Wisconsin Legislative Council
ACT MEMO
One Ea st Ma in Stre e t, Suite 401 • Ma dison, W I 53703 • (608) 266-1304 • le g.council@le gis.wisconsin.gov • http://www.le gis.wisconsin.gov/lc
Prepared by: David Moore, Senior Staff Attorney April 10, 2024
2023 Wisconsin Act 162
[2023 Senate Bill 753]
Supervision of Local Bridge
Projects
BACKGROUND
The Department of Transportation (DOT) administers a local bridge program to accelerate the
reconstruction or rehabilitation of seriously deteriorating bridges. Under this program, DOT provides
funds to local governments for the reconstruction or rehabilitation of eligible bridges. Local
governments that receive funds under this program must provide a match equal to at least 20 percent of
the project cost. Wisconsin law specifies that the construction of any bridge funded under the local
bridge program shall be wholly under the supervision and control of DOT.
Wisconsin law also provides a procedure for a town that has voted to construct or repair any bridge or
culvert that is on, or that after the construction will be connected to, an existing highway maintained by
the town to file a petition for county aid with the county highway commissioner. If certain statutory
funding requirements are met, the county must pay one-half of the cost of repairing the bridge or
culvert. In these cases, state law provides that both the county highway committee and the town board
shall have full charge of design, sizing, letting, inspecting, and accepting the construction or repair, but
the town board may leave the matter entirely in the hands of the county highway committee.
On June 23, 2023, the Attorney General issued an opinion analyzing the interplay between these two
funding mechanisms. [OAG-01-23.] In that opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a town may
not utilize funding provided under the local bridge program and also petition a county for county aid
under the process described above because the statutes provide conflicting requirements for which
entity supervises a project. In the case of the local bridge program, DOT must supervise the project; in
the case of a project for which a town petitions a county for aid, the project is supervised by the county
highway committee and the town board.
2023 WISCONSIN ACT 162
2023 Wisconsin Act 162 permits a town to both receive county aid to construct or repair a bridge and
receive funding under the local bridge program. The act provides that in these cases, the project must
be under the supervision and control of DOT rather than of the county highway committee and town
board.
Effective date: March 23, 2024
For a full history of the bill, visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
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