WI-26 Upgrade Report

[JREwing78]

All 4 lanes are now open to traffic south of Fort Atkinson. Orange barrels are still out there, but there appears to be little work remaining besides a little striping and posting the 65 mph speed limit signs.

[JREwing78]

And.... at least as of noon on Friday, WisDOT had not put up the 65 mph limit signs between Janesville and Fort Atkinson. No idea what's holding up the show. Then again, they left the 55 mph limit up for months on the portion bypassing Fort Atkinson and Jefferson.

The workers are hustling hard to get the NBD carriageway north of Watertown finished before the snow flies. The new overpass and south-side on/off ramps from Hwy 60 are open, and the temporary Hwy 16 26 bypass of the railroad underpass is in place and operational, as mgk920 mentioned earlier.

[SEWIGuy]

I just drove the section north of Watertown yesterday before exiting eastbound on WI-60.  Why is the section just east of the WI-60 interchange in blacktop?  Is that only a temporary roadway?

[mgk920]

I just drove the section north of Watertown yesterday before exiting eastbound on WI-60.  Why is the section just east of the WI-60 interchange in blacktop?  Is that only a temporary roadway?

Part of that roadway is temporary.  When complete, the east-west WI 60 routing with smooth curving will be the final product.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

And.... at least as of noon on Friday, WisDOT had not put up the 65 mph limit signs between Janesville and Fort Atkinson. No idea what's holding up the show. Then again, they left the 55 mph limit up for months on the portion bypassing Fort Atkinson and Jefferson.

They had some lanes between County N and Fort Atkinson closed today.  Looks like they still were doing some work in the medians.

[SEWIGuy]

All work is complete south of Fort Atkinson and 65 mph signs have been installed from the south side of Milton all the way to the Fort bypass.  Yay!!

[jwags]

All work is complete south of Fort Atkinson and 65 mph signs have been installed from the south side of Milton all the way to the Fort bypass.  Yay!!

Thanks for the update. I have to drive from Watertown to Rockford next week so that'll make things much much easier!!

[JREwing78]

Apparently the extra work that delayed the opening of all four lanes on the Fort Atkinson-Milton stretch was due to pavement damage found in the northbound lanes.

Highway 26 opens to four lanes to Fort
Some business owners feeling the effects over a year after bypass opened
http://www.hngnews.com/milton_courier/news/local/article_07123182-547b-11e4-a301-0017a43b2370.html

[JREwing78]

If anyone's curious as to what the Hwy 26 construction looked like last year, you can see it on Google Street View:
https://goo.gl/maps/HGA99

[I94RoadRunner]

Looks like a good road trip for after the road meet on April 18 .....?

[JREwing78]

Steady progress is being made in the area around the Hwy 16/60 exit on Hwy 26 near Clyman (north of Watertown). The road bed for Hwy 26 is ready to accept new concrete pavement, and the beams for the new overpass are in place (the road previously went under a narrow railroad overpass). The dual-carriageway will end shortly north of the Hwy 16/60 overpass prior to reaching the railroad.

The concrete still needs to be laid for the SBD carriageway south to County J; traffic continues to be two-way north to the Hwy 16/60 exit, and two-way traffic shares the NBD off-ramp, ending at a 3-way Stop sign. Speed limits south of County J are still posted for 55 mph south to the County Q/County L intersection.

[WarrenWallace]

From my understanding, the city of Janesville didn't want that option.  If it was even offered.  Same reason that CTH Y was rerouted onto McCormick and a traffic signal was installed at McCormick and HWY 26 instead of an interchange.

[mgk920]

From my understanding, the city of Janesville didn't want that option.  If it was even offered.  Same reason that CTH Y was rerouted onto McCormick and a traffic signal was installed at McCormick and HWY 26 instead of an interchange.

I offered a 'free-flow with maintaining and improving the street connections' option for I-39/90/WI 26 in the 'Redesigning Interchanges' subforvm in the fantasy highways section in here a couple of years ago.

Mike

[hobsini2]

And really the only movements that should absolutely be free flow are SB 26 to SB 39/90 and NB 39/90 to NB 26. If you want to have the remaining movements be a signal, fine.

[SEWIGuy]

Again, why?

I know the "roadgeek default" is to build the biggest thing possible regardless of cost, but there are not significant traffic back ups at the two lights between I-30/90 and the freeway.  (Earlier I said one...sorry). 

[hobsini2]

If the intent, which I believe it is by WisDOT, is to have Wis 26 as a freeway from Janesville to at least Waupun, then that kind of movement should happen. Plain and simple. Why put it off if they are going to rebuild the interchange? Just do it at once so you won't go back in 10 years to do it.

