Wisconsin to receive over $5 billion for roadways if bipartisan infrastructure bill passes

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The bipartisan infrastructure bill still awaiting approval from United States lawmakers would grant over $500 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects across the state. Wisconsin could receive over $5 billion of that funding.

Past President of American Society of Civil Engineers Wisconsin Section, Kenneth Mika, said the state could benefit from the infrastructure bill.

“Wisconsin currently has an estimate of 13 billion transportation infrastructure shortfall over the next ten years and with the proposed bill,” Mika explained. “The state would receive about $5.5 billion over five years for roads, bridges, and other transportation projects.”

According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, almost seven percent of the state’s 14,000 bridges are structurally deficient.

Mika explains the state’s Department of Transportation has done all it can to prevent that.

“That’s not to say that for the roads and other programs that the DOT and other leaders in the state and at the local level are not trying to provide us the appropriate amount of infrastructure,” Mika explained. “But the fact is, they don’t have the funding mechanisms being provided to them.”

Mika said last year, the state received a ‘C’ grade for infrastructure. He said that means the state’s roadways and waterways are adequate for now, but not adequate enough for the future.

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