Fix-it-First - State Highways in Wisconsin

The Basic Terminology

As long as WisDOT knows when a road was built, or when the last repair was done, it can predict when the next stage of repair or reconstruction will be necessary.  There is no excuse for not having the funding set aside to meet these anticipated repair schedules.  Yet, a look at Wisconsin’s state highway spending over the last 15 years indicates this is just what is happening.

Before one can understand the numbers, however, WisDOT’s terminology needs to be explained.  The Wisconsin Department of Transportation uses a vocabulary for classifying its spending on highway projects that is confusing. 

The key terms are Maintenance, Major Highway Projects and Rehabilitation.  Conceptually, highway work falls within a spectrum, ranging from Maintenance, which is generally the least complicated and least costly, to Major Highway Projects, which are the most complicated and most expensive. 

Rehabilitation, which falls in middle of the spectrum, is sub-classified into the 3 R’s: Resurfacing, Reconditioning, and Reconstruction.  Resurfacing projects are generally the least complicated and expensive, followed by Reconditioning projects, with Reconstruction projects the most complicated and expensive. 

Spectrum of Highway Work

The major problem with WisDOT’s system of project classification is that it does not delineate clearly enough the difference between projects that involve maintenance and repair of existing roads and highways and those projects that involve road and highway expansion. It is important to note that the distinction between Reconstruction projects and Major Highway Projects is a combined fiscal and project length threshold – not repair versus expansion.

Spending over the last 15 Years

Even when taking WisDOT’s own language at face value, its spending over the last fifteen years has disproportionately focused on expansion projects.  In 2003, WisDOT spent 28% of its budget on the Major Highway Projects program, which includes many of the most costly expansion projects, and debt service on revenue bonds to pay for Major Highway Projects. 

In the period from 1988 to 2003, WisDOT spending on Major Highway Projects has increased 101%, and spending on debt service to pay for prior Major Highway Projects has increased 360%.  Meanwhile, spending on Rehabilitation has increased 40% (less than both the State Highways Budget and WisDOT’s overall budget), and spending on Maintenance has actually decreased 3%.  These spending patterns indicate that Wisconsin is caught in the concrete triangle – paying more and more for its road system because maintenance and repair are neglected. 

Analysis of Federal Highway Administration data published in 2003 by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) indicates that in 1994, 59.1% of Wisconsin’s roads were not in ‘good’ condition.  In 2001, that percentage was 42.5%.  While this decrease signifies an improvement in road quality, it also means that more than 40% of our roads are still not in ‘good’ condition.  The study also found that more than 75% of Wisconsin’s urban and suburban roads are not in ‘good’ condition.

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