For the Tomahawk Leader
WISCONSIN – Numerous area road and bridge projects will be backed by federal funding.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced that the next cycle of funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will provide more than $200 million for more than 150 local road and bridge improvement projects in counties throughout the state.
A release from Evers’ office said WisDOT will administer the funding to local communities through the Surface Transportation Program (STP).
“WisDOT’s STP allocates federal funds to complete a variety of improvements to federal-aid-eligible roadways in rural or urban areas,” the release stated. “The Local Bridge Improvement Assistance Program distributes federal and state funds to help local governments rehabilitate and replace the most seriously deficient existing federal-aid-eligible local structures on Wisconsin’s local highway systems.”
Several area projects will be support by STP.
In Lincoln County, the design and construction of the bridge over the Somo River on County Hwy. T in the Town of Somo and the bridge over Big Hay Meadow Creek on 1st Ave. in the Town of Russell will be backed by the program.
The program will support improvements to the stretch of Willow Rd. in Oneida County from U.S. Hwy. 8 to Indian Village Rd.
STP funding will be allocated to the design and construction of several bridges in Price County, including the bridge over Holmes Creek on Larkin Rd. in the Town of Ogema and the bridge over the North Fork of the Spirit River on County Hwy. D in the Town of Spirit.
Several other projects in Forest, Langlade, Marathon, Oneida, Price and Taylor counties will also receive STP dollars.
“I ran for governor promising to fix the darn roads,” Evers stated in last week’s release. “After improving more than 7,400 miles of roads these past five years, today I’m excited we’re going to be able to continue building upon this important work with the help of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
Evers said the “critical investments” will “make a huge difference for communities across our state and go a long way in our efforts to build the 21st-century infrastructure Wisconsinites need and deserve.”
“This is great news for Wisconsin,” the governor stated.
“When we invest in our infrastructure, we’re investing in our Made in Wisconsin economy – from the families who need safe roads and bridges to get to work and school every day to our businesses who rely on our infrastructure to get their products to market,” said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). “I was proud to vote for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make long overdue investments in the infrastructure families rely on, creating good-paying jobs all over our state as we get to work fixing our roads and bridges for the next generation.”
“Through our efforts to keep our local government partners informed about program opportunities and prepare them to meet their application deadlines, we are able to support local projects in nearly every county in Wisconsin through the Surface Transportation Program,” said WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson.