Gov. Evers, WisDOT Announce Over $151 Million for Local Road Improvements

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), today announced counties and municipalities across the state received more than $151 million in the first quarterly payments for 2026 for General Transportation, Connecting Highway, and Expressway Policing Aids to repair, maintain, and improve local roads and connecting highways. The funding was provided by the 2025-27 Biennial Budget signed into law by Gov. Evers last year, which resulted in the largest amount of funding for the GTA program in the state’s history.

“For the past seven years, my administration and I have worked hard to fix the darn roads to improve safety and the quality of life for folks and families across our state and build the 21st-century infrastructure Wisconsin can be proud of, ” said Gov. Evers. “That includes our efforts to ensure local communities have the resources to take care of their unique needs. Moving ahead, we look forward to more miles repaired in 2026 to ensure Wisconsinites have the safe, reliable roads and highways they expect and deserve. ”

After years of neglect under the previous administration, since 2019, the Evers Administration has improved or repaired more than 9,600 miles of road and over 2,400 bridges across Wisconsin.

The bipartisan 2025-27 Biennial Budget, signed by Gov. Evers in July, built upon the Evers Administration’s efforts to invest in the state’s transportation infrastructure with $1.1 billion in new funding for key transportation investments, including increasing the state’s GTA program by another three percent in each year of the biennium. For calendar year 2026, local governments will receive more than $570 million in General Transportation Aids financial assistance to support transportation-related projects. All told, municipalities will receive $33.2 million more over the next two fiscal years and counties will receive nearly $10 million more over the next two fiscal years. Total funding for all local programs makes up almost one-third of the state transportation budget.

“Investments in our local transportation networks enhance safety, enrich our quality of life, and help to strengthen our state’s economy,” WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman said. “WisDOT continues our commitment to working with local governments to make wise investments that strengthen our transportation infrastructure.”

The first quarter payments, delivered the first week of January, totaled $151,617,393.93 and included:

• General Transportation Aids (GTA): $142,602,619.40 to local units of government;
• Connecting Highway Aids (CHA): $4,258,799.53 to eligible municipalities; and
• Expressway Policing Aids (EPA): $4,755,975.00 to Milwaukee County.

General Transportation Aids help cover the costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction. Connecting Highway Aids reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways within municipalities. Expressway Policing Aids help the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department with the costs of patrolling expressways within the county.

Quarterly payments for cities, villages, and towns are sent the first Monday in January, April, July, and October. County payments are made in three installments, with 25 percent of the total annual payment on the first Monday in January; 50 percent on the first Monday in July; and 25 percent on the first Monday in October.

A complete list of the first quarter aid payments is available here.

ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS IN THE 2025-27 BIENNIAL BUDGET TO SUPPORT WISCONSIN’S TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

After years of neglect under the previous administration, Gov. Evers has made fixing Wisconsin’s roads and bridges and making sure the state’s infrastructure can meet the needs of a 21st-century workforce and a 21st-century economy a top priority. Since 2019, the state has improved more than 9,600 miles of roads and 2,400 bridges statewide. In each of his biennial budgets, Gov. Evers has secured historic investments in Wisconsin’s transportation infrastructure, and improving Wisconsin’s roads and bridges continued to be a priority for the governor in the 2025-27 Biennial Budget. In addition to securing a three percent increase in General Transportation Aids, the final 2025-27 Biennial Budget signed by Gov. Evers includes:

• A historic increase of nearly $333 million over the biennium in the state highway rehabilitation program;
• $100 million for the Local Roads Improvement Program;
• Continuing support for the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, created by Gov. Evers in the 2023-25 biennium, with a $150 million investment to continue repairing and improving Wisconsin’s rural roads to help farmers and producers and the state’s agricultural and forestry industries move products to market safely and efficiently, including $30 million specifically targeted to bridge and culvert repair;
• $244.5 million to keep key projects, such as I-41 and I-39/90, on schedule;
• A 10 percent increase to paratransit aids, increasing funding by $687,600 over the biennium;
• Improving safety on Milwaukee County expressways with $38 million in expressway policing aids; and
• $50 million for the harbor assistance program, including $15 million for the Menominee Harbor Project and $20 million for the Port of Green Bay.

The 2025-27 Biennial Budget also improves ongoing transportation fund revenues by generating nearly $200 million in additional revenue to improve the sustainability of the transportation fund. In addition to robust investments in transportation infrastructure statewide, the final 2025-27 Biennial Budget invests in local communities to ensure that they are able to address the unique needs of their constituents and bolster local infrastructure, including $14 million through municipal service payments to ensure local communities have the resources they need to meet basic and unique needs alike.

Gov. Evers also exercised his broad, constitutional veto authority to partially veto aspects of the budget that were outside of the bipartisan budget negotiations. More information about the bipartisan budget signed by Gov. Evers is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.