Activists find cooked WisDOT books, wasted road spending

You'd expect more honesty from a massive public agency that taxes and spends so heavily, but then you find out that agency is the Wisconsin road-builders' best political friend - - Wisconsin Department of Transportation, (WisDOT) - - and the matter on the table is I-94 - - and you remember I've heard this before.

Again, and again.

And not just near Milwaukee, as the battle goes on against State Highway 23.

But props to citizen blogger Gretchen Schuldt for taking the time to discover how the agency is using data to unleash the bulldozers and inflate state debt:

The “large urban freeways” WisDOT cites to justify its east-west I-94 expansion project carry an average of just 34% of I-94′s traffic load, according to WisDOT data.

Similarly, Jeff Gonyo and his fiscally-conservative suburban and rural allies who have been trying for years - - with some success in the courtroom - - to block the wasteful and unjustified expansion of State Highway 164 in Western Waukesha County north into the hills of Washington County brought their energy and facts to a recent state budget hearing:

This was the summary at the top of Gonyo's prepared remarks:

THE “COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION” THAT GOVERNOR WALKER AND OUR STATE LEGISLATORS MUST FULLY EMBRACE TO “REIN IN” THE WISDOT:

• Immediately cancel all unnecessary and wasteful WisDOT highway projects (such as the proposed $16 million Highway 164 widening project in Washington County),
  
• Support other low-cost, highly-effective alternatives to these wasteful WisDOT highway projects (like reducing Highway 164’s speed limit to 45 MPH at a cost of only $8,000),
  
• Redirect many millions in tax savings from cancelling these wasteful WisDOT projects to our towns, villages and cities for local road repair and additional property tax relief,
  
• Vigorously oppose and fully reject all WisDOT-related tax, fee and debt increases, and
  
• Insist upon: a) An independent audit of the WisDOT’s spending practices, b) A complete restructuring of this bloated, overstaffed, grossly-mismanaged state agency, and c) The immediate termination of Mark Gottlieb’s employment as WisDOT Secretary.