The needs of the Wisconsin system of bridges far exceed the funding levels available. One of the key factors responsible for this situation is the transfer of funds from the state’s transportation budget in the past two biennial budget cycles.
That is one of the major findings of the 2007 Report Card on Wisconsin’s Infrastructure prepared by the Wisconsin section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Governor Doyle’s raids of the Transportation Fund have been substantial. During Wisconsin's past two budget cycles, the state budget transferred $1.1 billion from Wisconsin's transportation fund to cover spending in other programs. The state borrowed money to replace much of the transferred funds that totaled $675 million in 2003-05 and $427 million in 2005-07 to give to schools despite being presented with a budget by Republicans that contained the single greatest increase in public education funding in Wisconsin history.
If the Governor continues this trend, motorists could be put in danger.
"If it would continue, it would have a negative impact," said Craig Thompson, executive director of the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin. Quoted in the Appleton Post-Crescent, Thompson worries that the interest payments on the money borrowed to replace the transferred funds will reduce what the state can do about its roads.
The 2007 Report Card on Wisconsin’s Infrastructure reports, “The Wisconsin State Highway Plan 2020 estimated bridge needs (excluding Southeast freeways) from 2000-2020 to be $1.0 billion. In Southeast Wisconsin, freeway needs for this same time period for bridges, roadways, and safety are estimated at $2.8 billion.
The number of deficient local bridges in the past 25 years has declined from 62% to 18%, a number below the current national average of 27.1%. Estimated funding needs for these bridges from 2005-2020 are $750 million. Although the bridges in Wisconsin have improved significantly over the past 25 years, funding the ongoing program will be the major concern for the future.”
There is some good news, according to the Infrastructure Report Card. “In Wisconsin, 16.0% of the bridges are currently deficient (safe to carry traffic but approaching replacement or rehabilitation), down 4% from three years ago. This represents a significant improvement over the last 25 years, where the percent of deficient bridges in Wisconsin was 57%.”
Despite the good news, the Report Card gives Wisconsin bridges a grade of C. The report gave Wisconsin a grade of B on the current status of the system of bridges, but also gave a grade of D on the funding levels available to address the system needs. Factor the two grades together and Wisconsin bridges merit a C. You can see the entire report card
here.Ironically, Governor Doyle is now calling for increasing funding to the state’s Transportation Fund, a fund he raided twice in previous budgets, and is threatening to do so again in the 2007-09 state budget.
The tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota should serve as a wake-up call. Money pumped into the state’s Transportation Fund is to be used for roads, highways, and bridges, not the Governor’s special interests. It is time for Governor Doyle to stop playing games with the state budget and stop raiding the state’s Transportation Fund to prevent putting our motorists at high risk.
