"Fix It First" Resonates In Zoo Interchange Bridge Debacle

1000 Friends of Wisconsin some time ago published a fine report on the state's transportation priorities - - or shall we say, the lack of same - - called "Fix It First."

Pretty darned relevant these days, I'd say.

The region is about 40% through the so-called $6.4 freeway modernization plan, but threw in for good measure the addition of 127 miles of new lanes, while the state starves maintenance budgets and localities can't fix their potholes.

There is a bi-partisan love affair with building new roads, adding lanes, bypassing small towns and rewarding the concrete side of highway lobby, all the while overlooking enforcement of load limits that can extend the useful life of surfaces and structures, and then forgetting to fix what we have.