Wisconsin DOT audit all but ends plans for north-south corridor, says activist

In last 20 years, project has ballooned from $67 million to nearly $150 million.

In the wake of a searing Wisconsin DOT audit, a neighborhood activist thinks the idea of a north-south corridor through La Crosse’s river marsh is done for good.

Livable Neighborhoods president Charley Weeth didn’t think it was going to be built anyway. But now, after the audit, he sees no chance.

“In part, because it’s just one more project that’s been envisioned but never funded,” Weeth said.

The audit found that estimates for the so-called marsh road ballooned to nearly $150 million in the last 20 years – when the estimate was at $67 million.

“There’s no pot of money sitting some place for a road or for any of these projects,” Weeth said. “It just means, we’re going to put this on a list.

Weeth says the audit shows that the DOT really does tend to do what it wants without considering what the local population wants or needs.  

“Somewhere along the lines the numbers got fudged,” he said. “They did not account for the local feedback, they were supposed to, according to their own standards.”