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Wisconsin Corridors (Corridor 32)
Routing
The 1998 TEA-21 legislation designates several highways in Wisconsin as part of High Priority Corridor 32:
- U.S. 151 from the Dubuque, Iowa, northeast to Fond du Lac via Madison, Wisconsin.
- U.S. 41 from Fond du Lac to Marinette via Oshkosh, Appleton, and Green Bay,
Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin 29 from Green Bay to Interstate 94 via Wausau, Chippewa Falls, and
Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
- U.S. 10 from Appleton to Marshfield, Wisconsin.
Most of these corridors are part of the Wisconsin Corridors 2020 plan, which is outlined below.
U.S. 151
As part of High Priority Corridor 32, U.S. 151 between Dubuque, Iowa, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, is being upgraded to an either expressway or Interstate-compatible freeway standards. Several municipal bypasses have already been constructed (such as those around Columbus, Beaver Dam, and Waupun), while a lengthy expressway section has been completed between its junction with U.S. 18 at Dodgeville to the Madison Beltline (U.S. 12-14-18), which is about 18 miles. According to Dave Gronowski, new expressway bypasses are planned at Fond-du-Lac, Oconto, Peshtigo, and each town between Dubuque, Iowa, and Dodgeville. The sections from Fond Du Lac to Oshkosh (completed 2000-2001), Kaukauna to DePere (completed 2000), and Green Bay to Abrams (completed 2001) have all received freeway upgrades. It is unclear if the entire U.S. 151 route is planned for full freeway status between now and 2020.
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U.S. 41
As part of High Priority Corridor 32, U.S. 41 is being upgraded to an either expressway or Interstate-compatible freeway standards. Tim Luker writes on June 18, 2003, that much of this work has been completed, as U.S. 41 is Interstate standard "from the U.S. 41-141 interchange in Abrams southward to where it (for no apparent good reason) leaves the U.S. 41-45 freeway duplex at Appleton Avenue in Milwaukee. The last two pieces of the freeway, from De Pere to Kaukauna and from Oshkosh to Fond du Lac, were completed around 2000."
Michael G. Koerner writes that U.S. 41, especially south of the U.S. 141 split at Abrams, "is one of the busiest rural highways in the state (I believe third busiest), and it is being upgraded to a fully Interstate-compatible freeway. Parts in the Green Bay and Appleton areas are already six lanes, and more six-laning is planned (around Oshkosh and Fond du Lac). U.S. 41 is MUCH more worthy of being an 'I-route' than is Interstate 43, as it averages nearly twice as busy on its rural sections and serves a substantially larger population base."
Jon Enslin adds, as of May 1999, "U.S. 41 is Interstate-compatible south of Fond du Lac. The last section was upgraded with the completion of bridge work at Wisconsin SR-33 last year. From just north of Fond du Lac, U.S. 41 is an expressway. From Oshkosh to just past Kaukauna, it is Interstate-compatible. From Kaukaun a to just south of Green Bay it is again expressway. I believe this last portion of expressway will be upgraded within the next couple of years. I don't believe there is a firm date for the Fond du Lac portion, but it won't be much further than the middle of the next decade."
As part of the 2005 TEA-21 Reauthorization, a provision designates the U.S. 41 portion of Corridor 32 as Interstate 41 once that highway is brought up to Interstate standards. Quite a bit of work remains to bring U.S. 41 to Interstate standards. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Projects to upgrade U.S. Highway 41 will take another $77 million beyond what the formula would provide, and the highway's name itself will be upgraded to Interstate 41 between the Milwaukee area and Green Bay. Much of Highway 41 lies in [U.S. Rep. Tom] Petri's district, including the bridge over Lake Butte des Morts that alone will cost $28 million to rebuild." Much of the federal funding for this work would come from the 2005 reauthorization bill, and funds would continue to be dispersed under that bill until 2009.
Wisconsin 29
As part of High Priority Corridor 32, Wisconsin 29 from Eau Claire to Green Bay is being upgraded to an either expressway or Interstate-compatible freeway standards. Some of it has already since massive upgrading work, especially between Eau Claire and Abbotsford; around Wausau (and its junction with Interstate 39); and around Shawnee and Angelica. A major milestone was reached in July 2005, when it was announced that Wisconsin 29 was complete as a four-lane expressway from Eau Claire to Green Bay.
At one point, Wisconsin 29 was planned to be upgraded to a freeway; this may still be the plan, but the expressway-grade is the interim solution. It is unclear whether Wisconsin 29 would become part of the Interstate Highway System if it were a complete freeway from Eau Claire to Green Bay.
U.S. 10
According to Michael G. Koerner, WisDOT is currently studying various alternates for upgrading U.S. 10 between Marshfield and Stevens Point. The most likely routing would be westward from Interstate 39 about three miles north of the northern Business U.S. 51 (Stevens Point) exit across the Wisconsin River to connect with the east-west part of U.S. 10. It would then continue westward roughly along the Wisconsin Central mainline to connect with Wisconsin 29 at Owen with northeastern bypasses of Marshfield, Spencer, and other towns along the route. Numbering of the route between Marshfield and Owen is unknown at this point. This new highway will be an upgradable expressway, so it may not be full freeway.
U.S. 10 is also being upgraded to expressway standards between Stevens Point and Fremont (Junction Wisconsin 110). The section eastward from a short distance east of Fremont (just west of the Outagamie/Waupaca/Winnebago county line corner, including a multiplex with a relocated U.S. 45) is likely to be an Interstate-compatible freeway into the Appleton area. According to Dave Gronowski, this new freeway between Fremont and Appleton should be open to traffic by 2004. It will connect to the existing freeway segment through Appleton.
