$80M awarded to state to replace interstate bridge

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) was awarded $80 million to build two bridges over the Wisconsin River for traffic in both directions, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday.

“Today we are announcing transformative investments in our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and rail to improve the way Americans get around and help lower the costs of shipping goods,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The I-39/90/94 Wisconsin River bridge is west of Dekorra and the funds to replace it come from the Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program.

The program’s funding was increased by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This will add $7.25 billion in local projects including $1.5 billion available for this current round of projects.

Along with replacing the interstate bridge, the project is set to also replace a pair of overcrossing bridges for county highways U and V.

“INFRA supports highway, multimodal freight and rail projects that will make the nation’s transportation systems safer and more resilient, eliminate supply chain bottlenecks, and improve critical freight movements,” the statement said.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, about 23% of the I-39/90/94 bridge traffic is truck traffic.

“The bridge replacement addresses the declining state of the bridges, which if not addressed now, could have frequent and lengthy closures for repairs and negative impacts on supply chains in the future,” the statement said.

In addition, the statement said, “Twenty-three percent of the bridge traffic is composed of truck traffic, as the route links economic hubs in Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The route also connects major tourism destinations, with a large share of Wisconsin’s tourism revenue coming from the counties adjacent to the project area. Further, the high-performance materials used in the construction will reduce the need and frequency for maintenance.”

The project has been designated as a rural project, which accounts for about 43% of the funds available through the INFRA grant.