KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The state will pay for most of the required repairs of a lift bridge in Kaukauna after all.
A grant from the Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Local Supplement grant program will fund 80% of the repairs of the Veterans Memorial Bridge, state officials announced on Thursday.
The city of Kaukauna will cover the remaining 20% of the repair costs.
“It’s the full amount that we originally asked for,” said Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Wisconsin.
Steineke tells FOX 11 the bridge is in need of $2.2 million worth of repairs to make its lift system operational again.
“The city is under orders to get it operational from the federal government. So in order to make sure that city taxpayers don’t get socked with the entire bill we went to work to try to help them out.”
While it is safe for vehicles to travel over, the lack of a working lift system since the 1980s has prevented boats from traveling under the bridge.
Because of this, the recently restored Fox River locks in Kaukauna have not been able to reopen.
The Republican-controlled state Legislature included a provision in the 2019-21 state budget that would have funded 80% of the project, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the proposal.
But Rep. Steineke is happy with how Gov. Evers is helping.
“We’re excited that Governor Evers worked with us to get this done,” said Steineke.
Last year, the U.S. Coast Guard gave the city a May 1, 2021 deadline to fix the bridge. They want the Kaukauna locks system along the Fox River to be operational.
