Issue #1: Work Zone Safety
Work Zone Safety will always be a focus of Local Governments. Work Zone Safety protects workers and
the public travelling through our work zones. We want to make sure that all of our workers and drivers
going through our work zones remain safe. There are far too many crashes, injuries and fatalities in
work zones in Wisconsin. Efforts must be directed to improve the safety of work zones for everyone that
is in contact with a highway work zone. One of our previous goals was met with the legislature passing a
bill to allow municipalities to implement green strobe lights on vehicles. We are continuing to see this
being implemented across the state with positive results.
We support the following to aid in increasing safety in work zones:
1) Adding Work Zone Safety instruction to the Drivers Education Curriculum following SB 591 &
AB 591.
2) Allowing the use of cameras in highway work zones. AB 651.
3) Allowing work zone flaggers to report violations to law enforcement. School Crossing Guards
currently have this ability under Statute 346.465.
Issue #2: Increases in funding for the local road system and State maintenance.
The economy of Barron, Rusk, Sawyer and Washburn Counties relies on a strong local road system. Over
the past several budgets there has been added investment in funding for the local road system. Thank
you for the continued effort in working to provide adequate funding to the local road system. The
increase to General Transportation Aids, the Local Road Improvement Program and the Local Road
Improvement – Supplement (LRIP-S) program all provided the locals with additional funding. While the
increased funding was much appreciated and put to good use, the recent turn in the economy has
significantly reduced the purchase power of those dollars. Bid prices increases of 20% and more have
been observed and that is anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future. Continued increased
funding in GTA, LRIP, and the new ARIP program is needed to meet the needs of the local system.
Additionally, all four Counties are responsible for maintaining the State Highway System with no
increases to the Routine Maintenance Agreement for almost a decade. Due to inflation, there isn’t
enough funding to maintain a good level of service with current staff required to maintain the State
system.
We support the following to continue to address the funding needs on the local road system:
1) Increases to the General Transportation Aids
2) Increases to the Local Road Improvement Program
3) Increases to the State RMAs with all Counties.