Gov. Jim Doyle asked the Joint Committee on Finance Wednesday to authorize $42.5 million worth of funds from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus package for road, bridge and transportation projects throughout the state.
The governor submitted a list of 19 local priority bridge projects, totaling nearly $8 million, and 30 other local road, bridge and transportation enhancement projects expected to cost more than $34 million. The projects would be the first local transportation projects funded by the federal stimulus package, according to a statement from Doyle.
“We must move quickly to build America’s future and create jobs for hardworking people of Wisconsin,” Doyle said in the statement. “These local projects are ready to begin and they will put people to work and make the critical infrastructure improvements communities need to succeed now and in the future.”
According to Wisconsin Department of Transportation spokesperson Chris Klein, the projects were submitted to the state by local governments throughout the state and were chosen by the DOT because they could begin within 75 days after the stimulus package was signed into law.
A bridge project on the Koshkonong Creek in the Village of Rockdale on County Road B in Dane County will be the first project the state will accept bids for starting in April, and will cost about $8 million. Within a month after the bidding process is over, workers will be able to get started on the actual construction, Klein added.
The rest of the projects will begin the bidding process in May or June, with the construction starting about a month after the bids have been finalized.
The announcemnt of the projects was met with both praise and criticism by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers throughout the state.
“We’re really encouraged that the work that Assembly members who proposed these projects is paying off,” said Rebekah Sweeny, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville. “If we’re going to get our economy back on track, we have to work together… the federal and state and the county and municipal [governments.] This is really a collaborative effort.”
Republicans, however, were concerned about the necessity of the projects and the long- term effects of the stimulus.
Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, acknowledged the projects represented a wide range of regions throughout the state but was concerned about long-term effects the stimulus would have on the economy as a whole.
“We’re getting the money from the federal government, we might as well spend it,” Grothman said. “But (the stimulus is) spending the American government into debt and [extending] the recession in the long run. You can’t borrow yourself into prosperity.”
Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, a ranking republican on the Joint Committee on Finance, expressed similar concerns about the necessity of the projects, saying he hopes the projects were chosen because of their necessity, not because of time constraints.
The stimulus package provided $529 million to Wisconsin for state and local transportation projects, with $158 million going towards local projects. The Joint Committee on Finance has to approve the projects before the money can be spent by the state.
