Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Wisconsin

Wisconsin Responds to Public, Dumps Absurdly Wasteful Highway Project

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 21, 2014 | 4 Comments

“It is difficult to find any merit in the project at all.” That’s what the Wisconsin Public Interest Group said about the proposed $125 million widening of Highway 38, outside Milwaukee, in a 2011 report [PDF]. The nine-mile rural road widening, from two lanes to four, was indeed a head scratcher. This area of the state […]

Wisconsin’s Misplaced Priorities on Display as Green Bay Bridge Sags

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 27, 2013 | 5 Comments

In yet another reminder of what happens when states ignore their existing infrastructure while plotting massive road expansions, a section of heavily traveled bridge in Green Bay Wisconsin is “sagging” nearly two feet. Authorities have closed the bridge, which carries about 40,000 vehicles a day, after frantic calls from drivers. USA Today carried this transcript […]

From Bust to Boom: Rental Housing Takes Off in Madison

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 19, 2013 | 5 Comments

Madison, Wisconsin, is on a building binge. Developers are constructing so much rental housing that market observers fear that the housing shortage could quickly turn into a glut. One thousand units were approved last year for large apartment complexes. There’s a reason behind all this building, according to an article in yesterday’s Isthmus: Young professionals, […]

Wisconsin Using Inflated Traffic Projections to Justify Highway Projects

By Angie Schmitt | May 28, 2013 | 12 Comments

In the 1990s, Wisconsin proposed a bypass for the town of Burlington (population 10,000). The $118 million project was sold as a way to reduce traffic in the center of the city, which includes the junction of four state highways. The 11-mile highway opened in 2010. But traffic never lived up to the projections WisDOT […]

A Sensible Alternative to Wisconsin’s Gold-Plated Highway Budget

By Angie Schmitt | May 1, 2013 | No Comments

If you value principles like social and fiscal responsibility, the Wisconsin transportation budget is an unmitigated disaster. Not only does Wisconsin DOT’s spending plan gut funds to transit and local streets, it lavishes $900 million in borrowed money to pay for extravagant highway projects of dubious value to the public. Good government groups and environmental advocates […]

New Threat: States Robbing From Education to Pay for Highway Expansions

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 19, 2013 | 4 Comments

Last week, protesters gathered on the statehouse steps in Little Rock, Arkansas, to oppose a bill that would transfer money from the state’s general fund into its highway fund. The 100 or so protesters — mainly from the education and social services sectors — warned that the legislation would transfer $2.3 billion in revenue over 10 […]

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