State Sen. Carpenter Bashes Bob Donovan

State Sen. Tim Carpenter and state Rep. Bob Donovan.

In February 2023, just a month after former Milwaukee alderman Bob Donovan took office as a newly elected state representative, Greenfield city leaders adopted a resolution encouraging the state to install sound barriers along the I-894 freeway in their city. A summary of the resolution said the city’s growing population and businesses “are negatively impacted by loud noise caused by increasing high freeway traffic volumes.”

Donovan jumped on the issue. In June he held a press conference covered by Patch announcing that he had helped secure $7 million in funding for sound barriers in the state budget passed by the Republican-led state Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers.

“For the better part of 20 years, probably longer, you folks have been waiting for sound barriers for this area,” Donovan told a group gathered near the noisy I-894 freeway. “You can see and hear how damaging the noise can be. I’ve talked to constituents, I’ve been in their yards, and they told me ‘Bob, we can’t even entertain in our backyards all summer long because of the noise.’”

But it turned out Donovan hadn’t worked through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and under-estimated the cost of the sound barriers. That’s according to Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke, who appreciated Donovan’s support and attended the press conference where Donovan made his big announcement.

DOT said the $7 million would pay for only three of the seven sound barriers that were needed, Neitzke tells Urban Milwaukee. “Everyone was disappointed,” he says.

But two years later Donovan was working the issue again, for the latest biennial state budget. Leading the charge for full funding was Democratic state Sen. Tim Carpenter, whose district includes much of I-894 and Democratic Rep. Karen Kirsch, who lives in Greenfield. Donovan’s district in the meantime had moved further west due to redistricting, though it still included some of Greenfield and I-894. Carpenter says he and Kirsch “requested funding for this project in the Governor’s 2025-2026 budget proposal which delivered $19.5 million for the project.” Combined with the earlier $7 million allocated two years ago, and considering rising costs, this would have paid for all seven sound barriers.

“We have heard time and time again from constituents in the Greenfield area… about the disruptive noise along I-894,” Carpenter noted in a press release. “People are losing sleep at night, being disturbed during the day, and are exposed to public safety threats from flying debris from highway traffic… I worked diligently throughout the budget process to lock down funding for the construction of these sound barriers.”

“But the Republican-dominated Joint Finance Committee cut the $19.5 million to $9.1 million and added language restricting it to build sound barriers only in Donovan’s district,” Carpenter charged.

Donovan issued a press release claiming credit for the $9.1 million in additional funding, with the headline “Rep. Donovan: Secures sound barrier funding.”

Carpenter’s press release accused Donovan of “tinkering” with the legislation to cut the funding: “Representative Donovan did not ‘secure’ funding for this project, he slashed it in half.”

Donovan did not reply to requests for comment. Neitzke says Donovan insisted he didn’t make the changes to the legislation. But would the Republicans on Joint Finance make the change without running it past their fellow party member?

Neitzke says he appreciates the work of both legislators. “I like everyone equally,” he says. “I represent the purplest community on earth,” he says.

That judiciousness has helped him survive for two decades as Mayor of Greenfield where Democrat Kamala Harris carried the city with 50.8% of the vote in the November presidential election.

Evers used his partial veto power to change the language of the sound barrier proposal, eliminating the geographic restrictions for them. More than likely that will mean WisDOT prioritizes the noisiest areas along I-894, regardless of whose district they are in.

The result should “bring more restful nights and peaceful days to those living along I-894,” Carpenter said. Or as Donovan put it, “I hope they hear a difference.”