Wisconsin Code § 59.84

Expressways and mass transit facilities in populous counties
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(1) DEFINITIONS. In this section, unless the
context indicates otherwise:
(a) “Board” means the county board of supervisors in any
county with a population of 750,000 or more.
(b) “Expressway” means a divided arterial highway for
through traffic with full or partial control of access and, generally, with grade separations at intersections.
(bm) “Full control of access” means that the authority to control access is exercised to give preference to through traffic by
providing access connections with selected public roads only and
by prohibiting crossings at grade or direct private driveway
connections.
(c) “Expressway project” means an integral portion of the expressway that may be put to public use independently of other expressway projects.
(d) “Expressway project budget” means the plan of financial
operation embodying an estimate of proposed expenditures for an
expressway project and the proposed means of financing them.
(e) “Mass transit” includes, without limitation because of
enumeration, exclusive or preferential bus lanes if those lanes are

limited to abandoned railroad rights-of-way or existing expressways constructed before May 17, 1978, highway control devices,
bus passenger loading areas and terminal facilities, including
shelters, and fringe and corridor parking facilities to serve bus
and other public mass transportation passengers, together with
the acquisition, construction, reconstruction and maintenance of
lands and facilities for the development, improvement and use of
public mass transportation systems for the transportation of
passengers.
(em) “Partial control of access” means that the authority to
control access is exercised to give preference to through traffic to
a degree that, in addition to access connections with selected public roads, there may be some crossings at grade and some private
driveway connections.
(f) “Prior expressway project expenditures” means obligations
incurred and expenditures financed from funds obtained from local tax levy sources, or from the proceeds of the sale of bonds, by
a municipality in the county for the acquisition and clearing of
the right-of-way and construction of expressway projects which
are incomplete and have not been substantially put to public use
at the time the county expressway commission was created and
the transfer of the function to the commission was effectuated under s. 59.965, 1977 stats., together with any funds so financed in
the state treasury under control of the department of transportation to the credit of an expressway project, any funds which the
municipality, subsequent to the creation of the county expressway
commission under s. 59.965, 1977 stats., and prior to
May 17, 1980, transmitted to the department of transportation for
credit to an expressway project that is authorized by the county
expressway commission and any funds which the municipality
may, subsequent to May 17, 1980, transmit to the department of
transportation for credit to an expressway project authorized by
the board.
(2) POWERS AND DUTIES. The board is charged with the duty
and vested with all powers necessary to plan, acquire the right-ofway for and construct an expressway system and mass transit facilities in the county and to administer each expressway and mass
transit project until it is certified as completed; to coordinate
planning of expressways and mass transit facilities by other public agencies to the extent required to ensure that an acceptable
general plan of expressways and mass transit facilities to serve the
entire county will be achieved; to determine whether full control
of access or partial control of access shall be exercised; to cooperate with public and private agencies in mass transit and expressway applications; including, without limitation because of enumeration, the power to contract and the following powers and
duties:
(a) Plans for expressways. The board shall consider and tentatively adopt a general plan of expressways to serve the entire
county. The plan shall be presented to the governing body of
each municipality through which a part of the expressway system
is routed for its consideration and approval. The board may by
formal action modify the general plan to meet objections raised
by the governing body of any municipality through which a route
of the expressway passes. If the approval of the governing body is
not granted within 60 days from the date of submission, the board
shall present the general plan to the department of transportation,
which shall hold a public hearing on that part of the plan which is
located in such municipality. After the hearing, the department
of transportation shall make recommendations to the board with
reference to the matters objected to by the municipal governing
body. Thereafter the board shall incorporate the recommendations in its general plan. When the approval of the necessary local governing bodies has been obtained or the recommendation of
the department of transportation has been obtained in lieu
thereof, the general plan shall be finally adopted by the board.
Thereafter, the board may amend the general plan as it considers
proper.
