Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 86 - Miscellaneous highway provisions.
86.07 - Digging in highways or using bridges for advertising.

86.07 Digging in highways or using bridges for advertising.
(1) Any person who draws, paints, prints or pastes upon any culvert, bridge or guard rail on any highway shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $200 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days or both.
(2)
(a) Subject to par. (b) and s. 86.16 (1m) (a) 2. and (c) and (6), no person shall make any excavation or fill or install any culvert or make any other alteration in any highway or in any manner disturb any highway or bridge without a permit therefor from the highway authority maintaining the highway. Such permit shall contain the statement and be subject to the condition that the work shall be constructed subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by said authority and be performed and completed to its satisfaction, and in the case of temporary alterations that the highway or bridge shall be restored to its former condition, and that the permittee shall be liable to the town or county or state, as the case may be, for all damages which occur during the progress of said work or as a result thereof. Nothing herein shall abridge the right of the department, the county board or its highway committee, or any other local authority to make such additional rules, regulations and conditions not inconsistent herewith as may be deemed necessary and proper for the preservation of highways, or for the safety of the public, and to make the granting of any such permit conditional thereon. If any culvert is installed or any excavation or fill or any other alteration is made in violation of the provisions of this paragraph, the highway or bridge may be restored to its former condition by the highway authority in charge of the maintenance thereof at the expense of the violator; and any person who violates this paragraph shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500, or by imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both.
(b)
1. In this paragraph:
a. “Manure hose" means any hose, pipeline, or other conduit, whether temporary or permanent in nature, for the transmission of liquid manure within or across the right-of-way of a highway to a destination for spreading in a farm field or for storage.
b. “State trunk highway" has the meaning given in s. 340.01 (60).
c. “Support structure" means a bridge, a box culvert, or any other structure that is less than 20 feet in length and capable of supporting a manure hose.
2. A permit may not be issued by a local highway authority under par. (a) for a manure hose that is subterranean. Section 86.16 applies with respect to any manure hose that is subterranean and that is laid out or installed within or across the right-of-way of a highway maintained by the local highway authority.
3. For a manure hose that is not subterranean and is not laid out or installed within or across the right-of-way of a state trunk highway, a permit issued under par. (a) that authorizes the permittee to lay out or install the manure hose within or across the right-of-way of a highway may also authorize the permittee to temporarily affix to a support structure under the jurisdiction of the local highway authority issuing the permit hooks, flanges, fasteners, or other devices to or by which a manure hose may be attached or supported. The local highway authority may require the applicant for the permit to submit with the application, for the local highway authority's approval, a plan specifying how the manure hose would be attached to or supported by the support structure. The permit may impose reasonable conditions related to the authorization under this subdivision, including any of the following:
a. Requiring removal of the hooks, flanges, fasteners, or other devices, at the permittee's expense, at any time, or under any circumstances, specified in the permit.
b. Making the permittee liable to the issuing authority for any damage caused to the support structure by the installation or removal of the hooks, flanges, fasteners, or other devices.
(2a) The restriction or depriving of used access to highways from abutting lands through the use of posts under any program to delineate driveways is prohibited.
(3) The prohibitions in this section do not apply to highway authorities in the performance of their duties.
History: 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (8) (c); 1987 a. 137 s. 6; 1989 a. 335; 2015 a. 231; 2017 a. 59.
An existing right of access in s. 32.09 (6) (b) includes the right of an abutting property owner to gain ingress and egress, subject to criteria for granting permits for access points under s. 86.07 (2). Restriction of access was a compensable taking. Narloch v. DOT, 115 Wis. 2d 419, 340 N.W.2d 542 (1983).
Sub. (2) is not a broad grant of authority to promulgate regulations for the preservation of highways or for the safety of the public. It is a statement that the legislature does not intend in sub. (2) to limit the authority the Department of Transportation has independent of this section to impose conditions or promulgate rules regarding excavations, fill, culverts, or other alterations or disturbances to a highway as long as the conditions and rules are consistent with sub. (2). Sub. (2) does not authorize the department to regulate land divisions that are not subdivisions within the meaning of s. 236.02 (12). Wisconsin Builders Association v. DOT, 2005 WI App 160, 285 Wis. 2d 472, 702 N.W.2d 433, 04-2388.
If the Department of Transportation (DOT) confirms a district office's decision to revoke a permit under s. 86.073 (3), DOT must “notify the applicant of a right to hearing before the division of hearings and appeals." This language, while not explicit, very clearly implies a right to revoke driveway permits and the only reasonable reading of the relevant statutes is that they allow DOT to revoke a driveway permit. J & E Investments LLC v. Division of Hearings and Appeals, 2013 WI App 90, 349 Wis. 2d 497, 835 N.W.2d 271, 12-2081.

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