MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday announced that an $8 million federal grant has been awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to reconstruct a safety rest area near Sparta.
The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), will fund a project “to significantly expand truck parking at a key facility serving traffic from Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago on Interstate 90 westbound to La Crosse, Rochester and beyond,” a news release states.
Evers said he recognizes that truck drivers face many hardships due to a lack of parking spaces around the nation.
“The nationwide challenges facing our trucking industry are placing an undue burden on our hardworking truck drivers as they deliver the critical goods and services that we all depend upon,” Evers said. “We’re working with our federal partners to help alleviate some of those concerns on this critical freight and passenger route through Western Wisconsin.”
Commercial truck parking demand significantly exceeds truck parking capacity across the country, resulting in drivers parking on highway ramps and shoulders.
This project increases truck parking capacity from 16 to approximately 70 spots, adds a staging area for oversized-overweight vehicles and leverages technology to proactively communicate open truck parking spots to commercial drivers moving along I-90 through Sparta.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering for Wisconsin communities in every corner of the state, including making long overdue upgrades for the infrastructure drivers depend on. The I-90 corridor keeps Wisconsin families, businesses, and commerce moving forward, and it’s critical we invest in the waypoints that keep our roads safe,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin. “An upgraded rest stop near Sparta will improve safety, accessibility, and capacity for the truckers, travelers, and commuters who rely on I-90, and I am proud to bring home this investment.”
The project will also reconstruct and modernize one of the state’s oldest safety rest areas, which serves more than 410 vehicles each day, the news release states.
Deteriorated ramps and pavement will be fixed, ADA-compliant restrooms with adult changing tables will be constructed, and improved amenities will be available, including paved walking paths, updated lighting, and a pet walking area.
“Thanks to Sen. Baldwin and Gov. Evers’ leadership, WisDOT will be able to deliver a more welcoming safety rest area that meets the needs of all travelers,” said WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson. “We’re ready to get to work to modernize this outdated and undersized facility that will provide economic and quality of life benefits for all who use it.”
The funding was awarded through USDOT’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects program (INFRA) as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was supported by Baldwin and signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021.
In a recent webinar, David Heller, TCA’s senior vice president of government affairs and safety, recently called a lack of truck parking the industry’s top issue.
“This is the No. 1 issue that the professional truck driver has out there,” Heller said, displaying a heat map showing trucks parked in unauthorized locations, such as side streets and freeway ramps adjacent to truck stops. Another slide showed an average loss of $5,000 per driver due to time lost finding parking.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
i’m clearly all for more parking. myself being a driver but jeewiz myself and some fell drivers could lay down some gravel and create as many spots as we think we need for less than 50 grand. why is it that everything the government funds they feel the need for it to be in the millions or billions. stay safe drivers and be kind to one another. god bless all yalls
You are right, but the true reason for this “big need”, is politics in an election year. I live in Wisconsin and the scrawny governor and “Rubber Stamp Baldwin” are trying to get the do nothing Senator re-elected. For 5 of the past years that she has been office, she has done everything to destroy America, punish American workers and business owners, and spend money like a drunk lesbian sailor at a gentleman’s strip club. Spending like this is what is going to destroy America.