(b) Procedure upon adoption of plan. The board shall adopt
tentative expressway project budgets for the units of the comprehensive plan adopted under par. (a) and in order of construction
as the board considers proper. Each budget shall give reasonably
detailed estimates of expenditures required to complete the expressway project and shall also give an estimate of the state and
federal aid which will become available for the project. The
board shall determine the amount of the county’s share of the cost
of the project and the financing thereof, either from the authorization of county expressway bonds under s. 67.04, or by determining the amounts to be included in the budgets during the construction years, or by transfer from unappropriated surplus under
s. 59.60 (5), or by any combination of the foregoing. When the
board determines that county funds for an expressway project
shall be financed in whole or in part from current budgets, the
county auditor shall include such amounts in the proper proposed
budget under s. 59.60 (5) . The board shall adopt expressway
project budgets with such changes as it considers proper. When
adopted, the county contribution to the expressway project shall
constitute a legal appropriation and shall be expendable to the extent that expressway bonds have been authorized or money otherwise provided. The board may amend any expressway project
budget and may transfer appropriations from one expressway
project to another.
(c) Acceptance of gifts. The board may accept grants, conveyances and devises of land, improvements thereon and all interests whatsoever therein and bequests and donations of money to
be used for expressway purposes.
(d) Acquisition of lands and interests therein. 1. The board
may acquire in the name of the county or in the name of the state
when so directed by the department of transportation, by donation, purchase, condemnation or otherwise, such lands, including
any improvements on the lands, and any interests, easements,
franchises, rights and privileges in or pertaining to lands, of whatever nature and by whomsoever owned, as the board considers
necessary and required for expressway purposes, and to dispose
of such lands. The board may use expressway lands for the location or relocation of any facility for mass transportation, including private or public utilities. The board may purchase or accept
donation of remnants of tracts or parcels of land remaining at the
time or after it has acquired by condemnation or after or coincident with its acquisition by purchase or donation portions of such
tracts or parcels for expressway purposes where in the judgment
of the board such action would assist in rendering just compensation to a landowner, a part of whose lands are required for expressway purposes, and would serve to minimize the overall cost
of such necessary taking by the public. The county may dispose
of such remnants. No lands or interest in lands that are acquired
as provided in this paragraph shall be disposed of by the county
without the consent of the board, and all money that is received
for any such lands, improvements or interests in land, so disposed
of, shall be credited to the land acquisition account as an abatement of expense. No lands acquired by the board, as provided in
this subsection, in the name of or in trust for the state, shall be
disposed of by the county without prior approval of the state, and
the proceeds of the sale shall be remitted to the state or retained
and used for expressway purposes when so directed by the department of transportation.
2. After the general plan of expressways has been adopted,
the board may, for specific approved highway projects or otherwise, acquire lands and interests therein of the nature and in the
manner specified in this paragraph for the right-of-way of the expressways in advance of the time of the adoption of an expressway project budget including the lands and interests. Such power

may be exercised when in the judgment of the board the public
interest will be served and economy effected by forestalling development of the lands which will entail greater acquisition costs
if acquired at a later date. Upon such acquisition the board may
improve, use, maintain or lease the lands until the same are required for expressway construction. It is recognized that there
may necessarily be a period of time between the acquisition of
needed lands for right-of-way and the commencement of actual
site clearance and construction, but such fact shall not minimize
the public purpose of the acquisition. The owners of the lands at
the time of the acquisition shall have the first right to enter into
leases thereof with the county until the lands are needed for expressway construction. Lands so leased for more than one year
shall be subject to general property taxation during the term of
the lease. All rentals shall be credited to the project or to the expressway land acquisition account. The board may provide out of
funds acquired by bond issue or otherwise a land acquisition fund
not in excess of $5,000,000 of expendable funds at any one time,
to be used primarily for the acquisition of lands, improvements
thereon and interests therein as specified in this subsection prior
to the approval of the specific expressway project for which the
lands or interests will be required. The fund shall be adjusted to
reflect acquisition costs for lands and interests therein thereafter
incorporated in specific approved expressway projects by transferring both the appropriations and the acquisition costs therefor
to the proper expressway improvement expenditures account.
