At DOT, Thompson sets priority on Zoo Interchange, I-43 north of Milwaukee

Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials want to pick up where the state’s transportation policies were left off — four years ago.

Craig Thompson, secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, praised Gov. Tony Evers‘ transportation budget this week for steps it would take to complete the north leg of the Zoo Interchange, a project that wasn’t funded in the state’s current two-year budget. If the project makes it out of what’s expected to be contentious budget negotiations between the Democratic Governor and the state’s Republican-controlled legislature, work could begin on it in 2020.

Yet although the budget seeks to wrap up the Zoo Interchange and overhaul a stretch of I-43 that Thompson called a “washboard,” it doesn’t call for work to I-94 East-West between the Zoo and Marquette interchanges

“We’re not going to solve everything in one budget, but I think this is a balancing people’s appetite and ability to pay and the significant things that we need to get done,” he said. “I think we’ve struck a pretty good balance.”

State officials have long planned for rebuilding that part of I-94. But no money was included for the work in the state’s current budget. And after it became apparent that lawsuits would probably be filed over the project, federal officials withdrew their “Record of Decision” officially approving the expansion palns.

Evers’ proposed transportation budget calls for a $600 million increase in road funding, a proposal that would rely on a 8-cent increase in the state’s gas tax. Wisconsin drivers will hardly notice the increase, Evers has argued, because it will be coupled with a repeal of the state’s minimum-markup law, which prevents gas from being sold at the pump below wholesale price. The budget most likely won’t make up for years of deferred highway projects under Walker, Thompson said, but it’s a start.

Evers’ budget would also set aside $320 million for highway construction and resurfacing projects and increase the amount of money that county and local governments get from the state for transportation projects by 10 percent.

Wisconsin’s transportation budget comes after varios national studies have ranked the state’s roads as among the worst in the country, a subject of debate in Evers’ campaign against former Gov. Scott Walker last fall. Neighboring states have also proposed spending more on roads in recent months and have floated even bigger tax increases to pay for their plans. Minnesota has proposed a 20-cent gas tax increase while Michigan’s newly elected Democratic governor has proposed raising her state’s gas tax by 45 cents.

Evers’ proposed budget would complete the north leg of the Zoo Interchange, a part of the project that had no funding in the state’s current state budget.  Delaying the work has only made it more expensive.

Bob Gutierrez, WisDOT southeast freeway chief, said the cost of the project has increased about $8.4 million with each year of delay. So putting the job off for four years probably drove it up by about $34 million. An agency estimate in August pegged the cost of the project at $236 million, up from a 2017 budget request of $202.2 million.

Evers’ budget would put $175 million toward the zoo’s north leg. Work on that part of the interchange could begin as early as 2020. The state would pay for that construction with $110 million worth of segregated funds and another $65 million of borrowing.

Another highway project included in the budget would rebuild a stretch of I-43 between Milwaukee and Ozaukee Counties. Thompson said that has long been a priority for the department. Dewayne Johnson, WisDOT southeast region director, said the department will need to freshen up some older environmental studies before moving ahead with that project.

“Drive it. It’s a washboard for most people,” Thompson said. “It’s a project we’ve been wanting to move forward on for for a long time.”

Kevin Traas, director of policy and finance at the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, said putting the I-43 job in the budget was a good step toward bolstering the interstate corridor. The project would increase the number of lanes the highway has in a stretch from Silver Spring Drive in Glendale to Highway 60 in Grafton.

“Enumerating the I-43 project is a helpful sign,” he said. “It’s a helpful commitment to the major highways program to put that project in the pipeline.”

As for I-94 between the Marquette and Zoo interchanges, Thompson said the loss of federal approval for that project is a big obstacle.

“It’s vitally important, but we did lose the record of decision on that so that we will have to go back and review,” Thompson said. Follow @natebeck9