[on_wisconsin]

The WIS 26 thread is over here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2760.0

[SEWIGuy]

If the intent, which I believe it is by WisDOT, is to have Wis 26 as a freeway from Janesville to at least Waupun, then that kind of movement should happen. Plain and simple. Why put it off if they are going to rebuild the interchange? Just do it at once so you won't go back in 10 years to do it.

Who says that is their intent?  I certainly don't see a cost effective way to bypass Johnson Creek for instance.  Furthermore, as Geek Jedi says, if you are claiming that the WI-26 freeway doesn't go to Janesville, then you are simply arguing semantics.  The freeway ends just south of Milton.  Close enough really.

[hobsini2]

If the intent, which I believe it is by WisDOT, is to have Wis 26 as a freeway from Janesville to at least Waupun, then that kind of movement should happen. Plain and simple. Why put it off if they are going to rebuild the interchange? Just do it at once so you won't go back in 10 years to do it.

Who says that is their intent?  I certainly don't see a cost effective way to bypass Johnson Creek for instance.  Furthermore, as Geek Jedi says, if you are claiming that the WI-26 freeway doesn't go to Janesville, then you are simply arguing semantics.  The freeway ends just south of Milton.  Close enough really.

First of all, are there lights on 26 in Janesville north of 39/90? Yes. Freeways don't have lights. That's not semantics. That's being incomplete for 3 miles. Second, I said if it is their intent which I believe it is. That doesn't mean that is 100% good as gold. That is MY opinion.
Third, You can bypass Johnson Creek to the east by about a mile or so. Not as big a deal as you think it is.

http://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Wis_26_Johnson_Creek_Bypass/GYrufS2SZ_

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I've driven the section of WIS 26 in question a few times in recent months travelling between Milwaukee and Janesville. Other than the occasional minor inconvenience of getting stopped at a light on either end of the freeway, I really don't see any extreme need to finish it at this point.

[JREwing78]

I took several pictures of the work on Hwy 26 at Hwy 16/60 tonight:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/126899288@N04/zGo18y

Google Maps has a picture from this year that shows what the final configuration will look like:
https://goo.gl/maps/Rqg9e

[mgk920]

I took several pictures of the work on Hwy 26 at Hwy 16/60 tonight:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/126899288@N04/zGo18y

Google Maps has a picture from this year that shows what the final configuration will look like:
https://goo.gl/maps/Rqg9e

That's the status of construction on the day that image was shot.  The current road lines north of Union Pacific's ex CNW Adams Line are temporary, built only as a construction bypass.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

The section of WI-26 from just north of WI-60 through the WI-16/60 interchange has opened up.  (Drove it today.)  This is the last remaining section to open on the massive WI-26 expansion project from Janesville to this location.  The inside lanes are still closed because they are doing some guardrail and shoulder work, but my guess is all four lanes will be open in a couple weeks.

The only issue that I see is that there are no BGS signs at the WI-26/16/60 interchange.  Just black and white directional signs.  I think a BGS with Columbus and Hartford as control cities would have been appropriate.

[JREwing78]

The section of WI-26 from just north of WI-60 through the WI-16/60 interchange has opened up.  (Drove it today.)  This is the last remaining section to open on the massive WI-26 expansion project from Janesville to this location.  The inside lanes are still closed because they are doing some guardrail and shoulder work, but my guess is all four lanes will be open in a couple weeks.

The only issue that I see is that there are no BGS signs at the WI-26/16/60 interchange.  Just black and white directional signs.  I think a BGS with Columbus and Hartford as control cities would have been appropriate.

I would be surprised if BGS signs don't appear eventually there. The rest of the highway to that point has them at interchanges.

I figured they were close to opening Hwy 26 north of the Hwy 16/60 interchange when I drove up at the end of August - the roadbed was prepared for paving then. I have to drive through there Thursday; it'll be neat to see the finished product.

[jwags]

The section of WI-26 from just north of WI-60 through the WI-16/60 interchange has opened up.  (Drove it today.)  This is the last remaining section to open on the massive WI-26 expansion project from Janesville to this location.  The inside lanes are still closed because they are doing some guardrail and shoulder work, but my guess is all four lanes will be open in a couple weeks.

The only issue that I see is that there are no BGS signs at the WI-26/16/60 interchange.  Just black and white directional signs.  I think a BGS with Columbus and Hartford as control cities would have been appropriate.

I would be surprised if BGS signs don't appear eventually there. The rest of the highway to that point has them at interchanges.

I figured they were close to opening Hwy 26 north of the Hwy 16/60 interchange when I drove up at the end of August - the roadbed was prepared for paving then. I have to drive through there Thursday; it'll be neat to see the finished product.

Just drove through there today and there is a BGS heading northbound with an exit number assigned but not southbound. The control cities were Columbus and Hustisford (covered because 60 EB is closed at the interchange). Rest of BGS signs will probably be installed next week. It also appears that they are putting in reduced speed limit signs near the overpass which would make it seem that the road will be 65 once complete.