Do you feel it? Those incessant bumps under your tires? The sporadic jolts sending you an inch above your seat? Me too and we’re not alone. This is the curse of the Wisconsinite. Residents and tourists alike(Let’s not kid ourselves, no one comes here on vacation) are aware of this obnoxious curse, the roads.

These dilapidated, concrete snakes infiltrate our hills, lay on our towns, and wind around our homes. Whether it’s work, school, or you just really want coffee, these roads are all you got to get there. This would be fine if you haven’t noticed how awful they are. And you will, eventually. 

According to The Cap Times, the average Milwaukee/Madison driver spends nearly $1,000 on vehicle maintenance and repair due to road quality alone. A problem of this degree is impossible to ignore. Imagine this, you’re starving. Craving your favorite fast food item. Perhaps it’s a mouth-watering burger or a devilishly delectable drink. Whatever the case, you deserve it. You decide to treat yourself and make the commute to your proverbial paradise. But tragically, when you get there, you have no spending cash. Those damned concrete snakes picked your pockets clean on the way over there and you can’t do anything about it. The saddest part of all is that you still craving that item. Wisconsin’s roads will continue to cause damage until something is done to fix it or improve their quality indefinitely. The conditions of these roads are not exaggerated either.

In the same article The Cap Times explains that according to a national report back in September of 2018, half of all of Wisconsin’s major roads were reported to be in poor or mediocre condition. This ensures that the quality of your transportation is statistically dependant on a coin flip. In yet another article, this time by PublicNewsService.org states that Wisconsin’s roads were the third-worst in the nation as of 2015. As a student, I can vouch for the irritable jolts that send the bus into a shaking frenzy. I gave up on doing my math homework on the way home after I turned in an assignment that looked like a spectrogram. 

If Wisconsin’s roads are so awful, why hasn’t something been done to fix them? What if I told you that there had? In a personal interview with the South East Region Maintenance Supervisor Bao Van Tran, he explained to me how the Department Of Transportation(DOT) improvement program has been attempting to rehab or reconstruct the deteriorated roads. He explained further that this program took time and was heavily restricted by budget. Meaning they could only open a number of projects statewide at a time. Ultimately meaning that the roads will deteriorate faster than we can fix them. Sadly the copious amounts of tar that stripes our roads will not save us after all.

It seems like the solution would be to increase the budget, manpower, and call it a day. But I think we’re looking at this the wrong way. Another odd mystical facet of Wisconsin is its awful weather. Humid summers scorch Wisconsinites and long, frigid winters freezes us until summer thaws us out again. This temperamental weather also has a similar effect on our roads. Bao Van Tran explains that the dramatic weather allows water to penetrate the pavement. Freezing and thawing can create voids under the roads ultimately destroying the pavement. On top of that, literally, roads paved 20 years ago were not made to support the traffic of today. Crushing the already fundamentally flawed concrete. 

The ramifications of these circumstances are terrifying. Based on the previous estimate, the roads of Milwaukee will cost its residents half a million dollars in that area alone. Imagine the other roads in the more rural areas of the north. It’s more than likely that most roads haven’t been given any attention since their construction despite having just as much wither due to the weather as anywhere else. The damage, discomfort, and inability to do math homework will continue to plague us unless we can come up with a solution.

It is imperative to the safety and financial well-being of Wisconsinites that our deficient roads are fixed. The concrete snakes we drive on every day, striped black with tar and crushed under our heavy modes of transit will continue to haunt us if left unchecked. Inflicting incalculable damage and accidents among us for decades to come. Plainly put, they are arguably one of Wisconsin’s most insidious afflictions. It will continue to siphon the Department Of Transportation’s funds along with the Wisconsinites that sustain damage from them. But the most awful thing of all… The most heinous crime these damaged roads have committed… Was steal from you the most prized thing of all… That delectable food item.

And you can thank the Wisconsinite’s curse.