SEE INSIDE: OUR SPECIAL SECTION ON COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE. PAGES 11-13. THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I set records that will never be equaled. In fact, I hope 90 percent of them don't even get printed." — Bob Uecker VOL. 121 — NO. 62 HIGHWAY 23 REVISITED Construction to start this year on long-delayed project Nate Beck [email protected] It has been two decades since state officials first approved an expansion of Highway 23 between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. Now, after years of delays and legal wrangling, the work is expected to start this spring. A crucial deadline passed at midnight on Monday for a Madison environ- mental group seeking to revive a long- standing legal challenge of the project. The Wisconsin Department of Trans- portation, which began calling decades ago for two more lanes to be added to the highway's current two lanes between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan, is now free to move ahead with its plans. For years, the project had been mired Staff photo by Dan Shaw Staff in court by a lawsuit challenging the en- vironmental review used to approve the proposed expansion. Area residents and IN A JAM lawmakers have meanwhile blamed the Logs and debris clog the passage beneath the Pleasant Street Bridge in Milwaukee. Crews have been working repeated delays for dozens of car crashes over the past few days to clear away the jam, which some local officials were saying was the result of a decision to demolish -- some fatal -- over the years. the Estabrook Dam upstream last year. "The four-lane expansion of Highway 23 is vital to the safety of motorists along the corridor," said state Sen. Devin LeMahleu, R-Oostburg. Construction on the project is expected FLOODING IN to get underway in May, after bids close in WisDOT's April 9 letting. The agency plans to release four separate bids Air Force needs $4.9B in disaster relief following floods related to the Highway 23 expansion, work estimated to be worth at least $14 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force said futt Air Force Base in Nebraska this month. million, according to agency estimates. on Wednesday that it needs $4.9 billion in addi- The call for emergency funding comes amid Plans for the project were added to Gov. tional money over the next three years to rebuild a debate between the Trump administration and Tony Evers' proposed budget, although and repair two bases heavily damaged by natural Congress over the White House's proposal to use state lawmakers have yet to give their disasters. billions of dollars originally set aside for military approval. "We desperately need the supplemental fund- construction to help lengthen the wall at the U.S.- WisDOT officials are meanwhile aim- ing," Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said, Mexico border. ing to have the expansion work com- citing hurricane damage to Tyndall Air Force The money sought by the Air Force — $1.2 pleted by 2023. In all, the Highway 23 Base in Florida last fall and flood damage at Of- Please see FLOOD, page 3 Please see HIGHWAY, page 3 Lunch with Gov. WHEN: Friday, March 29 at 10:30 a.m. WHERE: Monona Terrace – Madison Ballrooms-AB LAST CHANCE TO ATTEND Evers, Craig 1 John Nolen Drive Thompson, Jeff Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Gruhn and other TICKETS: Contact Jenny Byington at 414-225-1803 or [email protected]. Building Construction Business Experts Sponsored by: PAGE 2 THE DAILY REPORTER THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 BUILDING BLOCKS A snapshot of construction projects in Wisconsin CAMBRIA HOTEL AND SUITES IN MILWAUKEE Staff photo by Dan Shaw Staff ADDRESS: 503 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee (near tional, of Rockville, Maryland. a swimming pool and a fitness center, among other West Clybourn Street) GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Consolidated Construction, features. SIZE: Four stories, 132 rooms, 80,708 square Appleton The Cambria Hotel and Suites, expected to be feet ARCHITECT: M+A Design, Fond du Lac opened well before the Democratic National START OF CONSTRUCTION: June 2018 SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: Although there are Cam- Convention takes place in Milwaukee in 2020, bria hotels now in Madison and Appleton, there is is one of several hotels that have been opened EXPECTED COMPLETION: August 2019 none in Milwaukee. This new hotel, meant mainly in the city’s downtown in recent years. Others OWNER/DEVELOPER: Integrated Plankinton Milwau- for business travelers, is going up on a site near the include the 220-room Westin Hotel, at 550 N. kee LLC, an affiliate of Chicago-based firm Murphy Milwaukee Bucks new arena and various restau- Van Buren St., and the 150-room Hyatt Place at Development Group; and Choice Hotels Interna- rants, shops and theaters. It will have four suites, The Brewery, at 800 W. Juneau Ave. Associate