Chapter 85 — DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
57 sections in this chapter.
Wis. Stat. § 85.01 Definitions
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85.01 Definitions. In this chapter: (1) “Department” means the department of transportation. (2) “Division of hearings and appeals” means the division of hearings and appeals in the department of administration. (2m) “Operator” has the meaning given in s. 340.01 (41). (3) “Rail p…
Wis. Stat. § 85.013 Hearings
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85.013 Hearings. (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), any hearing under s. 227.42 granted by the department may be conducted before the division of hearings and appeals which shall decide the matter. (2) (a) The secretary shall designate employees of the department as hearing exam…
Wis. Stat. § 85.015 Transportation assistance contracts
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85.015 Transportation assistance contracts. All contracts entered into under this chapter to provide financial assistance in the areas of railroads, urban mass transit, specialized transportation, and harbors are subject to ss. 16.528 and 16.752 but are exempt from ss. 16.70 to 1…
Wis. Stat. § 85.02 Planning, promotion and protection
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85.02 Planning, promotion and protection. (1) The department may direct, undertake and expend state and federal aid for planning, promotion and protection activities in the areas of highways, motor vehicles, traffic law enforcement, aeronautics and astronautics, railroads, waterw…
Wis. Stat. § 85.0205 Expenditures for aesthetic elements
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85.0205 Expenditures for aesthetic elements. (1) Ex- May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 85.0205 cept as provided in subs. (2) and (3), the department may not expend more than 1.5 percent of the project costs of any highway improvement project on elements t…
Wis. Stat. § 85.021 Transportation alternatives program
Wis. Stat. § 85.022 Multimodal transportation studies
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85.022 Multimodal transportation studies. (1) The department shall administer a program to study multimodal transportation. The department may make grants or pay contract costs from the appropriations under s. 20.395 (2) (hq) and (hx) for multimodal transportation studies and pre…
Wis. Stat. § 85.023 Planning for bicycle facilities
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85.023 Planning for bicycle facilities. The department shall assist any regional or municipal agency or commission in the planning, promotion and development of bikeways as defined in s. 84.60 (1) (a). The department shall draft model local zoning ordinances for the planning, pro…
Wis. Stat. § 85.025 Highway and bridge projects
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85.025 Highway and bridge projects. The department shall adopt by rule criteria for selecting and evaluating all highway and bridge projects which are constructed from the appropriations under s. 20.395 (3) (bq), (bv), (bx), (cq), (cv) and (cx). History: 1979 c. 221, 355; 1991 a.…
Wis. Stat. § 85.028 Milwaukee east-west transportation corridor
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85.028 Milwaukee east-west transportation corridor. Upon implementation of a funding source to provide local funds for a Milwaukee east-west transportation corridor project, local units of government that will be affected by such a project shall reimburse the transportation fund …
Wis. Stat. § 85.03 Federal reduction or termination of aid
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85.03 Federal reduction or termination of aid. All appropriations made to the department under s. 20.395 are subject to the specific provision that if federal government funding of any portion of a program under s. 20.395 is reduced or terminated, the secretary may terminate or r…
Wis. Stat. § 85.035 Reduction of department appropriations
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85.035 Reduction of department appropriations. Subject to s. 85.62, where the secretary deems that economic conditions warrant, the secretary, in conjunction with submission of estimates under s. 16.50, may recommend to the secretary of administration that authorized department a…
Wis. Stat. § 85.04 Acquisition of replacement lands
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85.04 Acquisition of replacement lands. If federal law prohibits the acquisition of lands determined by the secretary to be necessary for transportation purposes unless replacement lands are provided, the department may acquire by gift, devise, May 22, 2026, are designated by NOT…
Wis. Stat. § 85.05 Evaluation of proposed major highway projects
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85.05 Evaluation of proposed major highway projects. The department by rule shall establish a procedure for numerically evaluating projects considered for enumeration under s. 84.013 (3) as a major highway project. The evaluation procedure may include any criteria that the depart…
Wis. Stat. § 85.052 Change management system for major highway projects
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85.052 Change management system for major highway projects. The department shall develop and implement a change management system for providing fiscal and management oversight for all major highway projects funded from any appropriation specified in s. 84.013 (2) (a). History: 20…
Wis. Stat. § 85.055 Passenger railroad station improvements
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85.055 Passenger railroad station improvements. (1) In this section, “local governmental unit” means a city, village, town or county or an agency or subdivision of a city, village, town or county. (2) The department shall administer a passenger railroad station improvement grant …
Wis. Stat. § 85.06 Rail passenger service assistance and promotion
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85.06 Rail passenger service assistance and promotion. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Amtrak” means the national railroad passenger corporation. (b) “Local governmental unit” has the meaning given in s. 59.72 (1) (c). (2) PROGRAM. The department shall administer a rail pa…
