The Milwaukee Road - August 31

[SSOWorld]

Tour points update

The tour is roughly sketched and has 4 stops on it at this time. 

All stops will offer free parking.

* Hoan Bridge and Milwaukee Skyline: We will be parking underneath the bridge.  The Hank Aaron State Trail passes under it and provides access to Lakeshore State Park - which affords a pano opportunity for the downtown skyline along with the bridge (though the Summerfest site will be in between) and close encounters with the lake harbor and the Milwaukee River mouth.  This is on the north side of the river.  The south side is inaccessible as private land.

* St Paul Ave: Parking in a strategic location affords access to the underbelly of the Marquette Interchange as well as the north bridge of the 6th Street Viaduct.  The Intermodal Station will also be in the area.  I need to access the 6th street and Intermodal station for accessibility but the Interchange is pretty much open season (they didn't fence it off)

* The remnants of the Greenfield Interchange.  One of the shorter stops, but one of the few points of evidence left alone.  Two ramps had been used for bus access to a park and ride off 894.  They were closed and used for staging ground for the Mitchell Interchange rebuild, now they're abandoned.

* Zoo Interchange Access:  The interchange, rebuilt over 4 years, is accessible from underneath on the Hank Aaron State Trail.  Walking the trail will give us the underbelly of I-41, the system ramps, and old relics including a side road bridge and an abandoned railroad bridge.  The trail is our best option and, if you're brave, climb the painted rock slopes and get a shot of the rest of the interchange. I am not liable any injuries! In general, the government says the interchange is done "on time and on budget".  We can prove them wrong by going north on 41 out of the zoo - just use the middle lanes and pay attention!

Items to be decided: Lunch spot, Tour start point (where we're going to leave cars), pre-meet (Friday) and after-meet activity. I anticipate returning to the cars ~3 hours after tour start, assuming a 12:30-1:00 start, so those wishing to bail early can do so.

The Brew Crew are not in town as they are down the freeway playing the North-Siders in Wrigleyville, so a ballgame won't be possible as by the time they get back, many of us will have adjourned to the Mighty Mac.

[A.J. Bertin]

I think I will be able to attend this meet. My husband will come with me, but he'll go off and do his own thing for a few hours while I'm on the tour. Because it's the weekend of a milestone birthday for me, I'm hoping that some of the road-meet attendees will be able to join the two of us that Saturday evening while we celebrate my birthday. Details and a possible invitation will be forthcoming.

[Alps]

I wish AJ Bomber's had enough room for us!

[SSOWorld]

I wish AJ Bomber's had enough room for us!

Brandon had lunch for the Naperville meet at a spot smaller than this last year.  At this point we have 10 for a headcount (with a few maybes on the fence)

On my next scouting run, I'll check both of them out.

[A.J. Bertin]

I wish AJ Bomber's had enough room for us!

Funny coincidence with the name of this place.

[dvferyance]

I wish AJ Bomber's had enough room for us!

It's too bad Quaker Steak closed that would have been a great place and I know AJ really loves Quaker Steak.

[SSOWorld]

I haven't forgotten this, just was busy with other priorities...

Catching up with the status of scouting for the meet.  I had to refrain from trips to scout during the last couple of weeks due to "car budgeting" (a.k.a. oil life) as I had my major driving trip the last two weeks to the Pacific and mountain northwest (which went very well and netted me I-94, I-82, Idaho's I-86, Washington State's Interstates and I-90).  The meet tour's major features and route are pretty much set up (see above), but I STILL need to select a lunch venue and car pool location.  The venue scout will not be until next week as I'm catching up at home from the trip.  However, to allow potential attendees a chance to book hotel preferences, I am already focusing on two points that will permit the booking at the most economical places rate-wise and that is along I-94 by US-18 (Bluemound Rd). There are several establishments there to choose from.  Alternate locations are available around the metro area such as downtown or by the airport - a Google (or your favorite) maps search will give you your answers.  Depending on the selection of a lunch venue, we'll be leaving cars at the park and ride nearest to that point.

(This is also cross-posted to the Facebook event page)

[SSOWorld]

Lunch Venue has been selected and updated within the OP.  I thought I had time this weekend to scout one - but lacking time and having known this as a familiar one and will give the opportunity to have hotels, lunch venue and park and ride nearby.  (The Greenfield one - now closed - was a venue for part II of the Chicago/Milwaukee meet in 08.)

I'll be plotting the route from there over the next 48 hours over the Goog.

[SSOWorld]

Itinerary https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Su2OdYhlY9EsjtMkvW7Jat6Oj7lfn8eI

Itinerary is now available. I will bring a limited number of printouts. If you wish to print one for yourself (or load it onto a tablet/phone) feel free.

There are points to explore "on your own" at the end of the document.

Fair warning for those coming in from the south (Chicago and points east/south), there is a long stretch of narrow lanes (3 each directions) on the Interstate between Milwaukee and the Racine/Kenosha County lines that has seen jams and crashes. Seek alternate routes if able - this is prime opportunity to collect new route mileage. US-45 is to the west, WIS-31 and WIS-32 is to the East. I-90 to Madison from Beloit is just as bad. I-43 from Beloit to Milwaukee is pretty clear except by the interchange with I-90.

[SSOWorld]

Meet photo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ssoworld/albums/72157710650182112 <-- the rest of the batch

Few things discovered - the abandoned abutment east of the zoo ramps to I-894, we thought it was old side road infrastructure, but it isn't. Its part of the old original street car system https://www.wuwm.com/post/look-back-milwaukees-original-streetcar-system#stream/0.  This crossing - in particular is a suburban line that went to Burlington and East Troy.  First throught given WisDOT's "leave no evidence behind" rule was that it should have been removed. Technically - not part of any contract, WisDOT or private (power lines) meant it was left there.

Some of the trail-side residents by the interchange (the trail runs under it) added some of their own exhibits which baffled many of us.

The old Greenfield Interchange that was abandoned is now being put up for sale by WisDOT - first used for bus access to the Interstate, then as a staging area for early stages of construction of I-94 South (namely the Mitchell Interchange and 27th St), it has been left unused outside being a sign farm of sorts.  It even has "cat's eyes" reflectors in it's pavement (a technology that was realized to have been useless in a snowplow world.)

And as a note, who'd not want to Bypass Chicago?

Enjoy!

[hbelkins]

Two Send Help signs!

And why was Chris not holding a picture of a cat? Meow.

[J N Winkler]

It sounds like a fun time was had by all.

I'm a little surprised by the report of a homeless encampment under and just east of the Marquette Interchange.  I didn't notice any tents when I visited in July 2017, though I did see patches of dead grass under the direct connector ramps that I suspected were the result of salt spray during the winter.  (I used St. Paul Avenue as a place to leave my car during the day, since it had lengths where parking was not metered.)