Friday, October 2, 2026

Your go-to source for Association and transportation industry news, notes, and need-to-knows

NEWS & NOTES

Wisconsin wows nation's industry leaders during three-day ARTBA National Convention in Kohler

Only 7,077 Olympic gold medals have been awarded since the modern games started in 1896.

Two gold medal winners sat in front of an awestruck audience Tuesday night in Wisconsin, insisting they have plenty in common with the hundreds of thousands of folks who build our nation’s roads, bridges and highways.

“It’s simple. I understood hard work. I understood about being a good person. Those values, they’re worth more than dollars,” Mike Eruzione told the room, encouraging them to take the same perspective with their jobs and coworkers.

Eruzione, who helped Team USA win gold after the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”, joined 2026 Women’s gold medal winner Megan Keller during the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s National Convention closing banquet in Kohler.

The world-famous duo was the icing on the cake for a three-day conference that drew industry leaders from across the country to the Badger State for the first time in more than a decade.

“We’ve been all around the country with this group and it’s great to have the top contractors throughout the nation here in Wisconsin,” Walbec Group Director of Business Development Jeff Parisi said. “And, as you would expect, Kohler is showing off incredibly well.”

ARTBA’s conference attracted more than 250 participants to The American Club.

There were insightful general sessions and breakouts, wonderful receptions and banquets, an exceptional round of golf at Whistling Straits’ Irish Course, and plenty of time for networking and relationship building.

WTBA Executive Director Steve Baas worked closely with ARTBA staff for months to put on the best possible conference.

“I’ve often said Wisconsin shows better than it tells,” Baas said. “We have this modesty about us. It’s so cool to have the entire country here, seeing first-hand what a wonderful state we have.”

Wisconsin was well represented during the conference.

WTBA Director of Engineering Matt Grove introduced WisDOT Deputy Secretary Scott Lawry during the opening luncheon, Baas presented during the Contractors Division meeting, and Michels co-owner Tim Michels participated in a leadership panel.

WTBA Board President Mike Hahn joined representatives from Walbec, Mathy Construction, James Peterson Sons, HNTB, EXP and others during many events.

"Everyone loves the place," Parisi said. "It could not have gone any better."

There’s no prize–or gold medal–for organizing a strong conference, but Baas believes this year's National Convention will inspire the hard work our industry needs to put in over the months and years ahead.

“So many of our contractors and companies were here,” Baas said. “It’s a great way to expose the national organization to the great things we’re doing in Wisconsin but also be a strong resource for them so then we can increase their impact in Washington.”

A Tale of Two Projects: Baas uses two Wisconsin megas to illustrate point during ARTBA Contractors Division meeting

Most presentations about transportation projects and funding don’t begin with quotes from literary classics.

Leave it to Steve Baas to set the stage for his seminar during ARTBA’s National Convention this week with the opening line from Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.”

The juxtaposition of “the best of times… the worst of times… the age of wisdom… the age of foolishness…” dovetailed into Baas’ tale of two projects: I-94 North-South vs. I-94 East-West.

“I wanted to send the message that we need to get better at telling our own story,” Baas explained. “Language matters in how we put forward the benefits and opportunities that come along with road building.”

The state’s $1.58 billion investment in North-South has paid off many times over, Baas told the Contractors Division Meeting.

Property values along the 35-mile corridor between Milwaukee and the Illinois state line surged by $11 billion, according to HNTB research. The expansion and reconstruction attracted companies such as Microsoft, Haribo, Uline, and Amazon.

Additionally, crash and injury rates have all fallen by double-digit percentages since the massive project was completed.

East-West, meanwhile, has been delayed, revived, finally started, but now faces possible construction extensions while the overall cost has increased since the project was first considered ten years ago.

Baas urged attendees to push for strong, reliable transportation funding at the state and federal levels to keep projects on-schedule, on-budget, and on track to improve the cities and communities they serve.

“These are the economic backbone, they are the table stakes of any state or nation’s economy,” Baas said.

“We’ve gotta be less bashful about that and we’ve got to learn to talk about the development impacts we have in transportation the same way that condo builders and stadium builders talk about the economic developments and the programs they go to the government for help with.”

CONSTRUCTION NOTES

ASP-6 amendments in effect for November letting

WisDOT is releasing 10 revisions to the standard specifications via Additional Special Provision (ASP-6).

These changes go into effect with the November 10, 2026 letting. ASP-6 will be amended periodically until WisDOT can compile a full standard spec update.

ASP-6 includes changes made in November 2024, November 2025, February 2026 and today's latest updates.

Department staff, contractors and consultants must read the revised ASP-6 to avoid missing important specification changes.

Click HERE to review ASP-6 in full.

Below are the specific updates effective with the November let:

420.3.4 Diamond Grinding – Residual Disposal

Replace subsection to revise information and add paragraphs (3) and (4).

643.1 Traffic Control - Description

Replace paragraph (1) with revised information to change name to “connected work zone end location marker”.

643.2.2 Traffic Control - Department's Approved Products List (APL)

Replace paragraph (1) with revised information to change name to “connected work zone end location marker”.

643.3.10 Traffic Control – Connected Work Zone Location Marker

Replace subsection title and text with the revised information.

643.5.1 Traffic Control – Payment – General

Replace paragraph (1) with revised information to change bid item number and name for “traffic control connected work zone end location marker”.

710.5.6.3 General Concrete QMP – Department Acceptance Testing

Replace Table 710-6 (QV Aggregate Testing Frequency) with revised information.