3. When an expressways project for which lands, improvements thereon and all interests therein have been paid for from
any expressway land acquisition fund or account becomes activated by the board, the department of transportation may reimburse the expressway land acquisition fund by allocation of funds
which may be made available under any state or federal statute to
reimburse prior disbursements from the land acquisition fund to
acquire the lands, improvements thereon or interests therein or
appurtenant thereto. All state or federal funds thus received shall
be used for expressway purposes.
4. The board, in acquiring lands, improvements on lands and
interests in lands and appurtenant to lands, as provided in this
subsection, may acquire the lands in fee simple or by easement
for highway purposes as it may by order determine. In any such
acquisition, the board may, and shall when requested by the department of transportation, act in the name of the state as the
agent of the department of transportation and in other cases shall
act in the name of the county. The board in making the acquisition may proceed under ch. 32.
5. Whenever, before actual expressway project construction,
a saving is shown to be probable in the cost of constructing a proposed new municipal or privately owned public utility, which, if
presently installed in a public way in a proposed normal manner,
would ultimately be interfered with by expressway construction,
by initially constructing the municipal or privately owned public
utility in other than a normal manner to accommodate future expressway construction, in order to effect savings by avoiding reconstruction and relocating at a later date, the board may contract
with the municipal government or utility company involved for
the construction of the public utility in other than normal manner
and to pay to the municipal government or utility company the
portion of the cost of the special construction in excess of the cost
if constructed in the proposed normal manner, the funds for
which may be taken from the land acquisition fund authorized in
subd. 2.
6. When the board has acquired title to lands in fee either for
the county or the state, the county or a person authorized by the
county may use and develop any portion of the lands not directly
needed for expressway-roadway purposes and which do not interfere with the primary expressway purpose, and without limitation
because of enumeration may use the subsoil beneath the ground,
the ground level area or air space above the ground, for parking,
storage or building purposes subject to municipal land use zoning
regulations except as to parking, but if the expressway right-ofway area is either on the federal interstate system or on a state
trunk highway, the county shall obtain the consent of the department of transportation to the development and use prior to construction or initiation of that use. The state shall receive a share
of the rentals or sale price derived from the use in the proportion
that the amount of federal or state funds used in the purchase of
the site bears to the total cost of the land and improvement which
is the subject of the sale or rental. Such sharing shall not be made
until the county or the person authorized by the county has been
reimbursed for all sums expended by it, in the developments referred to in this paragraph, and such sharing shall terminate when
the fair proportion of the federal and state funds allocable to the
purchase of the area so developed has been reimbursed. In lieu of
sharing in the proportion of the amount of federal or state funds
used in the purchase of the site to the total cost of the land and
improvement which is the subject of the sale or rental, the state
and the county or the person authorized by the county may share
the rentals or sale price on the basis of a different formula for
such sharing if the department of transportation and the county
agree to a different formula.
7. Before the county authorizes any person to use or develop
lands under subd. 6., the county shall make a reasonable effort to
determine whether any institution of higher education in the
vicinity of the lands has demonstrated to the county an interest in
the use or development of the lands. The county shall give preference to proposals for the use or development of lands under subd.
6. which are submitted by an institution of higher education in the
vicinity of those lands and which provide for reasonable payment
to the county under a lease of or other authority to use or develop
those lands.
(e) Contracts. The board may construct and administer
projects under its jurisdiction, and may contract in the name of
the county with the department of transportation as may be necessary under state and federal statutes to secure state and federal
aid on expressway projects.
(f) Vacation, relocation, reconstruction of streets, alleys, etc.
1. Whenever the board determines that it is necessary for the
proper construction of an expressway project that streets or alleys
be vacated in whole or in part, or be dead-ended at the expressway right-of-way line; that existing streets or alleys be relocated;
that new streets or alleys be laid out and opened; that accessory
streets or ramps to serve as approaches to the expressway be constructed; that existing streets leading to or from expressway ramps
be designated as one-way streets for such reasonable distance as
is necessary for the proper operation of the facility; that the grade
of existing streets be changed or that the traveled portion of existing streets be widened and improved so as to facilitate entrance to
the expressway, it shall formulate a tentative order evidencing
such requirement and file a certified copy thereof with the municipal clerk of each municipality affected by the tentative order
for consideration thereof by the governing body of the
municipality.
