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Wisconsin bill would let engineering analysis qualify roads for agricultural improvement grants
Summary
Senate Bill 443, introduced Sept. 29, 2025, would expand eligibility for the Wisconsin Department of Transportations Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP) by adding an engineering-analysis option to the statute that determines whether a highway is sufficiently deficient to qualify for grant funding.
Senate Bill 443, introduced Sept. 29, 2025, would expand eligibility for the Wisconsin Department of Transportations Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP) by adding an engineering-analysis option to the statute that determines whether a highway is sufficiently deficient to qualify for grant funding.
Under current law, ARIP eligibility can be demonstrated if a highway has been designated as a class XBY highway under s. 349.15 because of structural deficiencies or if the highway was subject to a posted weight limitation for at least one month in the previous year. The bill amends 86.31(3o)(b)4 to add paragraph (c): an engineering analysis performed by a registered professional engineer indicating that the highway is unable to accommodate heavy agricultural traffic.
The Legislative Reference Bureaus analysis, printed with the bill text, summarizes the change as adding a third option for demonstrating insufficiency: a professional engineers finding that the highway cannot accommodate heavy agricultural traffic. The bill text renumbers the existing paragraph and creates the new subparagraph c to read explicitly that an engineering analysis by a registered professional engineer satisfies the statutory requirement.
The bill document identifies the Senate sponsors as Senators Marklein, Feyen, Jacque, Jagler, Nass, Spreitzer, Testin, Tomczyk and Wimberger. It lists cosponsoring members of the State Assembly and states the bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Revenue. The bill identifier appears as LRB-4654/1, Senate Bill 443.
No committee reports, fiscal estimates beyond a printed appendix reference, public testimony, or votes are contained in the document provided. The Legislative Reference Bureau note directs readers to the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to the bill for additional information on fiscal effects.
If enacted, the change would allow political subdivisions seeking ARIP grants to rely on a registered professional engineers evaluation to show a highway cannot support heavy agricultural traffic, in addition to the current options of a class XBY designation or an observed weight limit.
