Question No. 9: Gregg Underheim Response
Gregg Underheim did not respond to this question by the deadline. His position, described in an e-mail received Oct. 22, appears as a comment below.
posted by Miles Maguire at 1:11 PM
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
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2 Comments:
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The following is the response from Mr. Underheim:
Transportation funding is an important element in the economic development strategy of Wisconsin. First, the tourism of northern Wisconsin depends on a road infrastructure that can move traffic north rapidly and safely. Tourism is in fact a significant contributor to the Oshkosh economy. We need the routes in and out as well.
Additionally, Tommy Thompson, early in his tenure as governor, recognized the importance of a highway infrastructure for Wisconsin Industry.
Wisconsin faces significant needs in maintaining and upgrading our highways. Cities towns and counties also depend on money from the transportation fund for their road budgets. The Marquette interchange in Milwaukee must be replaced, not only for traffic movement reasons but also for safety reasons. Here in the Fox Valley we need additional lanes constructed between Highway 26 and Neenah to accommodate the traffic to and from work everyday.
Currently, the only monies that go into the transportation fund are gas tax revenues, vehicle registration fees and money that is received from the federal government for transportation. As a side note Congressman Tom Petri has done a superb job of getting more money from the federal government for Wisconsin.
I support the gas tax as a fair means of funding highways. It is essentially a user fee. The more one drives, the more one pays in gas tax. There have been suggestions that we should take money from the general fund for transportation funds. I oppose that option. Right now the state does not have the resources to take money from general purpose revenues and add them to the transportation fund.
For the Marquette interchange it is reasonable to look at a toll system. That is the only place I would consider a toll system. There is a great deal of traffic that goes through Milwaukee whose origin in Illinois. They have no problem collecting fees from us. We should at least consider that option for Milwaukee. The collection stations could be located in such a manner that local traffic suffers a minimal effect. I do not support a toll system for the Fox Valley. The vast majority of the traffic here is local and placing collection stations anywhere would have a great effect on local residents.
Additionally Wisconsin has been criticized fairly as a state whose road construction expenses are high. We can and must find administrative cuts during the whole construction process. Those cuts can be found in the design process, the environmental evaluation process, and the construction process.
Finally, irrespective of the funding issues it is time for the Fox Valley to see the addition of another lane on highway 41. Our traffic counts merit the expansion. It is a safety issue and it is an economic development issue. I have and I will continue to aggressively support that expansion.
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