State Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson was in Manitowoc Monday to experience first- hand what locals have been complaining about, the bad condition of Washington Street and Calumet Avenue. 25th Assembly District Representative Paul Tittl told SeehaferNews.com that they took him “on a road tour” and “talked about different solutions.”
They were joined by Mayor Justin Nickels and State Senator Devin LeMahieu who, along with Tittl, represents Manitowoc in Madison. This all began when Tittl appeared on the “Be My Guest” program on 1240 AM WOMT this summer and received a call from the Mayor to reiterate in his words how bad the roads really were.
Washington and Calumet are actually a portion of the state highway system so any work done must go through Madison. “We were really looking for them to put it on their radar,” Tittl explained. “If it’s not on their radar, there’s no way we will ever be able to get any state money for it because it’s not even on their 10-year plan.”
The Legislature put an additional $90 million into the state budget for the L-RIP or Local Road Improvement Program with Governor Evers vetoing $15 million of that reducing the amount to $75 million. If Mayor Nickels were to apply for, and receive money through the L-RIP program, Tittl says we could get the money “almost immediately.”
We asked the local legislator if there could possibly be some action taken within the next year, and he responded, “Probably not, but I think at one point or another when it’s not even on anybody’s radar, for them to be riding in my car and understand what we are driving through, I think that is a good thing.”
Tittl adds that for the DOT Secretary to take time out of his schedule and come personally to Manitowoc to see this for himself “means a lot and it’s a good sign. I’m very hopeful something will get done.”
