Milwaukee area freeways

[colinstu]

Story Hill is far from nice. It might've been nice a few decades ago but it's cramped, dated, and stagnant. It's no different than Wauwatosa and West Allis besides the housing prices are a little more inflated. The people who live there just don't feel like moving 10+ miles out of town to avoid the fact a growing city needs a growing freeway system.

Them saying 3 lanes in each direction is fine is ridiculous and they obviously know nothing about roads or the fact they don't need to be congested if they're ever allowed to be updated. That area will forever be a bottleneck now between the Marquette and the Zoo once that project is complete.

[NE2]

Just because you don't mind adding 10+ miles to your commute because you think Algore is a hoaxster doesn't mean you're right.

[mgk920]

Don't forget the issue of those legally 'sealed' graves in that cemetery, some very close to the freeway, something brought up to me at a WisDOT PIM on I-94 that I was at back in the late 1990s.  They were 'sealed' as a public health and safety expedient back in the late 19th or early 20th century because of the deaths being due to an unknown seriously contagious disease.

Mike

[colinstu]

Can't disease not live without a host? I don't see how it should be a problem.

[Brandon]

Can't disease not live without a host? I don't see how it should be a problem.

There are cases of diseases (typically virii) remaining viable for centuries after the host has died.  For example, people are very careful when exhuming a person who died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic.  That virus may still be viable.

[SEWIGuy]

Story Hill is far from nice. It might've been nice a few decades ago but it's cramped, dated, and stagnant. It's no different than Wauwatosa and West Allis besides the housing prices are a little more inflated. The people who live there just don't feel like moving 10+ miles out of town to avoid the fact a growing city needs a growing freeway system.

Story Hill...not to mention Wauwatosa and West Allis...are just fine.  Ripping out good urban neighborhoods to expand a highway, when there are other options are available is short-sighted. 

[triplemultiplex]

Well, they weren't going to tear down any homes to do the expansion.  The neighborhood impacts of the double-deck freeway would be visual and auditory.
It's the 21st Century though.  A butt-ugly double-deck freeway is so 60 years ago.

More generally, I have to wonder how the existing freeway would function had it been built without the left-hand entrances/exits.  Three lanes (with aux lanes between exits) might have been manageable.

Don't forget the issue of those legally 'sealed' graves in that cemetery, some very close to the freeway, something brought up to me at a WisDOT PIM on I-94 that I was at back in the late 1990s.  They were 'sealed' as a public health and safety expedient back in the late 19th or early 20th century because of the deaths being due to an unknown seriously contagious disease.

"Unknown disease" from that time period doesn't exactly worry me since they didn't know squat compared to now.
It was probably just cryptosporidium.

[Roadguy]

Personally, I would have put that stretch of Interstate 94 into a tunnel. However, that would have required a full six month closure, and would have jacked up the price. Still, 11 foot lanes with 2 foot shoulders is going to be unpleasant. It may please the neighbors, but it's going to present problems down the road.

Mn/DOT striped 11 foot lanes on 94 between 280 and 35W in Minneapolis.  This is a pretty significant stretch (3 miles) with shoulders ranging from 1' under bridges to 2' inside and 4' outside shoulders (They vary like the proposed stretch of 94 through the cemeteries).  This was done after the bridge collapse in 2007 when 280 and 94 were made the detours for 35W.  After the bridge re-opened Mn/DOT under political pressure and public requests sought FHWA approval to maintain the configuration.  Eventually the request was granted.  As part of the agreement Mn/DOT placed crash pull off areas (wider shoulders) in areas where they would fit (they needed a long enough length between bridges and sign structures).  They also added dynamic message signs over each lane so if there was an incident, they could inform drivers of closed lanes ahead.

Mn/DOT has also done 11 foot lanes on 35W northbound between 42nd street and 94 south of downtown Minneapolis with the same narrow shoulders as they have on 94.  The same mitigation measures have been implemented along this stretch due to the lack of shoulders.

Both operate better due to the extra lane and their crash rates have not increased due to the lack of a shoulder.  People still drive it at 60-65 mph (Both signed at 55mph) as they had before the re-striping when there was only 3 lanes in each direction.  Of course that is at times when there is no congestion.

[triplemultiplex]

I was in Milwaukee over the weekend and the work on the Zoo Interchange is starting to get impressive.  That has to be a huge pain outbound in the evenings with only two lanes.  The temporary orange lane striping didn't strike me as particularly useful.  Maybe because it was overcast at the time, it didn't 'pop' as much as yellow or white does to my eye.

I figured they would have been able to build the new NB->WB flyover on top of the existing tangle before shutting down the old ramp, but that is not the case.  That sucks to have such a long term closure for such a high-volume movement.  The official detour takes one out to Moorland Rd via I-43 but I would be making up my own detour if I had to go that way.  Off peak, I'd certainly be staying on I-94 through town.

Elsewhere in the city, I saw crews redecking Howard Ave over 43/94.  Shame they couldn't replace the whole damn bridge and make space for a SB auxiliary lane between Holt and Howard.  Same story a little further north at Greenfield Ave.

