While in Manitowoc celebrating the completion of the enormous crane built by Broadwind Heavy Industries and Konecranes, Governor Tony Evers spoke about the infrastructure in Wisconsin, and said that we “need to fix the darn roads”.
Seehafer News took advantage of the situation and asked the Governor if he had driven down Washington Street, which is technically a state road, and falls under their responsibility to fix.
The question was one that the Governor was expecting, as he had spoken with Mayor Justin Nickels and several members of the City Council before the event began. He said that the state and local governments work together as much as they can.
“I understand the problem, and we are good partners, as much as we can, with cities and municipalities,” he explained, while also saying that they share a ”significant” amount of money with municipalities and counties.
Department of Transportation Secretary Designee Craig Thompson was also at the event, and we were able to ask him if there are any plans to fix Washington Street.
“What’s unfortunate is there are more Washington Streets across the state than we would care to have, which is one of the reasons the Governor ran on fixing these roads,” Thompson explained. “With that being said, we are aware of it. I have talked with our folks, and we are trying to look at where we can fit that into our next five-year plan. I plan on following up with the Mayor. It is definitely a road that needs work and it is on our radar.”
While that does sound promising, we told Thompson that the citizens of Manitowoc have heard that before. We asked if there was any way he could ensure residents that he wasn’t just speaking in a political manner.
He appreciated the question and said, “I can’t give you dates, but I can tell you that we will be talking with the Mayor about it soon. My hope is next time I come here to do an interview we will have a timeline for you.”
A small portion of Washington Street is scheduled to be fixed up this summer, however, it is being funded by the City of Manitowoc.
Mayor Justin Nickels told Seehafer News that the section of the roadway between 15th and 18th Street will receive a complete asphalt overlay, and will begin “in the near future.
