AB 826

Under current law, the Department of Transportation (DOT) administers a

major highway projects program. With limited exceptions, a major highway project

is either 1) a project having a total cost of more than $30,000,000 and involving a)

construction of a new highway 2.5 miles or more in length; b) reconstruction or

reconditioning of an existing highway that relocates at least 2.5 miles of the highway

or adds one or more lanes five miles or more in length to the highway; or c)

improvement of an existing multilane, divided highway to freeway standards or 2)

a project having a total cost of at least $75,000,000. For both categories of major

highway projects, DOT annually adjusts the total cost threshold based on an

inflation index.

For major highway projects of the first type, the project must generally receive

the approval of the Transportation Projects Commission (TPC) and the legislature

(generally referred to as "enumeration") before the project may be constructed. In

general, DOT must receive authorization from TPC to prepare an environmental

impact statement (EIS) or environmental assessment (EA). Once the EIS or EA is

completed, TPC may recommend approval of the project. After TPC has

recommended a project, the legislature may enumerate the project and construction

of the project may commence.

For major highway projects of the second type, DOT may prepare an EIS or EA

for the project without TPC approval but, prior to construction of the project, must

submit a report to TPC and request TPC approval to proceed with the project under

a passive review process. Once approved by TPC, the project is considered

enumerated as a major highway project under the statutes.

This bill involves a project of the first type. The bill requires DOT to study the

amount of vehicle traffic on a portion of STH 13 and, if the study indicates that the

traffic count on any portion of the study area averages 28,000 vehicles per day, to

commence the preparation of an EIS for a project involving the construction of a

proposed east arterial highway that begins at the intersection of STH 54 and STH

73 in the village of Port Edwards and extends to the intersection of STH 54 and CTH

"W" in the city of Wisconsin Rapids and that includes a new crossing of the Wisconsin

River. The EIS, under this bill, may be prepared without regard to whether TPC has

approved the preparation of the EIS.