WisDOT awards funding to link two businesses to CN line

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has awarded two grants to the village of Wrightstown to help fund rail spurs that will connect two manufacturing plants to a CN line, state officials announced last week.

WisDOT awarded a $500,000 Transportation Economic Assistance (TEA) grant to help fund reconstruction of a 4,175-foot rail spur system for Drexel Systems LLC to connect to an existing CN line. When completed, the spur will support the movement of lumber from the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

"This [rail spur] will assist Drexel in keeping its cost of goods competitive and bring high-quality raw building materials directly into the manufacturing facility," said Drexel Building Supply President Joel Fleischman in a press release.

WisDOT also awarded a $400,000 TEA grant to help fund a 1,384-foot rail spur to connect Alliance Plastics Inc. to an existing CN line, which will support the movement of raw materials to the company’s facility from other states and Canada.

The spur will help Alliance Plastics “dramatically” reduce the number of inbound over-the-road deliveries to the plant, said company President Troy Wolf.

"It also allows our company to purchase our raw materials in larger quantities and store more material onsite, allowing us to be more competitive in our industry space," Wolf said.

Since 2019, Wisconsin’s TEA program has awarded 20 grants totaling more than $9 million to support transportation improvements linked to business development projects, state officials said.

The Wrightstown rail spurs “will not only create and retain jobs in our manufacturing industry, but they will also improve and bolster our state’s transportation infrastructure, expanding opportunities for Wisconsin industries to grow and succeed for years to come,” said Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.