5/30/2016 – WMSN Fox 47 Madison (video) – Orange cones and break lights are not what you want to see on your way home after a holiday weekend.
“It’s just crazy, everywhere you go there’s road construction ,” said Newville resident Linda Topp.
Angela Johnson and her family traveled to Wisconsin from Indiana for memorial day weekend. The trip coming in wasn’t too bad, but going home is a different story.
“Traffic hasn’t been horrible going north but as we see we have to turn around and go back to Indiana, so it’s going to be a little hectic,” she said.
That extra time spent on I- 39/90 interstate could extend long past the memorial day weekend,
according to transportation development association of Wisconsin.
At a transportation meeting in Janesville Thursday, the advocacy group said they learned that if the state doesn’t find long-term funding solution in the next budget the expansion and other projects could face up to two years delays. The 900 million dollar interstate expansion project from Madison to the Illinois boarder. Was delayed by a year in 2015 due to budget constraints.
“When you look at all the needs around the state, I think it’s safe to say the math is pretty simple. The interstate projects that are vital to Milwaukee and the state as well and the interstate project here as well which is vital to this region and the state, there’s no way they are both moving forward,” said
Craig Thompson is a part of the “Just Fix it” campaign . The public awareness campaign is aimed
at boosting revenue for state transportation. Their goal is to inform lawmakers and the public about how road conditions affect commerce.
“We would like to have more businesses locate in this region, access to that interstate and that corridor and to have goods be able to move freely will mean a lot more economic development in the region,”
said Thompson
A spokesperson for dot tells news three:” going into the next biennial budget, 2017-2019, if department revenue remains at current levels, some projects will be delayed. I would stress that we are in the preliminary stages of the budget process, and it would be way too early to speculate what projects may be impacted.”
As they wait, drivers are along for the ride but are hoping their won’t be too many stops along the way.
“We have to go around to get to where we need to get. It’s just patience and hopefully it will be done soon,” Topp said.
A report that examines the solvency of the DOT’s finances, which the legislature ordered last year as part of the current budget, is not due to lawmakers until January 2017, Mayers said.
The state also is awaiting a full audit of the DOT’s project spending, as well as a report that examines the idea of charging tolls on some state and federal highways.