June 2, 2024
By Lane Kimble
TOWN OF BURNETT, Wis. — Between a tour of a quarry and asphalt plant, a short road trip through a work zone, and a stop outside a church where milling machines rumbled along Highway 26, Ric Szalewski realized he couldn’t get too far ahead of himself.
“I love talking about hot mix,” Szalewski admitted with a grin. “The way we talk to one another (though), you’re going to lose people. They don’t know what this acronym means or what this word means, so you just try to use plain simple English.”
His straightforward approach seemed to do the trick.
The Northeast Asphalt Senior Project Manager helped lead State Rep. Mark Born through a 90-minute crash course in all things roadbuilding at NEA’s 11-mile resurfacing project in Dodge County.
“Took him out through the plant site. We brought him out to the highway here where we’re working. He asked questions, we asked questions,” Szalewski said of his fellow NEA and Walbec Group colleagues.
WTBA coordinated with Rep. Born to bring him to the site, which is only about five minutes from his home in Beaver Dam. Born serves as co-chair of the state’s budget-writing committee.
“This is always the best part of the job,” Born said. “It’s fun to hear from the folks about how passionate they are about their work and you can certainly hear that coming through as they talk about the project and answer my questions.”
In addition to some basic chemistry lessons on asphalt and an up-close look at milling, the group made sure Born understood how important it is for the industry to have long-term, reliable funding to allow for better planning, coordination, and cost savings.
Born and the state legislature certainly listened during the last budget cycle, pumping nearly $1 billion in new and ongoing Transportation Fund revenue.
“It’s good to have the boots on the ground confirm to you the importance of the timeline of those investments so that they can do the plan that they need to do to make sure that we’re set to build these roads in the most cost effective way,” Born said.
