Preservation - Local Road Pavement Condition - WisDOT MAPSS Performance Improvement Program

WisDOT MAPSS - Preservation - Local Road Pavement Condition - Protecting, maintaining and operating Wisconsin's transportation system efficiently by making sound investments that preserve and extend the life of our infrastructure, while protecting our natural environment.

Local Road Pavement Condition - Protecting, maintaining and operating Wisconsin's transportation system efficiently by making sound investments that preserve and extend the life of our infrastructure, while protecting our natural environment.

Wisconsin motorists depend on locally owned roads for their travels. Preserving the pavement condition of Wisconsin’s local roads helps promote safety and efficient mobility. Our goal is to have 93% of all paved, and 85% of all unpaved, local pavements rated in fair condition or better.

Arterial - Street and highways carry relatively high traffic volumes. There is no unpaved mileage for this functional classification.
Collector - Typically provide a mixture of both mobility and land access.
Local - Roads are designed for low speeds and generally low volumes.

Over 102,000 miles of locally owned roads in Wisconsin support roughly 44% of all vehicle miles traveled, of which 78% are paved.* Every two years, municipalities and counties are required to submit pavement ratings to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that represent the physical condition of roadways under their jurisdiction. When pavement is in good condition, it promotes the safe and efficient movement of people and products throughout the state. Comprehensive pavement condition data is necessary to determine cost-effective maintenance and improvement strategies that extend the life and serviceability of the local road network. *The unpaved roads consist of gravel and earth (16%) and sealcoat over gravel (6%).

Pavement condition is impacted by material quality, adequacy of pavement design, environmental factors such as temperature and moisture, traffic loading, improvement and maintenance history, and pavement age. All of these factors determine what rehabilitation strategies will provide cost-effective service life.

Wisconsin increased funding for several programs to help support the transportation infrastructure needs of local governments, including the following: 1) General Transportation Aids (GTA) funds increased by 10% in the 2019-2021 biennium. The budget increased an additional 4.6% starting with calendar year 2022 payments; 2) Local Roads Improvement Program-Supplement (LRIP-S) added an additional $90 million in discretionary funding to the 2019-2021 biennium and $100 million to the 2021-2023 biennium — the 2021-2023 biennial budget also included an additional $25 million in LRIP-Discretionary funding; and 3) Surface Transportation Program (STP) increased by roughly 90% starting in federal fiscal year 2022, to a new annual amount of $127.2 million. Local pavement inspections are reported every two years; consequently, results from increased spending are anticipated in future updates.