More than $1 billion in extra money for roads and bridges is coming to Wisconsin from Washington D.C. over the next five years.
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law agreed to last year by Congress and the White House, the state is expected to receive about another $200 million per year beyond current funding levels. And, yet another $45 million a year is coming just for Wisconsin bridges.
Though the start of actual spending and construction contracts is still months away, local and state officials are beginning to spell out potential ways to use the money.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley told a WisPolitics forum Thursday that in addition to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) electric bus system being built from downtown Milwaukee to the west side, he'd like to see a BRT along 27th Street from the northern suburbs all the way to Franklin.
"27th Street, when you look at that particular street, you have some the largest populations of individuals who do not have access to their own vehicle. But also, when you count the many jobs and businesses that are on that corridor — this is a corridor that if we can get people flowing on is going to move the economic development of human capital and make sure our economy continues to grow," he said.
Crowley also said as the state transportation department considers what to do with Interstate Highway 94 near the Brewers baseball stadium, he's interested in looking at whether state Highway 175 (north of I-94) could become less of a barrier between Washington Park and neighborhoods to the west.
"So, how can we reimagine that? There are going to be dollars available — Reconnecting Communities, a pilot program for us to apply for dollars for a feasibility study to look at what would it take to remove these transportation barriers to allow people to walk, to be reconnected to their communities," Crowley said.
The Reconnecting Communities program in the infrastructure law is only one way Wisconsin may compete for even more new money. State Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson said there will be other competitive programs, too.
Thompson said his goal at the end of the five years of increased infrastructure spending is to have done things that have helped the economy.
"It will mean no more load-posted bridges in the state, where our agriculture and timber industry doesn't have to go out of their way. They can go over those. We're going to have Bus Rapid Transit in Milwaukee and Madison, and better passenger rail. Interstates that are over 50-60 years old are going to be redone. We're going to fix those," he said.
The infrastructure funding is money that eventually federal taxpayers will presumably have to repay. Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R) said he voted against the package because too much would be added to the national debt.
But state and local governments say they've been waiting years for more help from Washington, and will put it to good use.
