Wisconsin Public Television
Huppert: "I don't understand how there can be any hesitation on doing something."
How Transportation Funding Looks From A Spring Valley Travel Center
One Western Wisconsin Business Deals With New Local Taxes, Bridge Outage
They're as familiar a part of America's car-oriented transportation infrastructure as the roads themselves: Highway travel centers with gas, commercial truck and RV parking, Wi-Fi, a convenience store and maybe an in-house fast-food joint or and other amenities. Tony Huppert and his family run one such establishment, the TEAM Oil Travel Center located along Highway 29 at the western edge of Spring Valley in Pierce County.
On the Feb. 3, 2017 edition of Wisconsin Public Television's Here And Now, Huppert spoke about how the political stalemate over road funding looks from one rural western Wisconsin community on the edge of the Twin Cities metro area.
Wisconsin's transportation budget crisis has been mounting for some time, as revenues from gas taxes and vehicle registration fees declined and roads and bridges across the state (and nation) deteriorated from age, neglect and repair-project delays. Wisconsin's state legislature and Gov. Scott Walker have yet to agree on how to fill the resulting $1 billion hole in the transportation budget — several members of the Republican majority say the state needs to consider raising taxes and fees and stop relying so much on borrowing, but the governor and his allies on the issue in the legislature refuse to raise taxes unless there's a commensurate tax cut somewhere else in the budget.
Among the more immediate effects Huppert sees are bridges that are closed too long for repairs, and the local Gilman township government raising tax levies on businesses.
"TEAM Oil will pay $1,300 a year more," he said about the local increase he's seeing.
One bridge in the area, Huppert said, should have been re-opened six months ago, but it's still out, forcing people to take a 10-mile detour to access a popular local restaurant, Vino in the Valley. The restaurant even created a map for patrons affected by the detour, naming alternate routes after common wine varietals.
Sometimes, people get lost on the way to Vino in the Valley and end up stopping at TEAM Oil for directions. Huppert pointed out that the restaurant employs 90 people and generates hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax revenue.
As the owner of a business that relies on roads, Huppert is bewildered that the legislature hasn't determined a way forward so far.
"As far as the transportation fund in Wisconsin, I don't understand how there can be any hesitation on doing something," he said. "We have to maintain the infrastructure of the state of Wisconsin. It isn't because we like pretty roads. Somebody's gotta get off their butt and start to realize, this is not funny anymore."
This report was produced in a partnership between PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio. © Copyright 2023, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.