8/4/25, HNG News –City of Waterloo Mayor Jenifer Quimby was joined by community leaders, business owners, and emergency response teams Monday for a tour of two of the deteriorating state highways that run through the city. The aging condition of Highways 89 and 19 negatively impacts the city’s quality of life, safety and business vitality.
“Roads are the backbone of our community,” Quimby said. “Here in Waterloo, we rely on two major state roads — highways 89 and 19; they are the lifelines of our economy and daily lives. These highways strengthen connections to neighboring communities and regional commerce.
“But the lack of sustainable funding has impacted our community negatively. We are excited to see that WisDOT has scheduled improvements to these highways, allowing us to upgrade the 75-year-old water and sewer infrastructure beneath. Still, this means other local road projects will take a back seat. These highways need fixing, but the way Wisconsin approaches funding roads needs fixing itself.”
Quimby was joined by local business owners, community leaders, legislators and local Community Development Authority member Janae Nell. Together the group discussed the declining roads and addressed how fixing and maintaining roads is not a luxury, but rather a core responsibility of government at the state level. Nell is also a former local realtor and had input regarding her work and the impacts of bad roads.
“When folks come through Waterloo, looking to move here, the top items are location and curb appeal, and then they see the roads, and they say ‘OH NO, OH NO,’” said Nell. “I’ve lost many home sales due to the bumpy roads. Plus, I’m visually impaired, so trying to walk and avoid potholes is a safety issue.”
The city of Waterloo has joined the “Re-VITAL-ize” effort spearheaded by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and the Transportation Development Association to highlight the challenges communities face in maintaining adequate roadway conditions for businesses and residents.
“The recently passed state transportation budget included a significant increase to the State Highway Rehabilitation Program and an inflationary increase for local general transportation aids,” said League of Wisconsin Municipalities government affairs director Toni Herkert. “While this is a positive step and builds upon three recent budgets that keep projects moving for the next two years, we fear that without a long-term fix to funding transportation, the state will be unable to maintain its transportation priorities and projects will be delayed.”
The Re-VITAL-ize effort will continue throughout the state of Wisconsin in the coming months with similar road tours in communities all around the state.