2. The governing body or the committee which the governing
body designates shall hold a public hearing to consider the tentative order and shall publish in the county a class 2 notice, under
ch. 985, of the hearing.
3. If the tentative order is not approved within 90 days from
the date of the filing, the board shall present the tentative order to
the department of transportation, which shall hold a public hearing on the order, of which hearing the municipality in question
shall be given notice. The department of transportation shall
have jurisdiction to pass upon the necessity and reasonableness of

the proposed tentative order, and it may approve, modify and approve or disapprove the order. The department’s decision shall be
final, with no review allowed under ch. 227.
4. If the tentative order is approved by the governing body of
the municipality affected, or if it is approved or modified and approved by the department of transportation, the board may thereafter issue a final order identical with the original tentative order
as modified by the department’s decision. A certified copy of the
final order shall be filed with the municipal clerk of the municipality affected. Notice of the making of the order shall be published in the county as a class 1 notice, under ch. 985.
5. The governing body of the municipality shall, within 30
days after filing, take the necessary action to comply with the order and in so doing shall not be limited by the objections of an
abutting owner, and s. 66.1005 (2) shall not be applicable to any
vacation or discontinuance required by the order, and any such
municipality may act upon the initiative of its governing body
without the necessity of obtaining the consent of an abutting
owner, notwithstanding chs. 60, 61, 62 and 66 and s. 66.1005 (2)
and any other provisions of law to the contrary.
6. If the municipality does not comply with the order within
a reasonable time, the board may perform the work required by
the order with its own forces or by contract and in so doing and
for such purpose shall have the same powers and freedom from
limitations as are vested by chs. 60, 61, 62 and 66 and this subsection in the governing body of the municipality.
7. The plans, specifications, proposed contracts and the appraisal of damages, if any, caused to abutting owners by compliance with the order shall be subject to approval by the board before the commencement of any work under the order but the requirement for approval of the order shall not affect the abutting
property owners’ rights of appeal from the determination of damages by the commissioner of public works of the city or by any
other authorized person or body.
8. The cost of performing such work as may be required by
any order of the board under this subsection, including damages
granted for changes of legally established grade or necessary acquisition of lands, shall be paid by the county from expressway
funds as an item of the particular expressway project budget upon
presentation of vouchers which have been approved for payment
by the governing body of the municipality and the board. If the
payment made by the county has been increased by reason of the
municipality requesting an expenditure in excess of replacement
or termination costs, the municipality shall reimburse the county
for the excess cost. The reimbursement shall be credited by the
county to abatement of the respective expense for which it was
received.
(g) Relocation of municipal utilities. 1. The board, subject to
approval by the public service commission after public hearing to
all interested parties in cases in which the public service commission would have jurisdiction, may by order require any municipality through which an expressway project is to be constructed to
remove, relocate and replace in kind or with equal facilities, or if
the municipality shall request enlarged facilities, any sewer, street
lighting or other like utility service the location of which interferes with construction of an expressway project. If enlarged facilities are requested the municipality shall bear that part of the
cost of the improvement which exceeds the cost of the replacement of the existing facility in kind or with equal materials or facilities. However the board shall bear the excess cost where the
installation of the enlarged facility is caused by designed construction and use of the expressway. A certified copy of the order
shall be filed with the municipal clerk of each municipality affected and upon the filing each municipality shall within 30 days
take the necessary action to comply with the order. All plans,
specifications and contracts for any of the work shall be subject to
approval by the board. When the work under specific contracts
has been completed and approved by the governing body of the
municipality and the board, the county shall pay for the work
from expressway funds as an item of the particular expressway
project budget. If the payments made by the county exceed the
replacement costs and the additional cost was incurred at the specific request of the municipality, the municipality shall reimburse
the county therefor. The reimbursement shall be credited by the
county as an abatement of the expenses for which the reimbursement is received. If considered feasible and desirable by the
board any work provided for in this paragraph may be performed
by the board or directly by contract. In such cases the municipality in which the work is performed shall cooperate with the
board.