715.5.4 QMP Concrete Pavement, Cast-in-Place Barrier and Structures - Payment - Pay Adjustments for Nonconforming Air Content, Temperature, and Delivery Time

Replace paragraph (1) and Table 715-2 (Price Reductions for Nonconforming Air Content) with revised information.

716.2.1 QMP Ancillary Concrete – Materials – Class II Concrete

Replace paragraph (2) with revised information to add last paragraph.

730.5 QMP Base Aggregate - Payment

Replace paragraph (2) with revised information.

Bid Items - 600 Bid Items

Replace bid item number and description for traffic control connected work zone end location marker.

Questions? Feel free to contact WTBA Director of Engineering Matt Grove.

EVENTS & REMINDERS

WTBA event sponsorship packages available through Nov. 1

Every year, WTBA brings together thousands of business owners, team leaders, project developers, crewmembers, family, and friends for eight great events.

Now is your chance to show those people what your company can do for them while helping the association put on best-in-class programming.

Sponsorship opportunities for the 2027 WTBA Events schedule are open now through November 1.

Click HERE to view what various opportunities are available.

Sponsorship packages are crafted ala carte, which gives you the chance to pick which events and offerings best fit your price point and preference.

Please fill out the form on page 6 of the sponsorships packet and email it to Catherine DeMarco. You can also send Catherine any questions you may have.

Thank you to all of our generous sponsors, past, present and future. We couldn’t do what we do without you!

WORK ZONE AWARENESS

Teens charged in hit-and-run crash that killed construction worker in Madison

Two teenage drivers now face felony charges in the death of a construction worker in Madison.

Madison police believe the drivers, both 17, were racing each other through a school neighborhood around 1:10 p.m. Sept. 24 when they crashed into a construction zone on Pflaum Road.

Peter Crook, 65, was hit and died at the scene. Crook was from Bear Valley in Richland County.

Crook was a carpenter by trade, according to his online obituary. He loved hunting, building things with his hands, and spending time with his family.

"It did not matter if he worked all day, muscles sore, you could find him going head first down a slide, playing Barbies on the floor or doing a round of golf with his proudest achievements--his grandbabies," his obituary says.

Witnesses estimate both drivers were going 50-60 MPH in the 25 MPH zone when the crash happened.

WMTV News in Madison spoke with both a construction worker who’s seen two of his colleagues die from work zone crashes and WTBA Executive Director Steve Baas about the impact these crashes have on the entire industry.

“Drivers go by work zones so quickly that they don’t really even process what it’s like to be a person standing there,” Baas said during the report, which aired Wednesday night. “(These should remind us) that there’s a face, and there’s a family behind every orange cone and flashing light. These are real people.”

One of the drivers faces felonies for second-degree reckless homicide and hit-and-run involving death. The other faces a second-degree recklessly endangering safety charge.

Both are due in court in November.

Future bio systems engineer honored with Work Zone Safe Wisconsin check at ARTBA Convention

Anna Kakatsch wants to make the world a better place through food.

The senior from Manitowoc Lincoln High School placed second nationally in the food innovations competition at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Leadership Conference the past two years.

She also aims to become a biological systems engineer, which focuses on using technology to protect the world’s food, agriculture, water and energy sectors.

For now, though, she’s happy making the world a better place through safe driving.

Kakatsch was selected as the latest Work Zone Safe Wisconsin scholarship winner this week.

She received her $500 prize during the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday in Kohler.

“A seemingly simple task such as driving can lead to horrific outcomes in mere seconds due to distractions,” Kakatsch told the crowd. “I’ve learned how distractions on the road and in work zones can affect families and entire communities.”

More than 6,000 people have successfully completed Work Zone Safe Wisconsin since WTBA led its launch in April 2024. A teen participant is selected at random each month to receive the $500 scholarship thanks to funding from the Wisconsin County Highway Association.

Kakatsch says she’ll put the $500 toward hopefully attending UW-Madison next fall. Before then, she hopes to give her fellow FCCLA members some additional food for thought by presenting about Work Zone Safe at upcoming state and regional conferences.

“Thank you so much for this honor,” Kakatsch added.

Hoffman launches work zone safety program with bumper stickers

Bold orange and black bumper stickers now appear on the back of Hoffman Construction Company employee vehicles.

The company wants to eventually see them on every car in the state.

The stickers say “Slow down in work zones: lives are on the line.”

“We take many precautions within our work zones, but the one thing we cannot control is the traveling public,” Hoffman President Chris Goss said in a news release. “Through this program, we hope to raise awareness and remind drivers that everyone in these work zones deserves to return home safely to their families.”

Businesses near Hoffman’s headquarters in Black River Falls agreed to hand out the free stickers to people in the community. Anyone interested in getting a sticker for themself or others can contact Brian Burns via email.

The company says this is just the first component of an ongoing work zone safety campaign.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

WTBA members bring tech college students into I-41 work zone to show career opportunities

EXP's Matt Geurts shows technical college students around an I-41 work site in September 2026. (Courtesy WisDOT)

Some of the men and women who may one day work on road construction sites got the chance to tour a massive project they’ve only ever driven past.

WisDOT hosted a group of students from Fox Valley Technical College for a visit to the I-41 expansion project between Appleton and De Pere.

EXP Senior Project Manager Matt Geurts joined fellow engineers and project managers to speak with students and show them around the work zone.

Students learned about day-to-day field responsibilities and the various career paths the industry can offer.

Many WTBA member companies are working as primes, subs, and consultants on the 23-mile expansion of freeway.

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