Price County's CTH X Rebuild Wins $2.26 Million in Farm Road

Last updated: October 2026

Wisconsin just handed Price County $2,257,229.57 to rebuild County Highway X. That’s an 89% state share, and the county’s own piece comes to $278,983.43 on a project priced at $2,536,213.

That 89/11 split isn’t a negotiation. It’s the flat rate for every project in the state’s Agricultural Roads Improvement Program. What separates Price County is size. Its CTH X award ranked 10th out of the 39 projects funded in this round, and only four counties in Wisconsin took home more.

The part nobody mentions: that $2,536,213 caps the state’s exposure, not the county’s.

Quick Answer: WisDOT awarded Price County $2,257,229.57 for a rebuild of County Highway X in the 2026-2027 ARIP Round 2, against a total estimated project cost of $2,536,213. The award covers 89% of the work, leaving roughly $279,000 for the county. It ranks 10th of 39 projects statewide by state share. The Highway & Transportation Committee added CTH X to its five-year plan at its October 21, 2026 meeting, and the county must finish the work by June 30, 2031.

What did Price County actually win?

The award shows up in the WisDOT Round 2 project list under application 2540, listed to Price County for CTH X in the department’s North Central region. Total estimated cost: $2,536,213. State share: $2,257,229.57. State share percentage: 89%.

That is not a small award by the standards of this program. Round 2 put $69.5 million of state money against $78.1 million in estimated costs across 39 projects. Price County’s share is the 10th largest of the 39, and it is one of only five awards that went directly to a county rather than to a town, city, or village.

Marinette County’s CTH P took the biggest county-level award at $5,337,819.50. Outagamie County’s CTH UU came in at $2,456,400. Price County sits between Outagamie and Trempealeau County’s CTH Y at $2,165,637, according to the state list.

Why is a farm road program paying for CTH X?

ARIP exists for a narrow slice of the road network. The program was created by 2023 Wisconsin Act 13 and funded with $150 million in the 2023-25 state budget, and it targets roads that are functionally classified as local roads or minor collectors and that carry agricultural or forestry traffic.

The eligibility rules are strict. A road has to serve at least one agricultural producer, and it has to be either designated a Class B highway under Wis. Stat. 349.15 or subject to a posted weight limit for at least one month during the previous year.

Who counts as an agricultural producer

The state’s program guidelines list dairy, animal products, grain crops, forestry, and fruit or vegetables as qualifying producer types. The “other” category picks up sand for agricultural use, ethanol, organic manure or fertilizer, and maple syrup. Gravel and machinery do not count.

That forestry line matters here. Price County’s timber program is a major hauler on county roads, and stumpage receipts sat just below $700,000 at the end of September, roughly 43% behind the same point in 2025, County Administrator Nicholas Trimner told the board on October 13.

The weight limit test

There’s a catch at the end. Once the work is done, the road cannot go back under a Class B designation or a posted weight limit outside of extraordinary circumstances. Wis. Stat. 86.31(3o)(k) requires an engineer’s pavement or structural analysis, or the county highway commissioner’s support, before any new posting.

In plain terms: the state pays to fix the road, and the county has to keep it fixed.

What does the math look like for county taxpayers?

The 89% figure is uniform across all 39 awards in this round, so the comparison that matters is scale. Price County’s project lands in the top ten of the state list without coming close to the top of it.

Bar chart of the ten largest 2026-2027 Wisconsin ARIP awards, with Price County CTH X ranked 10th at $2,257,230 in state share — Price County’s CTH X award ranks 10th of 39 projects in ARIP Round 2. Source: WisDOT 2026-2027 ARIP Round 2 Project Awards List.

At the committee meeting, Highway Commissioner Roger Petrick put the local share at roughly $260,000, according to the auto-generated transcript. The state’s own figures put it at $278,983.43.

What happens if the project runs over

ARIP reimburses 100% of incurred costs up to the award amount, or 90% of final project costs, whichever is less. The total of all approved reimbursements cannot exceed 90% of eligible costs, and the local sponsor eats everything past the maximum award.

So the $2,536,213 estimate is not a ceiling on the county’s exposure. It’s a ceiling on the state’s. If bids come in at $3 million, Price County covers the difference. That’s the real risk in a construction market where oil prices move the asphalt number every week.

