Adam RollinsThe state of Wisconsin has received $211 million to support community-driven infrastructure, housing, energy resilience and water projects. The award comes from the Fiscal Year 2024 federal government funding package.
The lion’s share of the funds – $120 million – will go to the U.S. Army Corps’ Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP). The NESP is a long-term program designed to improve navigation and restore ecosystems along the Upper Mississippi River System and Illinois Waterway.
The funds will enable the state to improve the capacity and efficiency of the navigation system. The army will update lock and dam infrastructure in addition to enhancing smaller-scale infrastructure for towboat and barge transportation.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WiDOT) will use $10 million to reconstruct the Chippewa Valley Corridor in Eau Claire County. The 80-mile corridor provides critical links between cities and counties in the west-central Wisconsin region to the Twin Cities metro area. The project will improve airports, highways, public transit, freight and passenger rail and intercity bus routes throughout the corridor. Eau Claire is 92.6 miles east of Minneapolis.
The Wisconsin Air National Guard will receive $7.1 million to build a 10-lane, live fire indoor small arms range at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. The Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport will use $5 million to improve passenger boarding bridges.
The Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Institute (WOLI) will leverage $5 million to build a language revitalization center in the city of Hayward. The center will provide full-time Ojibwe immersion education for children from pre-K to 12th grade. Hayward is 138 miles northeast of Minneapolis.
