BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – Backers of the South Bridge project in Brown County might’ve broken a slight sweat after the governor signed the new state budget on Thursday.
One of his more than fifty line-item vetoes included drawing a line through a piece that would direct the DOT to add an interchange to the I-41 expansion project where I-41 intersects with Southbridge Road/French Road. That interchange is expected to be one of the first steps of the overall project.
This section directs the Department of Transportation to add an interchange to the I-41 expansion project where I-41 intersects with Southbridge Road/French Road in Brown County. I am vetoing this section because I object to the Legislature specifying specific design elements that should be determined based on congestion and safety needs assessments by professional highway engineers. Further, this particular item is unnecessary and untimely as it adds a highway element requirement that the Department of Transportation has already included in the scope of the project.
“The measure would have directed the Department of Transportation to build an interchange that was already part of the plan,” the governor’s policy director, Jenni Dye told WTAQ News. “The veto, in terms of the project moving forward, has no effect because the legislation having it in there had no effect because it was already happening.”
They say it appears the verbiage may have been added in an attempt to expedite the process.
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