As part of the revision of routes in the Appleton area, U.S. 45 is being relocated west to County Routes D and W between New London and Winchester (it is shown in the 2003 Rand McNally map as a gray line). From there, U.S. 45 will continue southward on Wisconsin 110 south to Oshkosh. The 'diagonal' section of that gray line (from Winchester to the 'El. 780 ft.' notation) is where the U.S. 10/45 multiplex will be. The 2001 National Geographic/2003 Mapquest maps show these routes with their county designations.
U.S. 12
According to Dan Hartung, the U.S. 12 freeway between Elkhorn and Genoa City, WI, looks like it may be getting an Elkhorn bypass. U.S. 12 was upgraded almost 20 years ago in one of several cross-border projects where Wisconsin failed to get cooperation from Illinois (another is a long-sought south bypass of Beloit). U.S. 12 was to have connected up to a Lake County, IL, freeway that would lead through or past the Fox Lake area and perhaps connect to Illinois 53 near Schaumburg, creating a direct route from Chicagoland to the Lake Geneva vacation area and eventually Madison.
After sitting virtually unused for a decade, this isolated freeway was finally connected to a larger system by the construction of the Wisconsin 15 freeway, which later became Interstate 43 from Beloit to Milwaukee. Only recently, however, has it seen significant traffic, as Wisconsin has responded to the failure of the Illinois U.S. 12 project by upgrading Wisconsin 50 to a four lane divided highway from Interstate 94 west to Slades Corners. There are about 15 miles left, with signs of eminent domain activity and intersection preparation, which would make Wisconsin 50 a main arterial for traffic leaving the north suburbs of Chicago bound for points in Wisconsin. On weekend "rush hours" this highway runs pretty heavily all the way to Lake Geneva. So, it looks like Wisconsin finally has an incentive to upgrade this route beyond Elkhorn.
U.S. 51
Much of U.S. 51 has been upgraded to Interstate standards (as it is now part of Interstate 39 between Portage and Wausau). Improvements are planned for U.S. 51 between the two Wisconsin 29 interchanges to bring that segment to Interstate standards, and additional improvements are planned north of Merrill, after the freeway ends. The section from Southeast Tomahawk to U.S. 8 has been upgraded from a Super Two to a four-lane divided highway, with the intersection at County Route A eliminated and upgraded to an interchange, making that brief section of U.S. 51 a freeway. See Interstate 39 for more information on U.S. 51 north of Wausau.
Interstate 43
According to Dan Hartung, the Interstate 43 extension along old Wisconsin 15 freeway was planned since the early 1960s at least, and in the 1970s much discussion about final design centered on the need for politically balancing the interests of Janesville and Beloit (traditionally rivals for county and state funds, and roughly equal in terms of population and industry, if you include South Beloit, Illinois, and the northern "suburbs" of Beloit). Routes proposed included via US-14 to Janesville, via Wis. 15 to Beloit, and even both or a roughly mid-point intersection with Interstate 90. Finally, the southernmost route was selected, mainly due to opposition from farmers along the various northern routes. Eventually, this meant that a southerly interchange was built near Janesville, mostly at the urging of General Motors.
The Wisconsin Corridors 2020 Plan
According to Kyle Levenhagen, Interstate 39 in Wisconsin is part of the state of Wisconsin's "Corridors 2020" plan (see the Wisconsin DOT for more). In this plan, several "backbones" of Interstate- and expressway-grade highway have been identified for upgrading by the year 2020. While Interstate 39 is obviously Interstate-grade, there are several other backbones that will be upgraded at least to expressway grade. Some of these backbone routes include:
- All Existing Interstate Highways. This includes Interstates 43, 90, 94, 794, and 894.
- Interstate 39 and U.S. 51.
- Wisconsin 29. From Interstate 94 between Eau Claire and Menomonie to U.S. 41 in Green Bay via Chippewa Falls. Wis. 29 is the most direct route between the Twin Cities (Minneapolis - St. Paul) and Green Bay. This route will eventually be constructed to four-lane, expressway standards, with some "Interstate-compatible" segments. It is doubtful that this road will be constructed to full-freeway standards. This would connect to U.S. 2 in Michigan via U.S. 41 to provide a connection to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Interstate 75.
- U.S. 53. From Interstate 94 near Eau Claire to the Minnesota State Line near Duluth. U.S. 53 will be rerouted to the east side of Eau Claire to provide a direct connection to Interstate 94; planning is underway. Parts of U.S. 53 are freeway-grade, while the remainder is expressway-grade or two-lanes.
- U.S. 151. From Dubuque, Iowa, northeast to Fond du Lac. Much of this route will be four-lane expressway when completed. There are already bypasses around several towns.
- U.S. 41. From Milwaukee to the Michigan State Line. U.S. 41 will be a combination "Interstate-compatible" freeway from Milwaukee north to Green Bay, with some sections of expressway-grade highway. North of Green Bay, U.S. 41 will become expressway-grade. Although Interstate 43 ends at U.S. 41-141 in Green Bay, it is unlikely that Interstate designation will continue any further north for the time being.
Currently, the backbones are being upgraded with the goal of completion in 25 years. Construction to higher than expressway standards may be possible, but probably not before 2020.
Page Updated July 31, 2005.
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