Publisher/Editor Joe Yovino, 414-225-1829 Entire contents copyright 2019 by The Daily Reporter The Daily Reporter is a member of The Associated Press, Managing Editor Dan Shaw, 414-225-1807 Publishing Co. Published daily except Saturdays, Sundays, National Newspaper Association, American Court and Commercial JobTrac Manager Rich Holevoet, 414-225-1822 New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Newspapers and Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Ad Director Susan Quinn, 414-225-1844 Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas. Under no condition will any judgment, decree or other Regional Office Manager Bonnie Porter, 414-225-1804 Periodical postage paid at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. matter of record be withheld from publication. Advertiser’s sole and To re-deliver a missing or damaged newspaper copy, POSTMASTER: Electronic Address Change Service Requested, exclusive remedy against The Daily Reporter for claims for loss and call, 414-225-1801 Send address changes to: Subscription Services damage resulting from any cause, including — without limitation — www.dailyreporter.com • 414-225-1801 P.O. Box 1051, Williamsport PA 17703-9940 A newspaper of general circulation devoted to the publication of errors, omissions, misruns and delays in publication, shall be either ISSN # 0749-7113 / USPS # 565-720 fax: 414-276-8057 l email: [email protected] news and intelligence of a general character, The Daily the publication of corrected material once without additional charge or 225 E. Michigan St., Suite 300, Milwaukee WI 53202 Reporter is the official publication for the Circuit Courts — First One Year Print and Online: $239, One Year Online: $199 a refund of the amount paid for the initial publication. In no event shall Judicial District (Milwaukee County). The Daily Reporter is the One Year JobTrac and Daily Reporter Combo: $625 The Daily Reporter be liable for incidental, special or consequential official newspaper for the city of Milwaukee. To subscribe: call 877-615-9536 damages, or for any other loss, damage or expense of any kind. THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 THE DAILY REPORTER PAGE 3 Offutt base damaged by Missouri River flooding FLOOD, from page 1 billion this year and $3.7 billion in the 2020 and 2021 budget years — would have to be approved by Congress. Wilson said that if Congress does not take action by May or June, the Air Force will have to put off dozens of construction and other improvement projects and perhaps take other cost-saving measures. Tyndall, which is a fighter base, took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael last Octo- ber. Offutt, home to U.S. Strategic Command headquarters, which oversees the nation's nuclear forces, was damaged by Missouri River flooding. The Marine Corps says it sustained about $3.5 billion worth of damage at Camp Lejeune and surrounding sites in North Carolina from Hurricanes Michael and Flor- ence. Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote in a recent memo that a number of unexpected costs, result- ing from hurricane damage and unplanned AP Air Force via Sgt. Rachelle Blake/The U.S. Tech. deployments to the U.S.-Mexico border, are Offutt Air Force Base and surrounding areas in Nebraska are inundated by floodwaters on March 17. The Air Force forcing the Marine Corps to cancel training said on Wednesday it will need $4.9 billion worth of disaster-relief money to repair flooding damage at the Offutt exercises. base and a separate base in Florida. Highway saw 42 crashes between 2012 and 2016, six of them fatal HIGHWAY from page1 group 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin Road in Fond du Lac alone saw the roadway's safety. project is expected to cost $132.6 put the Highway 23 expansion three fatal crashes in that period, giv- In October, WisDOT completed million. on-hold for years. A judge sided ing it a fatality rate above the state its final environmental analysis and The path to groundbreaking has in 2015 with 1,000 Friends, which average, according to WisDOT data. record of decision — a big step that been long and winding. argued WisDOT had used inflated 1,000 Friends, however, pushed moved the project from its design to The state Legislature first autho- traffic forecasts to justify the pro- back against claims that the highway construction phase. After the agency rized plans to expand the road from posed expansion. is more dangerous than others in had filed its report, 1,000 Friends a two-lane highway to a four-lane While the project was tied up in Wisconsin. In a statement released in had 150 days to formally appeal expressway in 1999. WisDOT court, residents and lawmakers alike May criticizing a draft of WisDOT's WisDOT's findings. The group, began design work on the project in argued that Highway 23 remained a revised environmental report for the however, told WisDOT on Monday 2010 and embarked on real estate dangerous roadway.