The state’s Joint Finance Committee voted to include the Agricultural Road Improvement Program in the Department of Transportation’s budget. Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation says this will address one of the biggest challenges in getting farm products to market.
ARIP will provide grants for local governments to repair and rebuild crumbling roads and bridges that create problems for farmers.
“We greatly appreciate the action by the Joint Committee on Finance to fully fund a $150 million program to modernize infrastructure in rural Wisconsin,” says WFBF President Kevin Krentz. “The number one challenge many farmers face in getting their products to market is the road at the end of their driveway.”
In a recent interview with Farm Director Pam Jahnke, JFC Chair Sen. Howard Marklein says the funding in ARIP is targeted to the first-mile roads and bridges that farmers use every day. These are the small, Class B and weight-restricted roads that connect our farms to county and state highways. Unfortunately, many of these roads are in awful condition and small towns need financial support to maintain and improve them. This program fills this need.
Listen to the interview, done before the JFC announcement:
