Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels recently sent out a Community Update regarding Washington Street. In the update he said that he has been receiving complaints about the condition of the major thoroughfare, and why it has not been fixed by the city.
Mayor Nickels explained that the first thing that people need to know is that Washington Street is also technically State Highway 42, and US Highway 151 also runs along it. As he put it in the release, “The state is responsible for reconstruction of highways through city limits and the city is given dollars from the state annually to maintain those state highway roads.”
Mayor Nickels also said “Our Public Infrastructure Committee met early this summer to discuss our options in greater detail. State Senator Devin LeMahieu and State Assemblyman Paul Tittl were asked to help write a letter on behalf of the city to the DOT Secretary to help us get this street on the state’s plans.”
When they responded to that letter, DOT Secretary-designee Craig Thompson said a pavement replacement would not be recommended until 2037, but a resurfacing-level improvement in approximately 2026 will extend the life of the pavement structure another 10-15 years.
Mayor Nickels said in his statement, “I also strongly encourage you to contact your state representatives to get this street on the state’s plans much sooner. Both our Senator and Assemblyman have been helpful to this point, but they (and we) need to keep the pressure on, especially as they head into the next state biennium budget in early 2021.”
Below is the contact information for the State Representatives in Madison.
Governor Tony Evers
Submit a comment at https://appengine.egov.com/apps/wi/governor/voice-an-opinion
State Senator Devin LeMahieu
Senator Andre Jacque
Assemblyman Paul Tittl
(888) 529-0025
