Governor Evers Announces Investment in Roads that Support Farmers and Producers

Thursday, February 6th, 2025 -- 11:00 AM

Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), announced an investment of $100 million for 55 projects to assist with fixing and upgrading aging local roads that support Wisconsin’s farmers and producers, as well as statewide agricultural and forestry industries in 36 counties across the state.

Projects receiving funding are focused on improving rural roads and culverts that are critical to moving and transporting agricultural and forestry products efficiently and effectively across the state.

Wisconsin’s agricultural industry has a more than $116 billion economic impact that supports nearly 354,000 jobs. Created and funded by Gov. Evers as part of the 2023-25 biennial budget, this is the second round of Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP) award announcements.

The governor previously announced the first round of grants in July. In June 2023, Gov. Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 13 to expand the Local Roads Improvement Program to include agricultural road improvement projects by creating the ARIP.

Weeks later, in July 2023, Gov. Evers signed the 2023-25 biennial budget, which provided $150 million for ARIP to improve the transportation infrastructure that provides access to agricultural lands or facilities.

ARIP funds up to 90 percent of total eligible project costs, with the remaining balance covered by the local project sponsor. The first ARIP project solicitation awarded nearly $50 million in state investments to support 37 projects across 28 Wisconsin counties.

Gov. Evers and WisDOT visited communities across the state earlier this summer that had received funding in the first round of awards to hear about how the funding was helping local farmers and producers. A full list of round one award recipients can be found here.

In the second ARIP project solicitation, 220 applications were received, totaling more than $370 million in requested project funding. Of these 220 applications, 74 were previously submitted for funding consideration in the first ARIP project solicitation, and 146 were new applications.

Over both solicitation periods, WisDOT received 299 unique ARIP applications, reflecting $507 million in project costs, highlighting the increased statewide demand and interest in the program.

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