84.11 Local bridge construction and reconstruction.

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Construction" includes reconstruction.

(b) “Local bridge" means a bridge which is not on the state trunk highway system or on marked routes of the state trunk highway system designated as connecting highways.

(1g) Administration. The department shall administer the local bridge construction program and shall have all powers necessary and convenient to implement this section.

(1m) Eligibility and project extent. Local bridges are eligible for construction under this section. Projects under this section include all approaches and embankments, acquisition of lands necessary for right-of-way or other purposes, and all other necessary appurtenances.

(1r) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this section. The rules shall include criteria for selecting and evaluating projects which are eligible for construction under this section.

(2) Initiation of proceedings. Proceedings for the construction of a bridge project under sub. (1m) may be initiated by a petition filed with the department. The petition shall state that the petitioner desires such construction, and the approximate location thereof, and that, in the opinion of petitioner, the construction is necessary and is a bridge project eligible for construction under this section. The petition may be filed by any county, city, village or town. The petition shall be duly adopted by the governing body of the county, city, village or town, and a certified copy of the adopted petition shall be filed with the department.

(3) Hearing. Within 60 days of the receipt of a petition under sub. (2), the department shall fix a time and place for a hearing and give notice of the hearing by publication of a class 2 notice, under ch. 985, in the vicinity of the proposed bridge project. Notice shall also be given by registered letter addressed to the clerks of the counties, cities, villages and towns in which any part of the bridge project will be located. The notice shall also be given to the secretary of natural resources either by registered mail or personally. The hearing may be held in any county, city, village or town in which any part of the bridge project will be located.

(4) Finding, determination, and order. After such hearing the department shall make such investigation as it considers necessary in order to make a decision in the matter. If the department finds that the construction is necessary it shall determine the location of the project and whether the project is eligible for construction under this section. The department shall also determine the character and kind of bridge most suitable for such location and estimate separately the cost of the bridge portion and the entire project. The department shall make its finding, determination, and order, in writing, and file a certified copy thereof with the clerk of each county, city, village, and town in which any portion of the bridge project will be located and also with the secretary of state and the secretary of administration. The determination of the location of the project made by the department and set forth in its finding, determination, and order shall be conclusive as to such location and shall constitute full authority for laying out new streets or highways or for any relocations of highways made necessary for the construction of the project and for acquirement of any lands necessary for such streets or highways, relocation or construction. The estimate of cost made by the department shall be conclusive insofar as cost may determine eligibility of construction under this section.

(5m) Apportionment of cost. The state shall pay one-third of the cost of projects constructed under sub. (1m), the county or counties in which the bridge project is located shall pay one-third, and the one or more cities, villages and towns in which any part of the bridge project is located shall pay one-third, except that to the extent discretionary federal aid for highways allocated to Wisconsin is used to finance any portion of the cost of the project, the portion of the cost to be borne by the state and any county, city, village or town, respectively, shall be proportionately reduced. The portion to be paid by the counties shall be borne equally by the counties in which the bridge project is located, except that no bridge project shall be considered as located within a county unless an entrance to the bridge proper is wholly or partly within the limits of that county. If a bridge project wholly within one county is located in more than one city, village or town, their respective portions of the cost shall be in proportion to their respective assessed valuations as last equalized by the county board prior to the date of the department's finding, determination and order. If such cities, villages or towns are located in more than one county, the portion of the cost paid by all cities, villages and towns shall first be apportioned equally according to the number of counties, and then to the cities, villages and towns in each county in proportion to their respective assessed valuations as provided in this subsection.

(5n) Design-build contracts.

(a) In this subsection, “design-build contract" means a contract for a project under which the engineering, design and construction services are provided by a single entity.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section and ss. 84.01 (13) and 84.06 (2), the department may enter into a design-build contract for the design and construction of a bridge for which funding is provided under s. 84.11 (5), 1993 stats., and for which no contract for construction is awarded before May 1, 1999. The department may enter into a contract under this paragraph only if all of the following conditions are met:

1. The design-build contract is awarded through a competitive selection process that utilizes, at a minimum, contractor qualifications, quality, completion time and cost as award criteria. In order to be eligible to participate in the selection process, the contractor must be prequalified by the department as a design consultant and as a contractor.

