Wisconsin announces $117M for local roads

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The state announced a $117 million quarterly payment to keep traffic moving on Wisconsin roadways.

Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on Monday announced the second round of General Transportation, Connecting Highway, and Expressway Policing Aids, which are paid four times each year to repair, improve and police local roads and connecting highways in municipalities across Wisconsin.

The General Transportation Aids program is one of the largest state-funded programs in WisDOT’s budget and around 1,922 local governments receive payments based on road mileage and local expenditures, according to WisDOT. After a state transportation budget increase, municipalities and counties will get $570 million from the GTA program through the year.

The second round of quarterly payments were delivered in April. They included more than $108.5 million in general transportation aids to local governments and more than $4.2 million in connecting highway aids to 116 municipalities, according to the governor’s office.

More than $4.7 million was given to Milwaukee County to cover costs for the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to patrol the expressways.

The governor’s office said the GTA program increased by three percent each year of the next two years after Evers signed the 2025-27 state budget. The budget included more than $1 billion to fund key transportation investments, officials added.

Through the increases, municipalities will receive $33.2 million more and counties will receive $10 million for the next two years, officials said. Total funding for local programs makes up nearly one-third of the state transportation budget, they added.

“Whether it’s driving to work or school, doctor appointments, or visiting loved ones, every Wisconsinite deserves the 21st-century infrastructure needed to support their daily lives,” Evers said in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud of the work we’ve done over the last several years to fix the darn roads and to secure additional funding in our state budget so to continue to support our local governments as they make necessary improvements to the roads in their communities based on their unique needs and improve the quality of life here in our state for all of us.”

Funding is meant to support road construction for 1,922 local governments

GTA program funds are distributed each year to all Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns, according to a WisDOT memo.

Payments are determined for “all local governments based on either a percentage of eligible highway-related expenditures or a per-mile payment, whichever results in a higher payment.”

The funds cover part of highway-related expenditures such as road construction, road maintenance, snow plowing, shoulder grading, pavement marking and curb and gutter repairs.

Around 1,922 local governments receive payments each quarter based on road mileage and local expenditures, officials said. Eligible expenditures typically include the local share of all road and street construction and maintenance costs within roadway rights of way.

Expenditures on county forest roads are aided by a different program.

Additional road programs continue under new state budget

Included in the 2025-27 state budget was $150 million for repairing and improving rural roads through the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, which launched in 2023. That program sent nearly $50 million in grants to 29 new projects across 28 counties for roads used by farmers and producers moving agricultural and forestry products, agriculture being a $116 billion industry in Wisconsin.

Increases to state transportation funding includes nearly $33 million over the next two years in the state highway rehabilitation program, more than $100 million for the Local Roads Improvement Program and $244.5 million for key projects such as Interstate 41 and I-39/90. It also includes $50 million for the harbor assistance program, including $15 million for the Menominee Harbor Project and $20 million for the Port of Green Bay.