[DaBigE]

The temporary orange lane striping did strike me as particularly useful.  Maybe because it was overcast at the time, it didn't 'pop' as much as yellow or white does to my eye.

That's the second or third iteration of that orange striping experiment. I've only been through there once when it was first put down and it was ok during the day (partly sunny IIRC), but a HUGE failure at night. The HPS lighting made the shade of orange they used back then look completely yellow.

[Milwaukee, WY]

I figured they would have been able to build the new NB->WB flyover on top of the existing tangle before shutting down the old ramp, but that is not the case.  That sucks to have such a long term closure for such a high-volume movement.  The official detour takes one out to Moorland Rd via I-43 but I would be making up my own detour if I had to go that way.  Off peak, I'd certainly be staying on I-94 through town.

Yeah, I live on the southwest side of Milwaukee, and frequently travel west. Unless it's very busy, it has worked pretty well for me to exit at Greenfield Ave and go up to STH 100, and get on 94 westbound there. Takes about five minutes in moderate traffic. Much better than 43 to Moorland.

[triplemultiplex]

The temporary orange lane striping did strike me as particularly useful.  Maybe because it was overcast at the time, it didn't 'pop' as much as yellow or white does to my eye.

That's the second or third iteration of that orange striping experiment. I've only been through there once when it was first put down and it was ok during the day (partly sunny IIRC), but a HUGE failure at night. The HPS lighting made the shade of orange they used back then look completely yellow.

I made a typo that completely changed the meaning of that sentence, I see.  I meant to say I didn't find it useful. :?
Looks like you figured it out from the context.

[The Ghostbuster]

Although it doesn't start till 2019, I look forward to the reconstruction of Interstate 94 between 70th Street and 16th Street. I don't like that they chose the at-grade alignment through the cemetery since it will have narrow lanes and no shoulders. Otherwise, the upcoming project looks good to me.

[peterj920]

I'm looking forward to I-43 being expanded from Silver Spring Dr to Grafton.  Traffic frequently backs up at Silver Spring Drive where the freeway goes from 3 lanes to 2. 

[Milwaukee, WY]

This thread hasn't been updated in quite a while. The Zoo interchange work is well underway. By the end of this year, the core should look a lot different than it does now. One of the new flyover ramps is complete and open. I'll try to get out over the next few days and take some pictures to post here.

[colinstu]

I drive through the zoo every day. I should probably take pics and share them more often.

There also seems to be a project between exits 294 and 295, beefing up the middle barrier wall and getting it ready for a VMS it appears.

[colinstu]

I've mistaken, actually between 295 and 297.

[triplemultiplex]

This thread hasn't been updated in quite a while.

Yeah once I moved away from Milwaukee, my frequent contributions to this thread dropped considerably.

I tried to drive through the work zone last weekend, but every NB entrance ramp to the Zoo Freeway south of I-94 is closed so I gave up.
Would have been too inconvenient to backtrack to a place I could get on.

Looks like there are only two lanes approaching the interchange from at least 2 directions right now while crews rebuild the mainline sections.

[colinstu]

Here's some recent (kinda crappy) videos I've taken. Best to play these at 2x speed on youtube imo.

Watertown Plank Rd WB to I-41 South
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezdcuID7J0o

I-41 South to I-94 West / HWY 100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iet4lujawo

HWY 100 to I-94 East thru zoo, exit at Hawley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20AvUkE-uvI

Probably the most interesting (recent as far as developments) vid is the last one. The EB lanes have been nearly completed and traffic moved back off of the completed WB lanes. Full exit to 84th st and entrance from 84th should be completed late June, there will be a single lane closure between 70th-hawley too that starts 6/1 and ends late June (something about median work?).

edit: also in the 2nd video, you can see the building of the new EB exit ramps that will go north and south.

[triplemultiplex]

I drove through the Zoo WB today and the size of the new facility is starting to show.  While I lived in MKE, the 76th St park and ride was a frequent meeting place prior to Brewer games so to see that section nearly in its near-final configuration (minus the lane positions) is quite impressive.  The new sound walls around 68th and 84th have transformed the 'feel' of the freeway by doing their job of hiding the neighborhoods from your view.  (Or vise versa, whatever.)

There is clearly a LOT of work to do on the core interchange.  And I sympathize with all the eastbound morning commuters.  It was backed up all the way to Moorland Road in the middle of a Saturday, so I can only imagine how rough that is on a weekday AM.

I noticed a newer VMS on I-94 WB just past Miller Park displaying multiple colors in the form of a red, white and blue I-894 shield.  I have never seen that in Wisconsin before.  Or anywhere, for that matter.  It did not occur to me to snap a picture until I was a ways down the road.  Are multi-colored LED VMS's a thing now?  I have only ever seen that slightly orangy-yellow we are all used to.

