Governor Tony Evers kicked off his 2024 pothole patrol tour in Stevens Point.
The Democrat put on the yellow vest and wielded a rake as he worked alongside street crews to fill a large pothole in a residential neighborhood on Blaine Street. He said the tour represents his commitment to Wisconsin’s infrastructure.
“Safe roads are important for all sorts of reasons including people getting to work, our economy, and safety,” said Governor Evers. “When I ran for [Governor] I said we were going to fix the damn roads and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing, whether it’s highways or [residential.]”
Evers also uses the tour to raise awareness for work zone safety, especially after nine workers died in work zone accidents last year. “People doing this, people working on highways shouldn’t have to be concerned for their lives. Those nine people left families behind.
“It is important to fix the roads, but it is also important to make sure that the people doing this work are safe,” added Evers.
Evers says he expects many more highways and residential streets will see work done after the state increased shared revenue to municipalities and counties last summer.
Monday’s stop in Stevens Point involved using the city’s infrared patcher, a first for Evers. The city purchased the machine as part of the 2022 budget, at the time Mayor Mike Wiza said it wasn’t the biggest attention-grabbing item in the spending plan, but one that residents should be excited about.
Evers’ pothole patrol tour was scheduled to start in Gillett but that was canceled due to rain. He also stopped in Menomonie and is expected to make more stops later in the week.