Wis. Stat. § 85.061 Rail passenger route development
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85.061 Rail passenger route development. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “Amtrak” means the national railroad passenger corporation. (2) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that private capital and local governmental financial and technical resources are unable to fully …
Wis. Stat. § 85.062 Major transit capital improvement projects
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85.062 Major transit capital improvement projects. (1) In this section, “major transit capital improvement project” means a project that has a total cost of more than $5,000,000 and which involves any of the following: (a) Construction of a separate roadway designated for use by …
Wis. Stat. § 85.064 Commuter rail transit system development
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85.064 Commuter rail transit system development. (1) In this section: (a) “Commuter rail” means rail passenger service, operating primarily on a dedicated right-of-way on existing railroad tracks used for rail freight service or intercity rail passenger service between and within…
Wis. Stat. § 85.065 Urban rail line relocations
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85.065 Urban rail line relocations. (1) (a) Any county, city, village, town or combination thereof may apply to the department for a study of the cost and benefits of the location and form of railroad lines, associated facilities, and railroad operations within an urban area. Upo…
Wis. Stat. § 85.066 Transit safety oversight program
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85.066 Transit safety oversight program. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “rail fixed guideway transportation system” means a public transportation system being designed, engineered, constructed, or operated that is intended to operate upon a fixed guideway, including a railway, …
Wis. Stat. § 85.067 Midwest interstate passenger rail compact
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85.067 Midwest interstate passenger rail compact. The midwest interstate passenger rail compact is enacted into law and entered into by this state with all other states legally joining therein substantially in the following form: MIDWEST INTERSTATE PASSENGER RAIL COMPACT The cont…
Wis. Stat. § 85.07 Highway safety coordination
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85.07 Highway safety coordination. (1) DUTIES. The secretary, under the direction of the governor, shall coordinate the highway safety activities of the various agencies of state government; evaluate and make recommendations to the governor with respect to program proposals submi…
Wis. Stat. § 85.075 Rail program rules
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85.075 Rail program rules. The department shall adopt rules to carry out the railroad programs under ss. 85.08 and 85.09. History: 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 135 s. 85.
Wis. Stat. § 85.077 Railroad projects and competitive bidding
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85.077 Railroad projects and competitive bidding. (1) Except as provided in subs. (2) and (4), if a project involving the construction, rehabilitation, improvement, demolition, or repair of rail property or rail property improvements is funded in any part with public funds, the d…
Wis. Stat. § 85.08 Freight railroad assistance
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85.08 Freight railroad assistance. (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that private capital and local governmental financial and technical resources are unable to fully meet the transportation needs of all citizens. It is determined that the programs authorized under …
Wis. Stat. § 85.085 Private road crossings
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85.085 Private road crossings. (1b) In this section, “rehabilitated” means a significant rebuilding of railroad track that restores severely deteriorated track to a minimum service standard or, for track that is at or above a minimum service standard, that increases the service s…
Wis. Stat. § 85.09 Acquisition of abandoned rail property
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85.09 Acquisition of abandoned rail property. DEFINITIONS. As used in this section: (b) “Municipality” means any city, village or town. (1) 85.09 (c) “State agency” means state departments and independent agencies. (d) “System diagram map” means the map required under federal law…
Wis. Stat. § 85.093 Intermodal freight assistance
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85.093 Intermodal freight assistance. The department may make grants to public or private applicants for intermodal freight facilities that the department determines have a public purpose. In the 2019-21 fiscal biennium, a grant made under this section shall be paid from the appr…
Wis. Stat. § 85.095 Harbor assistance program
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85.095 Harbor assistance program. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Eligible applicant” means a county, municipality, town or agency thereof, a board of harbor commissioners organized under s. 30.37, or a person who owns a harbor facility. (am) “Harbor facility” has the mean…
Wis. Stat. § 85.10 Sale of aerial photographic survey products
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85.10 Sale of aerial photographic survey products. The department may sell to any person the selection of photographic products from the aerial photographic survey conducted under s. 23.325. The department may retain an amount equal to the costs that it incurs in selling and repr…
Wis. Stat. § 85.103 Disclosure of personal identifiers
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85.103 Disclosure of personal identifiers. (1) In this section, “personal identifier” means a name, social security number, telephone number, street address, post-office box number or 9-digit extended zip code. (2) The department shall include on any form for application for orig…
Wis. Stat. § 85.105 Sale of motor vehicle records
