If the federal Highway Trust Fund follows projections and dries up at the end of the year, it will mean trouble for Wisconsin.

“If you look at it, every road program in Wisconsin has a combination of state funds and federal funds,” said Tom Walker, director of government affairs for the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association. “Federal funding accounts for about 45 percent of our money, and we have a lot of projects funded by up to 80 percent by federal money.

“This would cut things by one-third.”

According to projections by the Federal Highway Administration, Wisconsin stands to lose more than $196 million and more than 6,800 jobs if the trust fund is not fixed. It’s something Terrance McGowan, business manager of Operating Engineers Local 139, called disheartening, but not new.

“GM lays off 800 people, and it’s front-page news,” he said. “We’ve lost that many road builders over the last few years, but no one hears about it because our guys die a silent death. They go home in the winter, and when they come back, the work’s not there.

“It’s the kind of hurt that creeps up on you, and it’s killing us.”

The battle for money and jobs already is being fought at the state level. Wisconsin’s three budget cycles saw money moved from transportation to support general programs, and the state’s Road to the Future Committee in 2007 said the cost to maintain Wisconsin’s roads will run almost $700 million.

Transportation officials were encouraged when transportation got more money in the state’s 2007-09 budget, and McGowan said he thinks the road builders’ message is finally being heard at the state level.

“I’ve seen an awareness (in the state Legislature) that I’ve never seen before,” he said. “People are really starting to understand our needs.”

But no sooner is hope found at the state level then it’s lost in Washington, D.C.

“And as far as the federal government goes,” McGowan said. “I have no faith.”

Wisconsin transportation officials go to Washington, D.C., every year with representatives from different states to get the message across to legislators, but the fix still isn’t there.

“It’s frustrating,” said Mike Dehaan, field services director for the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association. “There’s money in the bucket, but there are also holes. And as long as the holes are there, the bucket is never going to fill.”

Legislation put forth by Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, stalled in the U.S. Senate when lawmakers disagreed over some of the bill’s terms.

“People don’t like it,” said Kevin Traas, WTBA’s director of policy and finance. “But if you don’t like what’s on the table, what’s your option? There’s nothing else being offered.”

And what is offered, Walker said, is essentially a one-year fix. Congress still must find a way to finance transportation beyond 2009.

“It’s an enormous challenge,” he said. “We don’t care how they do it; we just want them to do it.”

Both Walker and Dehaan said they think the problem will be fixed simply because there is no other choice.

And if they’re wrong, Thomas Fisher, president and business manager of the Wisconsin District Laborers’ Council, said the problem will go far beyond transportation.

“Without infrastructure, companies aren’t going to come to Wisconsin,” he said. “And that’s going to affect all areas of construction because the jobs just aren’t going to be there anymore.”