The answer is that they can't. WisDOT proposes to fill by presuming use of future federal funds, and increases in gas taxes and fees. Costs Taxpayers Several Times. The SHP affects the next ten state budgets. It costs taxpayers several times over, for the next several decades.
Major expansions mean a larger state highway system to maintain in the future.
Increased use of highways by heavy trucks and residents of car-dependent developments means faster deterioration. Secondary costs include paying a larger share of local road maintenance, subsidizing sprawl development along new highways, and health costs from air emissions. The tax burden for local roads is effectively shifted away from state and federal aids onto local property taxes by the current budget proposal, continuing a ten year trend. The SHP claims that expansion of the highway system will relieve congestion, while studies and the experience of states with extensive highway networks demonstrate that congestion relief is minimal and quickly outpaced by newly generated traffic. Ignores Induced Traffic.