Last note for I-94 is the extended stretch of construction for bridge resurfacing/replacements between the last Waukesha exit and the county line.  I couldn't tell if the replacements west of Oconomowoc at Dousman Rd and Golden Lake Rd/CTH BB will accommodate a future 3 lane carriageway.  Too early in the process, plus it's difficult to see going westbound.  I imagine they will as that has been standard practice for bridge replacements on I-94 between Waukesha and Madison for decades.
I feel like the time has long since come to extend that third lane out to Oconomowoc.  And after this construction season, all the bridges will be able to take it.

[Joe The Dragon]

I drove through the Zoo WB today and the size of the new facility is starting to show.  While I lived in MKE, the 76th St park and ride was a frequent meeting place prior to Brewer games so to see that section nearly in its near-final configuration (minus the lane positions) is quite impressive.  The new sound walls around 68th and 84th have transformed the 'feel' of the freeway by doing their job of hiding the neighborhoods from your view.  (Or vise versa, whatever.)

There is clearly a LOT of work to do on the core interchange.  And I sympathize with all the eastbound morning commuters.  It was backed up all the way to Moorland Road in the middle of a Saturday, so I can only imagine how rough that is on a weekday AM.

I noticed a newer VMS on I-94 WB just past Miller Park displaying multiple colors in the form of a red, white and blue I-894 shield.  I have never seen that in Wisconsin before.  Or anywhere, for that matter.  It did not occur to me to snap a picture until I was a ways down the road.  Are multi-colored LED VMS's a thing now?  I have only ever seen that slightly orangy-yellow we are all used to.

Last note for I-94 is the extended stretch of construction for bridge resurfacing/replacements between the last Waukesha exit and the county line.  I couldn't tell if the replacements west of Oconomowoc at Dousman Rd and Golden Lake Rd/CTH BB will accommodate a future 3 lane carriageway.  Too early in the process, plus it's difficult to see going westbound.  I imagine they will as that has been standard practice for bridge replacements on I-94 between Waukesha and Madison for decades.
I feel like the time has long since come to extend that third lane out to Oconomowoc.  And after this construction season, all the bridges will be able to take it.

ontario Canada  multi-colored LED VMS's. and IL toll way may have some there new ones seems to be able to show more then  orangy-yellow ones.

[SSOWorld]

Multi-colored VMS's are scattered about WI (Madison, Appleton, Milwaukee (the spot you pointed out) but they just use the amber unless a colorful shield is needed.  New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway have them as well and boy do they ever use color (green background, proper font, etc)

[colinstu]

http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/projects/by-region/se/94ew-study/newsletter-summer16.pdf

New newsletter for the 94 E-W (70th-16th st) project.

Wow... some major downgrades mentioned in it... NONE of these have been mentioned or shown in the FEIS previously..

-Hawley road no longer being shifted East ==> shorter distance between 68th and Hawley ramps now (if they even maintain the half interchange alternative they listed in the FEIS earlier)
-No longer reconstructed 27th St
-No longer straightening out the leg of 94 between 25th st and the Marquette interchange, will remain to have that curve to it
-No longer doing braided ramp design between 27th and 35th... only adding an Aux Lane between the two on 94EB (one already exists on WB)

I'm almost hoping they just scrap the project now and give it a look with fresh eyes 5-10 years from now. So many of the improvements they've proposed have been gimped down to the point where it's no longer even worth it IMO. Part of me really wants them to continue as it would be better than what's there now... the other part knows that once they do this construction, it would only prolong the time we'd have to be stuck with this half-assed design instead of just waiting and getting it done properly later.

[The Ghostbuster]

Delaying the reconstruction process is not a good option to me. They should design and eventually reconstruct this section ASAP.

[triplemultiplex]

I don't see any maps of the design changes on the project website as yet.
This strikes me as odd:

The preferred alternative provides freeway access to and from the west at Hawley Road, unlike today's full interchange. Responding to concerns from West Allis and Milwaukee businesses and residents, WisDOT will build a new roadway connection between Hawley Road and 70th Street in West Allis, about a half mile south of I-94. The new connection:
-Responds to stakeholder comments
-Connects Hawley Road and 70th Street
-Mitigates the partial loss of freeway access at the Hawley Road Interchange
-Requires the relocation of WisDOT's sign shop on Hawley Road

Seems like it would be an eastern extension of Washington Street jogging north a little thru some former Allis-Chalmers Factory territory and meeting 60th opposite Roosevelt Elementary School.
I find it odd because Main Street already provides this connection a lot closer to the freeway.  Sure it's a residential thru street, but it does go thru.
I think the existing local road system is sufficient to funnel traffic to the 68/70th interchange for those seeking access to/from the east.  Seems to have more merit as a local street connecting the former-factory-turned-big-box-retail-center to points northeast independent of any consideration for freeway access.

At least the single greatest problem with this section of freeway is still getting fixed correctly: the left hand ramps at the Stadium Interchange (and Mitchell Blvd.)  That is what really squeezes traffic through there more than anything.  A six lane freeway would have been tolerable much longer if it had been built without those.