US-41 Interstate Conversion

[SEWIGuy]

If it is to be I-243, then Wisconsin has another duplication something that the DOT frowns upon. WI 243 currently is a bridge connection over the St Croix River at Osceola. I still see no reason why US 41 and I-41 could not coexist with US 41 being moved onto WI 175 between Milwaukee and just south of Oshkosh like it originally was prior to the freeway. US 51 south of Portage for all but 5 miles is not on I-39/90. Hell i would even swallow the bullet and take I-57 up from Chicago (not I-55 though) and have WI 57 become a new number say my newly freed up WI 175.

Wisconsin deals with duplications already.  WI-39 and I-39 are currently in existence, but nowhere near one another.

They should simply sign it I-41... extend WI-175 south along US-41 in Milwaukee...and eliminate US-41 between Waukegan and the end of I-41...US-41 then reappears.

Sometimes I think DOTs out-think themselves.  It will still be "highway 41," it will just have different color signs.  I-243, 894 or 194 would just be silly.

[mgk920]

a legitimate news agency

Fox? Nope.

Do you have anything else that you can add to the conversation?



Mike

[mukade]

In my conversations with Kim Rudat from WisDOT's Green Bay office a couple of months ago, he also said that the number '41' was pretty much out of contention and seemed must 'bullish' on it ultimately being '55'.

I can definitely see how I-41 is out as it would be very confusing, but I-55 is a strange choice other than it is an I-x5. Let's say I lived in Chicago and wanted to go to St. Louis, Kanasas City, Oklahoma City, or Dallas. I would take I-55 south and ultimately end up where I wanted to go. If I lived in Milwaukee, on the other hand, I would most likely take I-43 to I-39 to I-55 because I would want to avoid Chicago.

So to me, a continuing route number should carry a significant amount of traffic between its key points. In addition to the silly 100 mile north-south section of I-94, it also bugs me because I doubt that many people going from Detroit to Minneapolis (or even Chicago to Minneapolis) would take I-94 - there are better routes. So why have this indirect route carry the same number?

So in that sense, the I-57 designation makes sense because people in Wisconsin going south to Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, etc. could take I-57 to I-55 or I-24. But remember - there are three N-S Interstates ending in Chicago. I still maintain that I-65 would have also made sense as a potential alternative. It can take you to most of the same major destinations down south, but also is the logical route to Indy, Louisville, Cincy, Columbus, Washington DC, Baltimore, and the Carolinas. Like I-57, but unlike I-55, it has high speed interchanges where it meets I-94 and where the Kingery splits off to the Bishop Ford. The interchanges with I-55 (whether on the Dan Ryan or the Tri-State) are substandard. Yes, that could change, but the fact remains that most people in Wisconsin have a much more convenient alternative to go to points southwest.

I wonder if studies have been made to study destinations of people from Wisconsin driving south of Chicago. Whichever existing Interstate route carries the highest number should be the designation of the US 41 upgrade, IMO. I would put my bet on either I-57 or I-65 to be that route. Something like that would take the subjectivity out of it.

[Fox 11 News]

a legitimate news agency

Fox? Nope.

WLUK-TV is a local affiliate. We are owned by LIN Media, based on Providence, R.I. If you ever travel to Wisconsin from Florida, I hope you check us out and watch before making any judgments. Thanks.

[texaskdog]

Yeah I'd end 94 in Milwaukee and extend 55 north to Green Bay

[NE2]

Yeah I'd end 94 in Milwaukee and extend 55 north to Green Bay

And do what in Michigan?

[hobsini2]

Yeah I'd end 94 in Milwaukee and extend 55 north to Green Bay

And do what in Michigan?

Not to mention the mess that would be created by moving 94 or 55 out of their current alignment in Chicago. 57 makes the most sense because there would not be a stub freeway between Tri-State or Ryan to Lake Shore Dr.
I could see 65 being used since the general direction between Appleton and Louisville is SSE.

[Alps]

a legitimate news agency

Fox? Nope.

WLUK-TV is a local affiliate. We are owned by LIN Media, based on Providence, R.I. If you ever travel to Wisconsin from Florida, I hope you check us out and watch before making any judgments. Thanks.

Pwned. This is why public relations is a profession. Well played.

[Alps]

Yeah I'd end 94 in Milwaukee and extend 55 north to Green Bay

And do what in Michigan?

I-92 the way it was originally proposed.

[triplemultiplex]

Well good to hear you locals are still confident it'll be a 2di.  That's good news, but I'm disappointed they're pussing out on I-41.
You know, I wish they had figured out this number stuff before they started the huge reconstruction projects in Oshkosh and Green Bay.  That way they could've made all the signs right away, even if they'd spend a couple years with the interstate shields covered up.

If we do get 55, I see no need to do anything to the interchange with 90/94 in Chicago (well not because of different shields).  That ain't going to change any traffic flow if 55 has to exit off itself to continue north.  In Chicago, any numbering changes aren't really going to affect traffic patterns.  And the stub to Lake Shore Drive can become an X55 no problem.

Came through Oshkosh again last weekend (fishing opener) and crews seemed to have brushed off the week's earlier deluge and were getting ready to do a lot of slip-form paving.  All the NB stuff looks ready for concrete around the US 45 interchange.  I'm getting antsy for this beauty to open up:


(NB US 41 -> NB US 45 flyover)

On the way back south Monday, crews were unloading slip-form pavers on the Lake Butte des Mortes Causeway and the bridges looked pretty much done so I imagine they'll be shuffling traffic around between new and old bridges there in a few weeks.