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85.105 Sale of motor vehicle records. (1) Notwithstanding s. 343.24 (2m), the department may contract with a person to periodically furnish that person with any records on computer tape or other electronic media that contain information from files of motor vehicle accidents or un…
Wis. Stat. § 85.107 Scholarship and loan repayment incentive grant program
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85.107 Scholarship and loan repayment incentive grant program. (1) PURPOSE. The scholarship and loan repayment incentive grant program is created to assist in improving the representation of targeted group members within job classifications in which targeted group members are und…
Wis. Stat. § 85.12 Statewide public safety radio management program
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85.12 Statewide public safety radio management program. (1) The department shall administer a statewide public safety radio management program. From the appropriations under s. 20.395 (5) (dk) and (dq), the department may provide statewide tower site management, public safety fre…
Wis. Stat. § 85.13 Cost of traffic violation and registration program
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85.13 Cost of traffic violation and registration program. The department shall develop a system for charging local units of government or other authority as defined in s. 345.28 (1) (a) for the cost of the development and operation of the traffic violation and registration progra…
Wis. Stat. § 85.14 Payments by credit card or other electronic payment mechanism; electronic transactions
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85.14 Payments by credit card or other electronic payment mechanism; electronic transactions. (1) (a) The department may accept payment by credit card, debit card, or any other electronic payment mechanism of any fee that is required to be paid to the department. The department s…
Wis. Stat. § 85.15 Property management
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85.15 Property management. (1) Subject to any prior action under s. 13.48 (14) (am) or 16.848 (1), the department may improve, use, maintain or lease any property acquired for highway, airport or any other transportation purpose until the property is actually needed for any such …
Wis. Stat. § 85.16 Department rules and forms
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85.16 Department rules and forms. (1) The secretary may make reasonable and uniform orders and rules deemed necessary to the discharge of the powers, duties and functions vested in the department. The secretary may also prescribe forms for applications, notices and reports requir…
Wis. Stat. § 85.17 Storage of highway salt
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85.17 Storage of highway salt. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Highway salt” means bulk quantities of a chloride in- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 85.19 tended for application to highways during winter months, and includes mixtures in any proportion of sand and chlorides. (…
Wis. Stat. § 85.18 Groundwater protection
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85.18 Groundwater protection. The department shall comply with the requirements of ch. 160 in the administration of any program, responsibility or activity assigned or delegated to it by law. History: 1983 a. 410. 85.19 Construction site erosion control. (1) STANDARDS. The depart…
Wis. Stat. § 85.19 Construction site erosion control
Wis. Stat. § 85.193 Borrow and material disposal sites for transportation projects
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85.193 Borrow and material disposal sites for transportation projects. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Borrow” means soil or a mixture of soil and stone, gravel, or other material suitable for use in the construction of embankments or other similar earthworks constructed a…
Wis. Stat. § 85.195 Coordination with land conservation committees
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85.195 Coordination with land conservation committees. (1) In this section, “land conservation committee” means a committee established under s. 92.06 or its designated representative. (2) Before commencing construction on a highway construction project, the department shall cons…
Wis. Stat. § 85.20 Urban mass transit operating assistance program
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85.20 Urban mass transit operating assistance program. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (ag) “Disabled persons” means individuals who, by reason of illness, injury, age, congenital malfunction, or other temporary or permanent incapacity or disability, are unable without special …
Wis. Stat. § 85.205 Paratransit aids
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85.205 Paratransit aids. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Eligible applicant” has the meaning given in s. 85.20 (1) (b). (b) “Paratransit service” means comparable transportation service required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act for individuals with disabiliti…
Wis. Stat. § 85.21 Specialized transportation assistance program for counties
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85.21 Specialized transportation assistance program for counties. (1) PURPOSE. The purpose of this section is to promote the general public health and welfare by providing financial assistance to counties providing transportation services for seniors and individuals with disabili…
Wis. Stat. § 85.215 Tribal elderly transportation grant program
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85.215 Tribal elderly transportation grant program. The department shall award grants to federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands to assist in providing transportation services for elderly persons. Grants awarded under this section shall be paid from the appropriation…
Wis. Stat. § 85.22 Specialized transportation program
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85.22 Specialized transportation program. (1) PURPOSE. The purpose of this section is to promote the general public health and welfare by providing assistance to eligible applicants providing transportation services to seniors and individuals with disabilities. (2) DEFINITIONS. I…