Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration to sign contracts for much if not all of the work. That could hamstring efforts by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans to kill the project and spend the money on something else if they take control of the governor’s office and either or both chambers of the state Legislature and Congress on Tuesday.

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