Also on this page: DOT broke agreement on ramp study, DeBruin says. Joint Audit endorses DOT reform.

March 7 -- The value of the preliminary engineering contract for the Marquette Interchange doubled to $20.3 million in just over two years, with politically-connected firms benefiting most by the increase, records show.

The original contract was valued at $9,999,999.

HNTB, whose campaign donations make it the politicians' Santa Claus, got a 68% boost in the value of its basic contract.

The contract already has been amended 49 times. Amendments were written for tasks ranging from web site development to helping design scale models. The amendment amounts ranged from a low of $9,771 to a high of $888,932, records show.

The biggest winners in the rewrite flurry were HNTB and CH2M Hill, who together form Milwaukee Transportation Partners. MTP holds the contract, and hires HNTB and CH2M Hill as subcontractors, according to the records.

CH2M Hill also gives to campaign coffers, although not nearly as generously as HNTB. HNTB has given $109,055 to candidates for state office from May 2001 through June 2003, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. CH2M Hill gave $15,727 over the same time period.

Under the original, September 2001 contract, each firm was to be paid $3,570,793, DOT records show. By December 2003, CH2M Hill was on board for $5,056,180, an increase of 42%. HNTB was signed up for $6,001,291, a jump of 68%.

CH2M Hill also was to be paid $222,450 and HNTB was to get another $212,066 for additional work related to the Interchange.

DOT broke agreement on ramp study, DeBruin says

Feb. 29 -- The State Department of Transportation reneged on the agreement it made to conduct preliminary engineering for a ramp directly connecting US Highway 45 to the County Grounds, according to County Supervisory Lynne DeBruin.

DOT's commitment to the study was key to the county's approval of major developments at the County Grounds that are expected to generate up to 36,000 new vehicle trips to an from the Grounds every day, DeBruin said.

"I know we wouldn't have approved the whole thing" if county officials knew DOT would not conduct the study, she said.

Delay in improving access to the County Grounds could mean significant traffic congestion on Wisconsin Ave. and Bluemound Rd. that could affect neighborhoods east of the Grounds, including Story Hill, DeBruin said.

Children's Hospital is expected to relocate and expand on the grounds, and other potential projects include a hotel and a research and development center, according to a draft report by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

"The agreement was that SEWRPC would do the study, and the quid pro quo was the state would pay for preliminary engineering," DeBruin said. "Now the state has decided -- boom -- they can't do it."

At a meeting earlier this month, DeBruin said, "WisDOT was adamant they did not have the funding for it and they're not going forward with it."

WisDOT now says it won't be able to do anything until the Southeastern Wisconsin freeway reconstruction project gets underway in the next decade or so, she said.

""That's not good enough," she said. "Even a five-year wait is not acceptable."

Local officials had wanted a coordinated approach to issues related to County Grounds development, including traffic issues.

"If the State of Wisconsin was willing to play ball like they said they would, we'd actually have a coordinated plan," she said. "We wanted to do it all together, ducks in a row. Don't screw people because you didn't plan."

Ald. Michael Murphy has proposed some traffic rerouting near the County Grounds to relieve congestion in residential areas, she said.

Joint audit endorses DOT reform

Feb. 26 -- The Legislature's Joint Audit Committee on Thursday endorsed legislation that would increase and fiscal oversight of the Department of Transportation's major highway program.

The bill would also force DOT to make more information about major projects available to the public.

The major highway program was criticized earlier this year in a Legislative Audit Bureau report for runaway costs and unchecked project expansion.

State Rep. David Cullen (D-Milwaukee) who represents Story Hill in the Assembly, voted in favor of the reform bill.

During the meeting, Ward Lyles, Transportation Policy Director for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, said the organization supported the legislation, but also pushed for further audits.

Further review may show that the 6.36% inflation-adjusted cut in maintenance funding from 1995-2005 "means that the basic maintenance needs of our state highways are not being met," he said. "If so, this is a tremendous problem that merits immediate attention."

The reform legislation, introduced by committee co-chairs co-chairpersons Senator Carol Roessler (R-Oshkosh) and Representative Suzanne Jeskewitz (R- Menomonee Falls), would make the following changes, according to a prepared statement issued by the legislators:

1. The state Transportation Commission, which reviews major highway projects, would not be able to recommend a major highway project until it received the project's final environmental impact statement or environmental assessment.

The TPC includes the Governor (who serves as chairperson), three citizen members appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Governor, and five Senators (three from the majority party and two from the minority party) and five Representatives (three from the majority party and two from the minority party), appointed as are members of standing committees. The Secretary of Transportation serves as a nonvoting member.

2. A new "change management system" would include a review of changes in project cost, design, and timeline by senior DOT officials..

3. DOT would report on a semi-annual basis to the Transportation Projects Commission on the activities of the Department’s change management system relating to major highway projects and other projects in Southeast Wisconsin.

4. The legislature would be prohibited from approving major highway projects. Only the Transportation Projects Commission shall have statutory authority to enumerate a major highway project.

5. TPC membership would be increased by two legislative members.

6. TPC would have a 14 day passive review of certain changes such as upgrading from freeway to expressway, increasing the number of traffic lanes, at-grade intersection to an interchange, or interchange to accommodate higher-speed traffic. Prior to implementing any of the above design changes, DOT must report the proposed changes, any reason for the changes, and the estimated project cost attributable to the changes to the TPC. If, within 14 days the TPC does not notify DOT that it has scheduled a public hearing, DOT may implement the changes. If, within the 14 days, the TPC notifies DOT that a public hearing has been requested by any member of the TPC, the TPC must conduct the public hearing.

7. DOT would be required to make certain information and reports given to the TPC available on the internet following the TPC meetings.