WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) -- New Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson spent Thursday morning in Wausau touring the city's Metro Ride bus service and potential road projects as he dives into his new job.
Thompson praised the city's bus system but knows there is more that can be done to make it better, which is where Governor Tony Evers' proposal to increase the budget the department comes into play.
"The Metro system right now is doing everything they can with the dollars they have, but it's less than they were getting a decade ago. That makes it very hard for them to continue their service, and they've had to cut service to people that really need it," said Thompson following his tour.
Evers has proposed an 8 cent per gallon increase in the state's gas tax along with a ten dollar increase in the title fee for all vehicles and a 27% increase in the registration fee for heavy trucks. Estimates show those three things would bring in an extra $600 million dollars to the transportation budget every two years.
Thompson calls the gas tax increase a model proposal when compared to Minnesota and Michigan, who are proposing 20 and 45-cent increases in their gas taxes, respectively. The proposal also comes with an adjustment in the minimum markup law, which requires stations to mark up gas prices by 9%. "If we get rid of that law, that could have a downward [effect] on gas prices to negate any of these increases."
Should that budget pass as is, Thompson says Marathon County and the city of Wausau would get 10% more state aid for road projects and the city would also get a 10% boost for the transit operating budget. That's extra money that could be used to expand routes to help people get to work, doctors appointment, or shopping trips. "When routes get cut, it really does impact people's lives, so we are hoping to turn that around." In addition to the transportation funding,
Thompson also spoke about funding for state and local road projects. "We have the worst road conditions in the region by a wide margin." He says that comes from a metric called the International Roughness Index, which states use to measure the smoothness of their roads. "Only 32% of our state highways are in good condition, compared to a lot of our neighbors who were around 75%." By adding to the state's budget through increases in some registration fees and the state gas tax, he says many of those projects could be tackled quickly.
That includes Business 51 between Schofield and Weston, a highway known for its extremely bumpy ride. Thompson called Business 51 a "poster child" for the sate's current infrastructure problems. "If we can get more into the rehabilitation fund, these are the type of roads we will be able to move up."
He says if the Governor's budget passes as is, there is a very real chance that reconstruction of that road could be completed sometime in the next 3-4 years. DOT officials had previously stated that it could be 10 years before the project comes on their radar. Thompson adds that the potential increase in the state's gas tax would not cancel out local wheel taxes that have been implemented in Marathon and Portage Counties, because it's up to those counties to remove them on their own. But he hopes that by increasing their amount of state funding, the need for those added fees will decrease.
Thompson's appointment as Secretary of Transportation still requires approval from the State Senate, which he expects will happen in the next two months. 10
