The Wisconsin Department of Transportation unilaterally cut by $1.2 million the money it pays the county to maintain state highways, according to Jack Takerian, interim director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works.

The cut means that the county cannot afford the 29 temporary third shift employees who work in the winter months, Takerian told Dewayne J. Johnson, WisDOT’s southeast region director. Cutting those workers may result in more accidents, more serious accidents and more disabled vehicles and stranded motorists, he said in a letter to Johnson.

“WisDOT should also be prepared to notifying (sic) the public of their decision,” Takerian wrote in a memo to Supervisor Michael Mayo, chairman of the County Board’s Transportation and Public Works Committee. “A similar snow event that Milwaukee County has seen in years past would have huge impacts on travel times due to snow accumulation or road disrepair.”

Area highway commissioners have asked WisDOT to notify local school districts of the funding cuts so they “might plan for more late starts or more closures,” Takerian wrote.

The county will not have enough staff to maintain response times to weather-related road hazards “such as the emergency pavement blowouts that have occurred on several occasions this past year,” he wrote.

Takerian asked WisDOT’s Johnson to restore $750,000 of the funding so the third shift can be maintained.