“On behalf of the Wisconsin County Highway Association (WCHA), we commend the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and those local officials involved in the selection of projects for their work on the Multimodal Supplement Grant Program awards that have been announced.  Because of their efforts, greatly needed funding for 34 important county transportation and infrastructure projects will move forward.

Those involved in this process, led by WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson, should be recognized for a job well done.  The Department created clear parameters and criteria, brought in those local officials who are on the front lines of service delivery to review and select projects, and promptly distributed $75 million in funding for a total of 152 county, city, town, village and tribal projects. These are projects that will impact our state, our communities and our future success.

While $75 million was distributed, it should be noted that $1.4 billion in funding requests came in for the MLS Grant Program for roads, bridges and other infrastructure needs across our state.  This difference paints an incredibly clear picture of what happens when we do not invest in transportation in our state, a practice just now beginning to turn around in the last state budget.

This one-time MLS Grant funding is not a long-term solution, although the conversation should be had to explore expanding the funding for this program.  On a higher level, we look forward to continuing our work with WisDOT to find long-term AND sustainable funding solutions for Wisconsin’s entire transportation network.”

For additional comments, please contact WCHA Executive Director Daniel Fedderly, PE, PLS at 715-505-9242.