Court Blocks Highway 23 Expansion – Press Release

1000 Friends of Wisconsin Calls on Lawmakers to Fund Safety Improvements Immediately A Federal District Court rejected Wisconsin Department of Transportation arguments that widening State Highway 23 between Plymouth and Fond du Lac is needed because of future traffic demands.  On Friday, April 29, Judge Lynn Adelman said that the agency was unable to demonstrate […]

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JFC’s Transportation Borrowing Puts Taxpayers on the Hook

Senate Republicans Get It Right by Opposing Short-Sighted Motion. The Joint Committee on Finance today approved $350 million in additional transportation borrowing, $200 million of which will be used to expand or build new highways that Wisconsin may not need. The motion gives the go-ahead to a slew of questionable highway expansion projects that should be put on hold pending an audit of the Department of Transportation’s State Highways Program. Aside from driving the state further into debt, the motion fails to make urgent investments to maintain existing infrastructure, particularly at the local level.

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White Elephant Watch: Vol. 3 Wisconsin State Highway 23

Infrastructure is the foundation of America’s society and economy. Yet not all investments are worthwhile. In fact, unnecessary projects create a long-term, unproductive cost burden—a form of infrastructure overhang. The “White Elephant Watch” series profiles projects that demonstrate the failures of the current U.S. policy approach to transportation infrastructure.

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Legal challenge spotlights shaky traffic forecasting key to highway projects

By Rob Schultz – Wisconsin State Journal. As legislators debate how to trim the massive transportation portion of the next state budget, a federal judge has delayed a $166 million highway expansion project in eastern Wisconsin amid questions about the traffic forecasting methods that helped justify it.

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