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When Kevin Nelson hauls corn from his farm south of Osseo, Minn., to grain bins in Winona, Minn., lately he has added extra travel time and is paying more at the pump.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has expanded its “frozen road” law that allows trucks moving forest products, salt and sand to carry heavier loads.

The divisiveness among same-party legislators over how to fund Wisconsin’s failing roads makes transportation a candidate for the most controversial issue in the budget this year, a representative of a statewide transportation alliance said.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald on May 11 rejected an idea put forward by the Republican leaders of the Legislature’s budget committee to take up transportation funding in a separate bill outside the normal budget process.

Lower-than-expected costs for road projects and a revenue bump will free up more than $100 million for the next Department of Transportation budget, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced April 13.

In a move not seen in at least 24 years, top Wisconsin lawmakers yanked dozens of provisions from Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill, including the entire transportation plan put forward by their fellow Republican.

The vexing challenge of how to pay for Wisconsin’s roads and bridges has a simple solution: Build less and prioritize more, new state Department of Transportation Secretary Dave Ross told lawmakers March 16.

Wisconsin’s new transportation secretary vowed Feb. 21 to “change the culture” at the Department of Transportation after an audit found it underestimated highway project costs by more than $3 billion, in part by failing to account for inflation.