Inflation a factor as WisDOT estimates cost for highway repairs $62.3 million higher

The projected cost of repairing nine Wisconsin highways and interstates has risen by millions of dollars as inflation continues to put upward pressure on materials prices, the top Wisconsin transportation official said this week.

The cost of nine already-on-the-books highway projects has risen to $3.57 billion, up by $62.3 million from what the transportation department had expected in February 2022, Department of Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson said in a report. 

Of that total, $59 million is owing to the increasing cost of materials, Thompson said. The remaining part consists of locally funded construction work on the U.S. 51 project between Stoughton and McFarland, Thompson said. 

The higher costs aren’t expected to delay scheduled projects this fiscal year, he said.

“However, the increases will likely preclude advancement of work into the current fiscal year,” Thompson added. 

The new estimates are for projects in the transportation department’s Major Highway Development Program, which includes state trunk highways and interstates. At least four ongoing projects have had cost changes because of increased price estimates for construction materials. 

The ongoing major highway projects are: 

• State Highway 15 from State Highway 76 to New London 
• State Highway 23 from State Highway 67 to U.S. Highway 41 
• Interstate 39/90 from U.S. Highway 12 to the Illinois border
• Interstate 41 from State Highway 96 to Scheuring Road 
• Interstate 43 from Silver Spring to State Highway 60 
• State Highway 50 from I-41 to 43rd Avenue 
• Bridges over the Wisconsin River on Interstate 39/90/94
• U.S. Highway 51 from I-39/90 to U.S. Highway 12/18 
• U.S Highway 53 in the La Crosse Corridor

The report was compiled for the Transportation Projects Commission, a 15-member group that reviews potential highway projects and recommends them to the Governor and state Legislature for enumeration in state budgets. The commission consists of five state Senators, five Assembly representatives and three citizen members.