State League of Municipalities Applauds Influx of Federal Money for Infrastructure

Thursday, November 11th, 2021 -- 11:01 AM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) The state League of Municipalities is applauding a fresh influx of federal infrastructure money.

Wisconsin will be seeing over 6 billion dollars to rebuild roads and bridges and fiber lines. Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels says people don't realize how expensive it is to upkeep the roads in the state. "We did a mile worth of road and the total price tag was 1.5 million dollars."

Nickels says the expected 6 billion dollars in funding for Wisconsin is something entirely new. "I've been there for 12 years now and I've never seen a huge increase in funding from either the state or the federal government for major infrastructure projects."

Nickels says that while the bulk of that will be going to federal projects in the state, that will give state and local governments a chance to spend money on their own projects. "So I really do see just a win-win-win where local municipalities may be able to fix a lot more of our infrastructure and our bridges because of this."

Nickels is also happy to see funding explicitly for fiber and broadband in this plan, which he says is just as important as water and electricity to Wisconsin residents.

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