Report Finds Interstate Tolls Could Solve Wisconsin's Road Shortfall

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DALLAS – Wisconsin could net more than $40 billion of new revenue over three decades for transportation projects by tolling its five interstate highways, according to a report commissioned in 2015 by state lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker.

The study released last week said Wisconsin could bring in between $14 billion and $41 billion of new money through 2050 by tolling the existing interstates, depending on the toll rate. Implementing the tolls, which would be collected electronically with no tollbooths to slow down traffic, would cost $350 million to $400 million and take four years.

Wisconsin is one of 22 states without a toll road or bridge within its borders. Interstate highways account for 1% of roads in the state but carry 17% of all traffic, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican from Rochester, said tolls will be considered when lawmakers work this spring on how to resolve a potential $1 billion shortfall in transportation revenues as collections from the state's gasoline tax of 32.9 cents per gallon remain flat.

The state's Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in August that Wisconsin needs $939 million over the next two-year budget cycle to keep transportation funding at the current level.

"We know that the governor has consistently said he does not support an increase in the gas tax," Vos said. "This is another viable option to say to people, if you want to use the interstates, you should pay for those. And if you want to use a side road, perhaps it would be a little less expensive, but it might take you a little longer."

Republicans have a 20-13 majority in the state Senate and a 64-35 majority in the General Assembly, the largest GOP edge since 1957.

The tolling proposal would generate revenue from out-of-state motorists who often don't pay any state gasoline tax as they travel on Wisconsin roads, said Rep. Pete Barca, leader of the Democratic minority in the General Assembly.

"It's a much more equitable system," Barca said. "It gives people choices, and yet people from out of state are paying a big part of the freight, so I think it has a great deal of appeal."

The study by HNTB Corp. was mandated by the two-year state transportation budget that was adopted in early 2015.

Putting tolls on Wisconsin interstates would require changes in the federal law that prohibits tolls on the existing highways, the study noted. The state also could seek one of the three slots in a federal test program that has never been implemented, it added.

The Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program (ISRRPP) was authorized by a 1998 funding bill. It allows three states – Virginia, North Carolina, and Missouri – to toll interstate lanes with approval from the Transportation Department but none of the three have yet taken advantage of the program.

A toll of 4 cents per mile on the 875 miles of interstate highway in Wisconsin would provide $14 billion of net revenue through 2050, HNTB said, while a toll of 8 cents per mile would net $29 billion over the same period, with $41 billion provided by a 12 cent per mile toll.

Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb, who will leave the post later this month, told members of the state Assembly's Transportation Committee in October that road projects could be delayed for decades and the state's roads would continue to deteriorate unless new revenue is provided.

Walker has proposed a transportation plan that would reduce overall state transportation spending to $6.5 billion over the next two years, down from $6.8 billion in the current biennium.

Walker said he would not agree to raise the gas tax or vehicle registration fees without a corresponding decrease in other taxes.

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