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• WisDOT to replace overhead signs on I-94
• Wisconsin DMV center funding may be restored

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) will be replacing five overhead-mounted signs on I-94 at Hudson this week.

The signs are in the eastbound lanes starting near the 11th Street overpass and ending at Carmichael Road.

The work is scheduled for the overnight hours of Thursday, June 4 into Friday, June 5.

The removal of the signs will require temporary lane closures of through lanes on eastbound I-94 only and the ramp-to-ramp-auxiliary lane going up the hill. Crews will be working between 9 p.m.-9 a.m.

In case of inclement weather, the work will be postponed until next week.

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee has restored funding for 40 Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) service centers, including Amery, Luck, New Richmond, Spooner and Siren.

Governor Jim Doyle's 2009-11 state budget proposal eliminated funding for these centers.

But according to State Rep. Ann Hraychuck (D-Balsam Lake), residents in the 28th Assembly District would have been forced to travel to either Rice Lake or Hudson to renew their driver's license.

"Without a service center in Amery or Siren, a trip to the DMV would no longer be a quick 15 minute drive -- it would take a half a day," said Hraychuck. "Most residents would have been forced to drive anywhere from an hour and a half to three and a half hours roundtrip to the nearest center. That is simply unacceptable."

Nearly 200 constituents called, wrote letters, sent emails, and signed petitions to demonstrate their opposition to closing the DMV service centers, Hraychuck said.

Hraychuck brought that information with her when meeting with members of the Joint Finance Committee about this issue.

"Constituents were so vital to this process. Your voices were heard loud and clear, and without you these service centers would have been eliminated," Hraychuck said.

The version of the state budget passed by the Joint Finance Committee will likely go before the Assembly for a vote during the week of June 8.