Marklein Announces Rural Road Grant Application Now Open

Marklein Announces Rural Road Grant Application Now Open
$75 Million to Fix the roads now available for counties, cities, villages and towns

Madison, WI – Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) today announced that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has opened the application process for city, village, town and county governments to apply for the $75 million for local road projects that he fought for in the state budget. The DOT has renamed the program – “The Multimodal Local Supplement (MLS) Program.”

“I worked very hard to set aside funds to fix the roads during the last budget,” Marklein said. “We started at $133 million, which was negotiated to $90 million. The Governor transferred $15 million to schools through the veto process to leave us with $75 million for local roads.”

“While the legislature meant for these funds to be spent to FIX THE ROADS, unfortunately, the DOT changed the program to also allow these funds to be used for buses, trains and bike paths. This was not our intent,” Marklein said. “As a result, I am going to continue to work hard to focus the DOT's efforts on fixing the roads. I am hopeful that many of our rural communities will apply and demonstrate that our priority is to FIX THE ROADS.”
The deadline to apply is December 6, 2019.
Program highlights

Application materials are available on the DOT's website: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/about-wisdot/newsroom/news-rel/090519-MLSCriteria.aspx
The program is focused on local project delivery. Local units of government may apply for design and construction, or construction only, projects.
Grants are available for new projects throughout the state.
Local and tribal governments are eligible for the funding.
The minimum project cost for counties, cities, and villages is $250,000.
The minimum project cost for towns is $50,000.
The program will reimburse local governments up to 90 percent of total eligible costs; the local sponsor provides the balance.
A six-year project completion will be required for approved projects.
The MLS is neutral in the General Transportation Aid (GTA) calculation except for costs paid by the locals in excess of their reimbursement.
The deadline for applications is 5 p.m., Friday, December 6, 2019.

Eligible funds will be split in the following way:
Counties - $26,669,333
Cities/Villages - $19,039,500
Towns - $29,291,167
Total - $75,000,000

The DOT will conduct three informational webinars on the Multimodal Local Supplement program. MLS informational webinars are optional, and each contains similar information. The DOT recommends potential sponsors sign up for one webinar. If you are interested in participating in a MLS Informational Webinar, please select one of the following dates and send an email: DOTLocalPrograms@dot.wi.gov.
Specific webinar links will be sent to you prior to the date(s).

Monday, September 30, 2019: 9:00am to 10:30am
Wednesday, October 2, 2019: 1:00pm to 2:30pm
Thursday, October 10, 2019: 2:00pm to 3:30pm

“If you are a local government leader who will be working on this grant application, please send me the details of your application and project,” Marklein said. “I will do everything I can to advocate for grants to be awarded to rural, high-need projects. I will continue the fight to fix the roads!”