March 27, 2026

By Lane Kimble

MADISON — After years of debate, compromise, and having to go back to the drawing board, Mike Hahn didn’t need to wait long to receive a symbolic gift.

Gov. Tony Evers turned and immediately handed Hahn the first ceremonial pen used to sign Wisconsin’s new permanent Design-Build program into law.

“It was fun,” Hahn said. “Finally got one done that we’ve been working on for a long time.”

Hahn joined WTBA’s Elise Nelson, Jodi Jensen, Hoffman Construction’s Brad Eberhardt, WisDOT staff, and lawmakers for the bill signing in the governor’s office last Friday morning.

Hahn, who is WTBA’s Board President and Lunda Construction Vice President, served for years on a WTBA subcommittee that worked with the Department and engineering stakeholders to craft a permanent Design-Build program that all sides could agree on.

“(We went through) iteration after iteration where we threw language back and forth,” Hahn explained. “We had conversations about what would work, what we wanted, what they wanted, what the ACEC wanted and we came up with the bill that’s now signed.”

The new law replaces the existing Design-Build pilot program–which was limited to six total projects–with permanent authority for WisDOT to use alternative delivery methods. It allows WisDOT to use Design-Build for up to $300 million in projects every two years.

The law includes annual cost index adjustments, simplifies rules for project selection and awards, and strengthens overall project oversight. Jensen–WTBA’s General Counsel–released a straightforward white paper explaining in detail how the new program works.

(You can review Jensen’s paper HERE. NOTE: You MUST be logged into your WTBA.orgaccount to access/read.)

“It’s a way to accelerate the construction and come up with innovations,” Eberhardt told WTBA as he walked out of the Capitol.

Eberhardt pointed to Hoffman’s work on the Cranberry Interchange in Tomah as an example of Design-Build’s potential.

“The lifespan of your normal delivery is such a long process. With Design-Build you can speed that process up and take a 30-percent plan set, which we had at the Cranberry Interchange last June,” Eberhardt said. “Now we’re going to have the job constructed before Memorial Day of 2026.”

WisDOT will now begin to focus on potential future projects to apply Design-Build to.  Don’t anticipate any in the 2026 season, given prep work can take months.  Still, waiting until 2027 is fine with Hahn as long as the program is used effectively.

“Compromise is the right word,” Hahn said.  “Compromise and patience.  It’s great to get this done.”