Wisconsin
Wisconsin receives average marks on latest infrastructure report card
A report card from a group of civil engineers graded Wisconsin’s infrastructure with a C+ in an assessment that covers 17 categories, including parks, roads and energy.
That grade is a slight improvement from the 2020 report card, when Wisconsin received a C.
The American Society of Civil Engineers issues the report card every four years as a way to give residents and policymakers a picture of where a state stands when it comes to transportation, water systems, waste management and other infrastructure. This year, Wisconsin became the first state to have broadband evaluated as part of the report.
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Ken Mika is a regional director for the engineering society who is based in Green Bay and one of the co-authors of the latest report card.
“(This year’s grade) tells us that we are currently in a position where there are some areas that do need to get improved immediately, but nothing is detrimental,” Mika told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
The report card is intended to identify infrastructure areas with critical needs and to keep things running smoothly where the state is already doing well.
“A lot of times, people don’t know what’s going on with infrastructure unless something bad is happening,” Mika said. “Nobody knows what civil engineers are up to until a bridge collapses.”
The report authors offered three key recommendations for raising the state’s grade in 2028:
- Increase overall investment in infrastructure;
- Ensure that infrastructure is safe, reliable and resilient;
- Monitor access and improve data collection.
Mika joined “Wisconsin Today” for a look at some of the report’s key findings.
Roads get a C with recent investments
Wisconsin has more than 115,500 miles of roadways, and most of them saw improved pavement conditions since the previous report in 2020.
That is largely due to an influx of local, state and federal funding, including the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to the report. However, that funding is set to expire in 2026.
“That’s going to be when the real questions begin. Because if we are not able to sustain this amount of infrastructure investment into our roadways and other areas, we’re going to see everything drop to pre-2021 infrastructure grades,” Mika said. “We need to figure out what the long-term plan is.”
For Mika, that includes identifying new funding models since the Wisconsin gas tax has remained the same since 2006 despite inflation. He also pointed to the fact that gas usage is down with more electric vehicles on the road.
“We need to figure out what’s the better way to cover the true costs of using our roadways than what we’ve been doing in the past,” he said.
Public parks get a D due to maintenance backlogs and low funding
This year is the first time report authors evaluated Wisconsin’s public parks, and the category received a D.
Mika chalked up the low grade to a lack of funding. He said Wisconsin has a wide gap between public park participation and how much the state Department of Natural Resources spends on the parks.
“The DNR spent an average of $3.39 per state resident on parks, which is the second lowest rate of all states in the United States,” Mika said. “That’s about $1.09 per visit, which is the lowest in the country, despite being ranked 17th nationally in participation.”
To boost the state’s public parks grade next time, the report recommends investing in critical upgrades to facilities, roads and drinking water at the parks.
Broadband gets a C-
Wisconsin is the first state to have a broadband grade in the infrastructure report card.
Mika said he was initially surprised by the low grade, given recent state and federal investments in broadband. But after reviewing the data, he said that limited access and low speeds in rural areas need to be addressed.
“We’re starting to realize that the older parts of the broadband network are not able to handle the latest and greatest speeds that are required for many of our new infrastructure as we become more of a data-centric society,” Mika said.
He pointed to the heavy use of broadband at home, schools and workplaces, as well as in operating infrastructure systems such as traffic lights or wastewater facilities.
Waste management, ports and rail all receive B grades
The highest grades in this year’s infrastructure report card are in the B range, and that includes hazardous waste, solid waste, rail and ports.
For Mika, the common thread in these higher-performing categories is public-private partnerships. He offered the example of waste management.
“We have both private and publicly owned landfills in Wisconsin, and the DNR works with both entities correctly to the point where the private entities are being responsible and covering their costs and their share while also protecting the environment,” Mika said.
He also pointed to ports as an example of effective public-private partnerships in the state, with many ports being led by a local public entity but also receiving significant investment from private companies.
Schools are given an ‘incomplete’
Another first on this year’s report, schools received an “incomplete.”
“Because of the lack of data since 1999, we weren’t able to fully do what we would have felt as a proper amount of evaluation and grading,” Mika said.
For this report, the engineering society looks at school buildings, not educational programs, Mika explained. He hopes that the grade in the report card will create a push for more publicly available information on school facilities.
“If the state of Wisconsin can, it would be a good time to update the data so that the public can be better informed of what’s going on with our schools,” he said.
Read the 2024 report card for Wisconsin’s infrastructure here.
MENOMONIE, Wis. — No students were injured when a school bus rear-ended multiple vehicles in a construction zone in western Wisconsin on Tuesday.
The Wisconsin State Patrol says the crash happened on County Highway B at the interchange of Interstate 94 in Dunn County near Menomonie just before 4 p.m.
A Chevy Silverado and Ford Excursion had been stopped at stoplights for road construction on northbound County Highway B at the interchange I-94. That’s when the school bus, unable to stop in time, struck the Chevy, pushing it into the Ford.
The driver of the Chevy, a 58-year-old Colfax, Wisconsin, man, suffered injuries not considered to be life-threatening and was transported to a local hospital.
Authorities say there were approximately 45 students on the bus at the time of the crash and none were injured.
No other injuries were reported.
The crash is under investigation.
On Monday, eight students were injured in a southeastern Wisconsin school bus crash.
