Listen to this articleThe first round of aid funding for local roads and streets this year has been announced.
Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on Friday said the state gave $141 million to different counties and municipalities in the first quarter of General Transportation, Connecting Highway and Expressway Policing Aids. In 2025, the state will give $540 million in aid payments to local governments to support transportation-related projects.
“We’re working to fix the darn roads, and I’m proud we’ve improved more than 8,600 miles of roads and more than 2,000 bridges across the state since I took office,” Evers said in a statement. “Thanks to the historic efforts I’ve signed into law as governor to restore and bolster our statewide infrastructure, we’re helping ensure our local communities have the support to keep our roads in good repair to keep folks safe, support our local economies, and ensure Wisconsin has the 21st-century infrastructure folks expect and deserve,” he added.
The 2023-25 budget comes with a 2% increase for general transportation aids in 2024 and 2025, governor’s officials said. The investments were the largest amount of funding for the program in state history and funding for local programs make up nearly one-third of the state transportation budget, they added.
“Our local roads are the first and last mile of nearly every trip Wisconsin’s residents, businesses, and visitors make,” Kristina Boardman, secretary of WisDOT, said in a statement. “Whether you’re commuting home from work, delivering a product to a doorstep, or visiting one of our many tourism destinations, a safe and efficient network of local roads is critical to our quality of life and strength of our economy,” she added.
The state gave a total of $141,362,893 to municipalities on Jan. 6.
• General Transportation Aids – $136,848,144 to local governments
• Connecting Highway Aids – $4,258,774 to 116 eligible municipalities
• Expressway Policing Aids – $255,975 to Milwaukee County.
Aid payments help cover the cost of constructing, maintaining and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction, governor’s officials said. Connecting Highway Aids pay municipalities back for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways inside municipalities. Expressway Policing Aids help the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office with the cost of patrolling highways in the county, officials added.
The next quarterly aid payment for cities, villages and towns will be released in April and the last two will be in July and October. Counties are paid in three installments with 25% in January, 50% in July and 25% in October.