What did the Highway Committee say on October 21?

The Highway & Transportation Committee met at 7 a.m. at the Highway Commissioner’s Office, 704 N Lake Ave. in Phillips, then loaded a bus for the annual fall road tour. Item three on the agenda was “Update 5-Year Plan adding CTH X.”

Petrick framed the award as a timing decision rather than a road-condition decision.

The five-year plan change

“The road doesn’t look in that bad a shape, but this is a program that we don’t know how long it’s going to last,” the commissioner told the committee, according to the auto-generated meeting transcript. “So we take the funds when we can get them.”

Why the county moved now

ARIP Round 2 opened for applications April 29, 2026, with a June 29 deadline and awards expected in late October. Price County’s submission came in as one of 39 selections from a competitive pool, and the commissioner noted the county was “1 of 39 projects that were selected.”

That scarcity argument is the honest one. The program has run two solicitation rounds per cycle since 2023, and the money is finite. A road that qualifies today clears the bar on today’s pavement rating and today’s posting list. Neither is permanent.

Eggs, pulp trucks, and the case for eligibility

On what made CTH X competitive for a farm road program, the transcript of that exchange is fragmentary. What comes through is a short list of producer types tied to the corridor, with egg production and forest products named as the pair that carried the application.

Both count as qualifying uses under WisDOT’s rules. Neither shows up in a pavement rating. Both show up as loaded trucks turning off a state highway onto a county road built for a lighter era.

The turn lane question on Highway 13

A separate item came up about traffic where pulp trucks queue to turn in off the state highway. The commissioner said there are times when several trucks are stacked up waiting, and that roughly 50 feet of right of way is available for a dedicated turn lane. A business owner had also raised a speed limit question on Highway 13 south of Prentice. Neither item came to a vote, and neither has a cost estimate or a schedule.

Other business: the committee took up its September 2 minutes, heard that this year’s construction projects are complete through final payment, and reported that state trucks were being switched over to winter configuration that day.

What did Price County win in the last ARIP cycle?

The Town of Worcester landed $1,830,786.09 in the 2024-25 cycle for Little Elk Road, according to WisDOT’s 2025 ARIP annual summary. That project ran from CTH W to Little Chicago Road. CTH X is the second ARIP award in the county, not the first.

Added together, the two cycles have brought $4,088,015.66 in state road money to Price County. That total is the more useful number, because it shows a pattern rather than a one-off.

The Little Elk Road grant also sits at the center of an unresolved conflict. That road runs past United Pride Dairy, and a town supervisor who oversees it is listed as a supervisor for the company’s home municipality, which raises a question under Wisconsin Statute 946.13.

What happens next on CTH X?

A State Municipal Project Agreement with WisDOT comes next, locking in the scope, the award amount, and the reimbursement terms. Design and letting follow. The committee’s five-year plan update puts the project into the county’s capital schedule.

The deadlines are generous but real. Final reimbursement for the 2026-2027 cycle is due June 1, 2030, with WisDOT distribution by July 3, 2030 and project completion required by June 30, 2031.

The committee meets next on November 4 or December 2, and the county board’s budget calendar runs through November. Anyone tracking how the local share gets booked should follow the county board’s budget process. Past road spending is tracked in our Highway & Transportation Committee coverage.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Price County getting for CTH X?

$2,257,229.57 in state ARIP funds against a total estimated project cost of $2,536,213. That is an 89% state share, leaving $278,983.43 for the county.

Where is County Highway X?

County Highway X runs through the Town of Ogema east of Prentice and meets County Highway A near Prentice, according to OpenStreetMap road data.

Does Price County have to pay the money back?

No. ARIP is a grant, not a loan. The county’s obligation is the 11% match plus any costs above the $2,536,213 estimate, and it has to keep the road off the weight-restricted list afterward.

When will the CTH X work be done?

The state’s deadline for this cycle is June 30, 2031. Final reimbursement is due June 1, 2030. Design, letting, and bid timing decide the rest.

Why did Wisconsin create a separate program for farm roads?

Because weight-restricted roads were blocking agricultural and forestry hauling. The 2023-25 budget put $150 million into ARIP to rebuild roads that fall outside what local governments can finance on levy capacity alone.

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