US 41 traffic is using temporary bypass lanes at WI 21 while they rebuild that interchange.  This is one where the freeway used to go over the surface street, but they're switching it so it goes under.  This was also done at US 45.  The posted detour for WI 21 has you get off at WI 44/91 while locals and knowledgeable out-of-towners could make a faster detour exiting at 9th Street and using local roads.
This will be the third interchange with a quartet of roundabouts on the surface street, if you've been following that roundabout thread.

[on_wisconsin]

^ nice pic
The state just released some prelim interchange layouts for the upcoming WIS 441 rebuild:
http://www.dot.wi.gov/projects/d3/wis441/alternatives.htm

[DaBigE]

WisDOT just announced a round public meetings for the US-41 conversion:

WisDOT has scheduled six public information meetings. Each will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m., with a brief presentation at 5:15 p.m., followed by an open house format where WisDOT representatives will be available to discuss the project on an individual basis. The public information meetings will be held at the following locations:

-Wednesday, May 16, at the Brown County Public Library in downtown Green Bay
    515 Pine Street, Green Bay (Auditorium)
-Thursday, May 17, at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton
    1825 N. Bluemound Drive, Appleton (Entrance #16 - Room A-170)
-Tuesday, May 22, at Fox Valley Technical College Riverside Campus in Oshkosh
    150 N. Campbell Road, Oshkosh (Conference Center Room 133)
-Wednesday, May 23, at Fond du Lac Public Library
    32 Sheboygan Street, Fond du Lac (McLane Room)
-Wednesday, May 30, at the Germantown Public Library
    N112 W16957 Mequon Road, Germantown (Meeting Room)
-Thursday, May 31, at the Wauwatosa Public Library
    7635 West North Avenue, Wauwatosa (Firefly room)

Full Press Release: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/opencms/export/nr/modules/news/news_3328.html_786229440.html

[kphoger]

You know you're a roadgeek if.....you ponder the little white number on the little blue sign more than the actual highway itself.

[agentsteel53]

You know you're a roadgeek if.....you ponder the little white number on the little blue sign more than the actual highway itself.

what's the little white number on the little blue sign?  here in California it identifies the motorist call box by postmile from the county line, multipled by 10.

[kphoger]

You know you're a roadgeek if.....you ponder the little white number on the little blue sign more than the actual highway itself.

what's the little white number on the little blue sign?  here in California it identifies the motorist call box by postmile from the county line, multipled by 10.

! 

[agentsteel53]

oh, that's the big white number!

[mgk920]

^ nice pic
The state just released some prelim interchange layouts for the upcoming WIS 441 rebuild:
http://www.dot.wi.gov/projects/d3/wis441/alternatives.htm

Most of that is similar or identical to what I have already seen.  BTW, the US 10/41/WI 441 interchange is often referred to as the 'Bridgeview' interchange.

Also, crews poured concrete on NB US 41 at US 45/Algoma in Oshkosh a couple of weeks ago already.

Mike

[mukade]

If we do get 55, I see no need to do anything to the interchange with 90/94 in Chicago (well not because of different shields).  That ain't going to change any traffic flow if 55 has to exit off itself to continue north.  In Chicago, any numbering changes aren't really going to affect traffic patterns.  And the stub to Lake Shore Drive can become an X55 no problem.

I agree that is the easy part and would not affect Chicago drivers. I-55 does not seem to match traffic long-distance patterns, and there already is an Interstate alternative to the southwest. It seems more like a connect the dots routing just like I-94 is. If it did become I-55, it also would leave more than 20 miles of north-south I-94 that isn't counterbalanced with an odd-numbered route.

[Alex]

My bet is that I-894 is extended northward. It does not create a new designation, which DOT's seem to scoff at these days, and the precedent for such an extension already took place successfully with I-476 over PA 9 in 1996.

[hobsini2]

My bet is that I-894 is extended northward. It does not create a new designation, which DOT's seem to scoff at these days, and the precedent for such an extension already took place successfully with I-476 over PA 9 in 1996.

While that maybe true Alex, 3dis should not be over 100 miles long. If 894 was to be the number, that would make it 140 miles.

Begrudgingly, I would rather see 55 moved onto 41 and 94 than 894. I still think the LOGICAL number would be 57 or 65. Cross country traffic patterns be damned.

[GeekJedi]

Here's another article about it in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/meetings-planned-for-highway-41-interstate-conversion-ke5cseg-151325935.htm

[mgk920]

My bet is that I-894 is extended northward. It does not create a new designation, which DOT's seem to scoff at these days, and the precedent for such an extension already took place successfully with I-476 over PA 9 in 1996.

Although more the realm of the 'Fantasy' part of this forvm, the NE Wisconsin cross-county '3DI' extension that I can best foresee is for once US 41 becomes, let's say, 'I-55' and WI 441 becomes, let's say, 'I-455', for such 'I-455' to ultimately be extended westward along a 'completed' US 10 freeway to end at I-39 at the future 'Plover' interchange (I-39 by County 'HH' in Plover, immediately south of Stevens Point).

But then again, this is Wisconsin.

(Mods, would it be possible to combine all of the 'US 41 in Wisconsin' threads into this one?  Thanx!  )

Mike

[Alps]

(Mods, would it be possible to combine all of the 'US 41 in Wisconsin' threads into this one?  Thanx!  )

I only see this one... unless someone snuck in already

[mgk920]

(Mods, would it be possible to combine all of the 'US 41 in Wisconsin' threads into this one?  Thanx!  )

I only see this one... unless someone snuck in already

There are several on the previous index pages ('US 41 upgrade report', etc).

Mike

[on_wisconsin]

There are several on the previous index pages ('US 41 upgrade report', etc).
Mike

Here are a few threads found that could be merged into this one:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=350.0

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4865.0

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5006.0