$75M in road grants scratches surface for local officials

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Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will give out about $75 million in grants to 152 local transportation projects, a one-time shot in the arm for the state’s local roads.

The grants will help pay for a variety of local transportation projects in 66 of the state’s 72 counties — bike trails, bridge and highway reconstruction projects and $1 million for Milwaukee County transit. They come as part of a biennial budget that puts more than $400 million more into road projects.

“No matter where you go in Wisconsin, folks can all agree that we need to fix our crumbling roads,” Evers said in a statement. “These newly funded projects are going to impact folks all across our state, improving safety, connectivity, and economic growth in each community.”

The grant program, however, is a small step toward resolving what’s thought to be a monumental problem. WisDOT received more than 1,600 applications in total — related to more than $1.4 billion in total work — for its so-called Multimodal Local Supplement grant program. In the end, it awarded money to fewer than one in 10 projects.

And that may not even give an account of all the work that’s needed. La Crosse County Highway Commissioner Ron Chamberlain said he submitted just a single application for grant money, for a $314,000 project to rebuild three bridges that are restricted to agricultural and industrial traffic because of their condition.

He said he was happy to learn the project would receive grant money and was impressed at how the agency and a committee had pared down the list of grant applications.

But La Crosse County is faced with a backlog of local road projects estimated to cost more than $120 million, Chamberlain said. Without more local road spending from state and federal sources, and more ability to raise revenue at the county level, there’s little hope of catching up on deferred projects.

“I have a whole list of projects that are needed right now that we did not apply for,” Chamberlain said. “The needs way, way exceed what’s available.”

The grant program set aside the largest sum, $3.6 million, to six road and bridge projects in Dane County. Six other counties also won at least $2 million. And at least $16.5 million is going to multimodal projects that could pay for bike and pedestrian projects, harbor grants or transit.

Under state law, the grants can pay for as much as 90 percent of the cost of a project. That figure was lowered, though, by a committee asked to select the grant winners. Local governments were instead asked to put up more of their own money, the goal being to spread the aid around.

The grant program came as part of $90 million lawmakers included in the state’s biennial budget for local roads. Evers vetoed $15 million from that sum, directing it into school spending, leaving $75 million for local transportation.

Debby Jackson, executive director of the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin, applauded the bipartisan decision to establish the grant program. She noted, however, that the 1,400 unsuccessful grant applications were just the “tip of the iceberg” for the state’s local road needs.

“We are grateful for the progress made in the last budget, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Jackson said. “Wisconsin needs a long-term sustainable transportation funding plan to provide the safe, efficient infrastructure required by a growing economy.” Follow @natebeck9