2. With respect to any water utility of any municipality
which utility, in addition to providing water for human consumption, performs governmental functions in the way of providing
water for fire protection, sewerage operation, street sanitation,
park bathing pools and the like, the board shall have the same
powers and be subject to the same obligations as are provided in
subd. 1. However, water storage tanks, water pumping stations
and water reservoirs may be removed, relocated and replaced by
the board only with the consent and approval of the municipality
owning and operating the facilities.
(h) Private occupancy of streets; relocation. 1. All persons
other than those mentioned in par. (g) lawfully having buildings,
structures, works, conduits, mains, pipes, wires, poles, tracks or
any other physical facilities in, over or under the public lands,
streets, highways, alleys, parks or parkways of the county, or of
any municipality therein, which in the opinion of the board in any
manner interfere with the construction of an expressway project
or the relocation or maintenance of such a project, shall upon order by the board promptly so accommodate, relocate or remove
the interfering physical facilities.
2. Whenever the board proposes to consider adoption of an
expressway project, it shall give notice of the proposal to each privately owned public utility or other person affected by the project
indicating in the notice the action which it desires the utility or
person to take, and the utility or person shall within 90 days after
receipt of the notice furnish to the board its plan to comply with
the request.
3. When the utility, under the board’s order, proceeds with
the work in a manner satisfactory to the board, the county shall
pay the utility from expressways funds upon monthly estimates of
work performed and submitted for payment by the utility, twothirds of the net cost incurred by the utility in performing the
work, after deducting reasonable and fair credits for items salvaged, for any betterments made at the option of the company and
for the value as carried on the utility’s books, of the used life of a
facility retired from use if the service life of the new facility will
extend beyond the expectancy of the one removed. The county
shall not be liable to pay any value for utility facilities where use
of the facilities has been abandoned for reasons other than the
construction or proposed construction of an expressway project
even though the installation is intact.
4. The board and any utility that is required to accommodate,
relocate or remove a utility facility described in subd. 1. may by
agreement provide for the respective amounts of the cost to be
borne by each so as to resolve a dispute as to the allowance of
charges and credits set forth in this paragraph. When the agreement has been concluded, the county shall pay out of expressway
funds its share of the cost upon monthly estimates of work performed and submitted for payment by the utility.
5. If the board and any privately owned public utility are unable to agree as to the division of the costs, either may appeal to
the public service commission, which shall determine the proper

amounts of reimbursement according to the provisions expressed
in this paragraph. Either party may petition the circuit court for
review of the public service commission’s decision in the manner
provided in s. 227.53. If it is determined upon such review that
the county has paid more than two-thirds of the net cost of compliance by a utility with the board’s order, any overage shall be reimbursed to the county by the utility.
6. No appeal shall delay the construction of the expressway
project or compliance by the privately owned public utilities with
the orders of the board. Compliance shall not prejudice the rights
of either the board or the utilities in any pending appeal.
7. If a person refuses to comply with an order of the board as
promulgated under this paragraph, the board may apply to the circuit court for a writ of assistance to compel compliance, and the
person shall be liable for all damages caused to the board by the
delay.
8. If a railroad track and an expressway project cross, ss.
195.28 to 195.29 shall apply.
9. The reimbursement of private utilities under this paragraph shall be limited to expressway projects as provided in this
section.
(i) Entry on private lands. The board, its agents or servants,
may enter any land in the county for the purpose of making surveys, test borings or any other type of examination necessary in
the performance of its duties and shall be liable to restore the surface of the lands to the same or as good condition as existed at the
time of the entry and for any other actual and demonstrable damage caused to the lands by the entry.