Wisconsin received disappointing news on Monday, with starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke reportedly ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury. That puts redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke into the starting role for the remainder of the season.
The news was first reported by Colten Bartholomew of BadgerExtra.
Van Dyke was injured in Wisconsin’s 42-10 loss to Alabama on Saturday, after completing all five of his passes for 16 yards and picking up nine yards on one run. Locke finished the game for the Badgers, completing 13-of-26 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown.
Although Van Dyke won the starting job in Madison to start the season, Locke made the decision difficult in fall camp. Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo was extremely pleased with what he saw out of the redshirt sophomore throughout the offseason.
“We kind of see it as a 1A and 1B situation, as opposed to a No. 1 and No. 2,” Longo said of the quarterback battle in fall camp. “That’s how well Braedyn has done here in camp.”
With Van Dyke out, the Badgers offense now turns to Locke. It’s a position he’s familiar with, starting three games a season ago when Tanner Mordecai battled injury. He finished the 2023 campaign with 777 yards, five touchdowns and one interception while completing 50% of his passes.
Through the first three games, it’s fair to say that Wisconsin’s offense has sputtered. The Badgers are averaging just 21.7 points and 354.3 yards per game. Those numbers rank 16th and 15th in the Big Ten, respectively.
There’s a lot of room for improvement.
While there’s no good timing for an injury, the announcement regarding Van Dyke comes during Wisconsin’s first bye week. That gives the Longo and the offense a lot more time to get adjusted to playing with Locke under center for the remainder of the year.
Luke Fickell’s team could certainly use the extra preparation. When the Badgers return from the bye week, they’ll open Big Ten play on the road against USC on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Michigan makes QB change
Coach Sherrone Moore is making a change in Ann Arbor. With quarterback Davis Warren struggling through the first three games of the 2024 season, the keys to the offense are being handed to Alex Orji.
Warren was pulled from Michigan’s game against Arkansas State on Saturday after throwing three interceptions. The Wolverines still got the win, improving to 2-1 on the season. Moving forward, though, Orji will be in charge of the offense.
“Alex will start on Saturday,” Moore said Monday from Ann Arbor. “Excited for him. He’s been in here champing at the bit.”
Warren has thrown six interceptions with just two touchdowns in Michigan’s first three contests. The turnovers are a huge reason why Moore wants to make a change.
“It’s a tough situation when the big thing we talk about protecting the football and it gets put in harms way,” Moore said. “But (Warren), he’s a great team player … at the end of the day, we have to play the guys we think will help us win.”
Orji has played in all three of Michigan’s games but has been primarily used in the run game. He’s thrown just six passes, completing three for 15 yards and two touchdowns. The junior has also rushed for 58 yards on 10 carries.
We’ll see if Michigan’s offense looks any better with Orji running the show this weekend against USC.
Extra crispy bacon for PJ Fleck
It’s Floyd of Rosedale week, with Minnesota preparing to host Iowa on Saturday. You had to know bacon was going to be brought up at some point, right?
At his weekly press conference on Monday, Fleck was asked if he has any special traditions leading up to this rivalry game against Iowa. With a large pig trophy at stake, he was asked if he indulges in any extra bacon throughout the week.
“Just prepare, just prepare,” Fleck said with a smile. “I do like bacon — extra crispy, though. I don’t like anything that’s soggy about the bacon. Extra, extra crispy bacon.”
Last year, Fleck led the Gophers to their first win over the Hawkeyes since 2014. If Minnesota keeps Floyd of Rosedale in Minneapolis, he might celebrate with a plate full of that extra crispy bacon.
BIG TEN WEEK 3 OVERREACTIONS: The Gophers were awfully golden, a Nebraska analyst learns his lesson, the worst roughing the passer call ever and more from the Big Ten in Week 3. CLICK HERE
BIG TEN SPREADS FOR WEEK 4: The spreads have been released for Week 4 of the college football season. Here’s a look at every spread in the Big Ten. CLICK HERE
BIG TEN WEEK 4 POWER RANKINGS: Is Indiana the real deal? After a blowout win over UCLA and a 3-0 start to the season, Curt Cignetti has a lot of people believing in the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
Tony Castro grew up in West St. Paul, Minnesota, as the son of Mexican immigrants. He loved hockey. Most kids in the neighborhood did. But Tony was told by a family member that he’d never earn a living in the game. Reluctantly, he listened. While still a teenager in the 1970s, he started working at an auto body shop that became his own: Castro’s Collision Center on Robert Street in St. Paul.
Tony and his wife, Joette, had five children. In raising a new generation, Tony never repeated the advice he’d been given about the impracticality of a career in hockey. Where others saw limitations, he sought possibilities. He believed. His kids did, too.
This fall, the youngest of them, Anton, begins his career at the University of Wisconsin, one of the most storied programs in college hockey. He’ll bring with him the work ethic and empathy he learned from Tony, who showed that running a successful business could coexist with helping customers struggling to pay for necessary repairs.
“The hardest worker I’ve ever met,” Anton said. “He was at work at 5, 6 a.m. I wouldn’t see him until 9, 10 p.m. He was always working. A body shop is a pretty blue-collar business, especially on the west side . . .
“He loved it. Even on hockey trips, he was on the phone every second, calling people, setting up appointments, talking about insurance policies.”
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