2. The design-build contract is approved by the secretary of the federal department of transportation under an experimental program described under section 1307 (d) of P.L. 105-178 pursuant to the authority granted under section 1307 (e) of P.L. 105-178.

3. The design-build contract is approved by the governor.

(c) No later than 5 years after October 29, 1999, the department shall submit a report to the governor, and to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2), describing the effectiveness of the design-build process contracting procedures under this subsection.

(5r) Milwaukee 6th Street viaduct cost sharing. Notwithstanding sub. (5m), the costs for any project governed by an agreement that is in effect before June 30, 1993, for which funding is provided under s. 84.11 (5), 1993 stats., and for which no contract for construction is awarded before May 1, 1999, shall be paid as specified in an agreement entered into on or after April 20, 1999, by the city and county in which the bridge is wholly located and this state.

(6) Provision of portions of costs by local units. If the department makes a finding and determination favorable to the construction of any bridge project under this section, it shall issue an order to proceed with the project according to the priorities for projects established under sub. (1r). The governing body of each county, city, village and town required by the order to pay a portion of the cost of the project shall at its next regular or special meeting determine the method and initiate proceedings to provide such portion. Within 5 days after the adjournment of such meeting the governing body of any such city, village or town shall cause its clerk to certify the action of such governing body to the county clerk and the department. Within 5 days after the adjournment of such meeting of the county board the county clerk shall certify the action of the county board to the department. The governing body of any such county, city, village or town, in addition to the portion which it is by such order required to pay, and the governing body of any other county, city, village or town which will be especially benefited by the construction of such bridge may provide all or part of the portion which any county, city, village or town is by such order required to pay or which the state is required to pay.

(6a) County board action. If any city, village or town which is required by the order of the department to pay a portion of the cost of a bridge project under sub. (1m) fails to comply with sub. (6) and provide the portion of the cost which it is required to pay, or if the city, village or town does not hold a regular or special meeting within 30 days after the date of the department's finding, determination and order, the county board of the county in which the city, village or town is located may take action to provide such portion, and to assess all or part thereof against the city, village or town as a special tax, in one or more installments as the county board determines. The county clerk shall certify the tax or each installment of the tax to the clerk of the city, village or town, who shall place it in the next tax roll; and it shall be levied, collected and paid into the county treasury as are other county taxes.

(7m) Execution and control of work. Subject to the control and supervision over the navigable waters of the state conferred by law upon the department of natural resources, and the control exercised by the United States, the construction under this section of any bridge project shall be wholly under the supervision and control of the department. The secretary shall make and execute all contracts and have complete supervision over all matters pertaining to such construction and shall have the power to suspend or discontinue proceedings or construction relative to any bridge project at any time in the event any county, city, village or town fails to pay the amount required of it as to any project under sub. (1m), or in the event the secretary determines that sufficient funds to pay the state's part of the cost of the bridge project are not available. All moneys provided by counties, cities, villages and towns shall be deposited in the state treasury, when required by the secretary, and paid out on order of the secretary. Any of such moneys deposited for a project eligible for construction under sub. (1m) which remain in the state treasury after the completion of the project shall be repaid to the respective counties, cities, villages and towns in such amounts as to result in the distribution provided in sub. (5m).

(8) Maintenance and operation. The county, city, village or town in which a bridge project is located is responsible for the maintenance and operation of a bridge constructed under this section. Except as provided in a jurisdictional transfer agreement under s. 84.16, this subsection does not apply to a bridge constructed under this section before August 9, 1989.

(9) Exceptions. Nothing in this section prevents construction of a local bridge under other applicable programs.

History: 1971 c. 323 s. 27; 1973 c. 336 s. 78; 1975 c. 49; 1977 c. 29 ss. 940, 1654 (8) (a); 1981 c. 346; 1983 a. 27; 1989 a. 31; 1997 a. 252; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 103; 2003 a. 33.