Assembly Bill 653 proposes the establishment of a local intersection safety program by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in Wisconsin. The program aims to enhance safety at signalized and stop-sign-controlled intersections by assisting political subdivisions in making necessary improvements. Political subdivisions can apply for grants or reimbursements for improvements to intersections identified as having excessively high crash rates. The DOT is also tasked with identifying the 10 percent of counties with the highest intersection crash rates to prioritize which improvements should be funded.

To support this initiative, the bill allocates $6,000,000 for the program, which will be used for assistance and improvements as outlined in the new statute created under section 86.325. The bill specifies that the DOT will establish criteria for evaluating applications and selecting intersections for improvement, ensuring that the funding is directed towards the most critical areas in need of safety enhancements.