City of Ripon Awarded Federal Funding for Howard Street and Liberty Street Reconstruction Projects

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2026

The City of Ripon has been awarded federal funding through the Surface Transportation Program (STP) for the future reconstruction of Howard Street and Liberty Street.

The two awards represent approximately $4.6 million in total project funding, with the STP program providing 80 percent of eligible project costs and the City responsible for the remaining 20 percent local share.

The awards were announced as part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s latest round of Surface Transportation Program funding. Statewide, nearly $370 million was awarded to support 195 local road and bridge improvement projects.

“These awards are a tremendous investment in Ripon and will allow us to address two of the worst roads in our community,” Mayor Theodore Grant said. “The City has been very aggressive in investing in our streets and infrastructure over the past several years, and securing outside funding like this allows us to continue that work while significantly reducing the burden on local taxpayers. Howard Street and Liberty Street are both major projects, and this funding puts us in a position to make substantial improvements to these corridors.”

The City applied for STP funding for several eligible roadway projects during the most recent application cycle, including Howard Street, Liberty Street, Griswold Street and Scott Street. Howard Street and Liberty Street were selected for funding.

Both projects are anticipated to involve significant roadway reconstruction and associated infrastructure improvements. The City will complete engineering and design work in advance of construction, with the projects scheduled within the 2027–2031 STP funding cycle.

WisDOT’s Surface Transportation Program provides federal funding for improvements to eligible roadways in urban and rural communities throughout Wisconsin.