Wisconsin will receive more than $1
million from the federal 2008 transportation spending bill for a
number of projects in the Fox Valley, a U.S. representative from Fond
du Lac announced last week.

U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac,
said the money would be used for three separate projects in Petri’s
district. He is the former vice chair of the Transportation Committee
and is currently the ranking Republican on the Aviation
Subcommittee.

“There were a few things that needed to be done
in Wisconsin and [Petri] was able to convince the colleagues that
they were a legitimate project,” said Petri's press secretary
Niel Wright.

 The largest portion of the money, $600,000,
will be used to conduct an engineering study for the construction a
bridge across the North Fond du Lac rail yard.

“A bridge
there is important because when a long train is going into or out of
the rail yard, people can be stuck at the rail crossing for quite
sometime,” Wright said. “That’s both inconvenient for
regular citizens and it can be a tragedy for ambulances and police
cars.”

Money will also be used to repair part of State
Highway 44 that runs through Oshkosh. Petri secured $400,000 for this
project.

The remaining $100,000 will be used for the Sheboygan
Development Corporation’s Great Lakes Aerospace Science and Education
Center.

“[The Center] has a lot of local support and we see
it as an opportunity to keep Wisconsin in the high-tech game,”
Wright said.

The Transportation Bill was passed by the House but
has not yet been passed by the Senate. According to Wright, President
Bush is expected to veto the bill because of the high number of
projects it funds.

Also included in the bill is $3.35 million for
buses and bus stations statewide.

Mike Goetzman of the Office of
Public Affairs at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, is very
pleased Petri was able to secure funding in his district and for the
entire state of Wisconsin.

“We appreciate anything that the
senators can do to help get transportation funding to help support
the projects we have here in the state,” Goetzman said.