(j) Traffic types and speed limits. After an expressway project
has been certified as completed, the public body having jurisdiction over the maintenance thereof shall have the power to regulate
the type of vehicular use of such portion of the expressway except
as limited by federal and state laws and regulations, and the
power to fix speed limits thereon not in excess of the maximum
speed limits for state trunk highways, and to provide and enforce
reasonable penalties for infraction of such vehicular use regulation or speed limits. Notwithstanding s. 346.16 (2), the use of the
expressways by pedestrians, mopeds, motor bicycles, motor
scooters, bicycles, electric scooters, electric personal assistive
mobility devices, off-road utility vehicles, lightweight utility vehicles as defined in s. 346.94 (21) (a) 2. except when used to cross
an expressway, funeral processions, and animals on foot and the
hauling of oversized equipment without special permit shall be
prohibited when an ordinance in conformity with this section
and, with respect to prohibiting the use of electric personal assistive mobility devices, in conformity with s. 349.236 (1) (a) or (b),
and with respect to prohibiting the use of electric scooters, in conformity with s. 349.237, is enacted by the board, but a forfeiture
provided therein shall not exceed the maximum forfeiture under
s. 346.17 (2). The board may not prohibit the towing of disabled
vehicles on expressways, except that the board may prohibit the
towing of disabled vehicles during the peak hours of 7 a.m. to 9
a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. as established under county ordinance and except that the board may establish procedures for and
may contract for the towing of vehicles which have become disabled on the expressway.
(k) Building permits on lands in expressway routes. Each municipality through which a route of the approved expressway plan,
as amended from time to time, shall pass, shall be given a formal
notice of the route and a map thereof. Thereafter, when an owner
of land within the right-of-way of an expressway indicated on the
map applies for a building permit affecting such lands, final action on the application shall be deferred for a reasonable time not
exceeding 60 days and the municipality shall within 5 days after
receipt of the application notify the board thereof.
(L) Forces to construct expressway projects. The board may
use its own employees to construct expressway projects in whole
or in part.
(m) Rules and regulations. The board shall have power to
make all rules and regulations concerning its work.
(n) Meetings; reports. The board shall hold meetings for the
transaction of business under this section and all such meetings
shall be open to the public. The board shall prepare annually a report of its official transactions and expenditures under this section and shall mail the statement to the governor, to the mayor of
the largest city in the county and to the chief executive officer of
the governing bodies of all municipalities in the county.
(o) Applicability of pars. (a) to (n). Paragraphs (a) to (n) also
apply, as far as applicable, to the exercise of the powers and duties
of the board in the planning and construction of mass transit
facilities.
(4) TRANSFER OF PRIOR EXPRESSWAY STUDIES AND REPORTS.
The county expressway and transportation commission that is
created under s. 59.965 (2), 1977 stats., and the governmental authorities of the largest city in the county shall transfer and deliver
to the board the original or certified copy of all maps and engineering studies and reports pertaining to an expressways system
in the city and county, together with all contracts pertaining to the
creation and construction of expressways. Upon demand by the
board the largest city in the county with the approval of the common council shall execute and deliver to the county quitclaim
deeds of all lands acquired, dedicated or owned by the city and
needed for the purpose of right-of-way for the expressways, if the
cost of the lands was included in the determination of prior expressway expenditures.
(6) REIMBURSEMENT FOR PRIOR EXPRESSWAY FINANCING.
Municipalities shall be reimbursed for prior expressway project
expenditures. Expressway projects under construction at the time
the county expressway and transportation commission was created and the transfer of functions to the commission was effectuated under s. 59.965, 1977 stats., shall be completed by the board.
Such municipalities shall be reimbursed for prior expressway expenditures and obligations incurred for the cost of right-of-way
acquisition and clearance, construction engineering, and actual
construction to the extent of the municipalities’ contribution
from tax levy or bond funds. Each such municipality shall calculate its contribution and certify the contribution with full data to
the board. It shall then be subject to consideration, audit and approval by the board. If approved by the board, reimbursement
shall be made on a 10-year installment basis by levying a tax
against all the municipalities of the county on an equalized valuation basis, and offsetting the amount thereof to the municipalities
entitled to reimbursement.
(7) AGREEMENTS FOR USE OF FEDERAL AID TO RETIRE MATURITIES. The department of transportation and the board may enter into an agreement providing that when the proceeds of bonds
issued by the county are expended in the improvement of a portion of the federal aid highway system as a part of the comprehensive expressway system in the county, and are so expended under
ch. 84, and in compliance with section 5 of the federal aid highway act of 1950, or acts amendatory to such section, and regulations applicable thereto, the sum of money derived from federal
aid for highways which may be authorized by the congress and
apportioned to this state for any fiscal year as shall be stipulated
in the agreement may be applied to aid in retirement of annual
maturities of the principal indebtedness of such bonds, and that to
the extent that federal aid can be claimed and received by the state
for such purpose, it will upon receipt be paid to the county. Any
money so paid shall be deposited by the county in the sinking
fund provided for the retirement of the bond issue of which the
bonds formed a part.

(8) AGREEMENTS FOR STATE AID TO RETIRE MATURITIES.
The department of transportation may enter into a contract with
the board providing that, to the extent that the proceeds of bonds
issued by the county are expended under ch. 84 in the improvement of state trunk highways or connecting highways, in addition
to the agreed county share of the improvement and for which the
county has not been or will not be reimbursed with federal funds,
such sum as may be approved by the department of transportation
in any fiscal year will be paid to the county to aid in retirement of
the annual maturities of the principal indebtedness of the bonds
from funds appropriated and available to the department of transportation for the improvement of state trunk highways or connecting highways. Payments may be made under the agreement, before or after the bonds mature, from funds appropriated and available to the department of transportation for the improvement of
state trunk highways or connecting highways after making provision for adequate maintenance and traffic service, but this section
or the agreement shall not constitute a commitment on the part of
this state or the county to provide the funds. Any money so paid
shall be deposited by the county in its sinking fund created for the
purpose of payment of the bond issue of which the bonds formed
a part.
(9) STAFF. (a) Other departments and officers. The staff of
the county highway department, under the direction of the county
highway commissioner, shall perform all technical work required
by the board. Any municipality having an expressway staff shall,
upon request of the county board, transfer the staff to the county,
and the agents and employees of the municipal staff shall thereupon become integrated into county civil service in the county
highway department. The board may hire upon a contract basis
such expert consultant services as it considers necessary to assist
in the planning of the expressway system.
(b) Records and equipment. The board shall provide a suitable place where the maps, plans, documents, and records of the
board that relate to this section shall be kept, subject to public inspection at all reasonable hours and under reasonable regulations
that the board may prescribe.
(10) MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION. (a) Maintenance and
operation. Whenever any expressway project is opened to traffic,
the certification of such fact shall be filed with the clerk of the
municipality in which the project is located. The notice shall be
filed by the department of transportation in all cases where the
construction contract has been awarded by the department of
transportation, or by the board where the construction contract
has been awarded by the board. Thereafter the portion of the expressway system included in such opening shall be operated and
maintained by the county, but if an expressway project is selected
and designated as a state trunk or interstate highway that portion
of the expressway shall be maintained by the state. The maintenance responsibility of the county or state shall include all areas
within the right-of-way fence lines and between the right-of-way
fence lines and the curb lines of adjacent streets, except that connecting ramps constructed as a part of the expressway system
shall be included in such maintenance to the near curb lines of the
street with which they connect. All areas not specifically included within these described limits shall be maintained by the
municipality in which the expressway is located, except that the
state or county shall maintain the structural parts of bridges carrying local traffic over the expressway, including generally the
footings, piers, columns, abutments and structural girders.
(b) Policing of expressways. Expressways shall be policed by
the sheriff who may, when necessary, request and shall receive
cooperation and assistance from the police departments of each
municipality in which expressways are located, but nothing in
this paragraph shall be construed to deprive such police departments of the power of exercising law enforcement on such expressways within their respective jurisdictions.
(11) DESIGNATED STANDING COMMITTEE. The board may
designate a standing committee to perform the duties and to exercise the powers of the board under this section, except those powers and duties in sub. (2) (a) and (b). All actions of the standing
committee under this section may be modified and shall be approved or disapproved by the board.

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