Wisconsin notes

[invincor]

The I-39 mile markers are actually US-51's.  The Portage-to-Wausau freeway was originally an upgrade of US 51, and its mile markers were posted on it.  It was fully upgraded to I-39 in the mid-1990s, but they left the mile markers as they were.  The difference would only be a few miles, in any case, as the two routes enter the state on parallel paths before uniting just north of the Portage interchange.  That's why it looks OK on first glance at a map.

[SEWIGuy]

I believe that US-51 is slightly longer due to the jogs it makes into Stoughton and DeForest.

[mrose]

I worked it out to a five mile difference.

Last mile marker on 39/90 at IL border is 187 and the Portage exit is 108, so that's 79 miles.

IIRC the same exit is exit 84 from southbound I-39 to mainline 39/90/94.

[gr8daynegb]

I wonder if any freeways/expressways in the state that currently don't have exit numbers will get numbers in the future.

Roads that I know of that currently don't have exit numbers:

STH-11 (and STH-69/STH-81) Monroe Bypass
STH-16/STH-67 Oconomowoc Bypass
STH-23 Freeway/Expressway from Plymouth to Sheboygan
US 45 Freeway between Oshkosh and US 10 near Winchester
STH-57 (and partially STH-54) Freeway/Expressway between Green Bay and STH-42 southeast of Sturgeon Bay
STH-119 Airport Spur Freeway
US 141 Freeway/Expressway between Abrams to near Beaver (north of STH-64)
US 151 Fond Du Lac Bypass
STH-172 South Freeway Bypass of Green Bay
STH-175 Miller Parkway/Stadium North Freeway (excluding the Stadium Interchange southbound)
STH-794 Lake Parkway

I can see WI-172 getting mile marked signs being connected to I-41 and I-43 - and also 151 around Fond du Lac

I think it's good bet WI-23 will get them when the upgrade from Fond Du Lac to Plymouth is complete.

I always thought if was weird when WIS-29 meets I-41 that no exit number is used coming up to I-41.

Would think a number with an A(29/EB), B(North 41), C(South 32/41) would be there.....not big issue(just random Jack Handy-like thoughts).

[Brandon]

It's pretty consistent with both MN and IL (no Interstate style mile markers/exit tabs for them).  IL has the per-county mile-marker outside the Interstate.

And IL-390.  IL-390 uses the Tollway-standard mileposts every quarter mile with exit numbers.

[thspfc]

It's pretty consistent with both MN and IL (no Interstate style mile markers/exit tabs for them).  IL has the per-county mile-marker outside the Interstate.

And IL-390.  IL-390 uses the Tollway-standard mileposts every quarter mile with exit numbers.

Sorry to talk about IL in a WI thread, but is IL-390 set to become I-390 any time soon? I know that I-490 is going to be built in the O'Hare area. Will they connect?

[mgk920]

I always thought if was weird when WIS-29 meets I-41 that no exit number is used coming up to I-41.

Would think a number with an A(29/EB), B(North 41), C(South 32/41) would be there.....not big issue(just random Jack Handy-like thoughts).

I believe that it is because WI 29 is not on that freeway where it meets I-41.  Going eastbound, WI 29 hops off at Packerland Dr, continuing on eastward on Shawano Ave, and the freeway continues on that short distance as WI 32.

Mike

[dvferyance]

Does the US-53 freeway just north of La Crosse have exit numbers? If not it was let off the list.

[mgk920]

Does the US-53 freeway just north of La Crosse have exit numbers? If not it was let off the list.

A quick check of Google Streetview images shows that yes, its interchanges are numbered.

Example: https://goo.gl/maps/VZcUDz589jfgwt8s9

Mike

[peterj920]

I always thought if was weird when WIS-29 meets I-41 that no exit number is used coming up to I-41.

Would think a number with an A(29/EB), B(North 41), C(South 32/41) would be there.....not big issue(just random Jack Handy-like thoughts).

I believe that it is because WI 29 is not on that freeway where it meets I-41.  Going eastbound, WI 29 hops off at Packerland Dr, continuing on eastward on Shawano Ave, and the freeway continues on that short distance as WI 32.

Mike

The mile markers between Packerland and I-41 have Wis 32 shields on them since the flyovers actually connect with Wis 32 while the Shawano Ave Interchange connects with Wis 29. However the mileage is a continuation of Wis 29.

[peterj920]

Exit numbers were also just recently added to the US 151 Bypass

[thspfc]

Exit numbers were also just recently added to the US 151 Bypass

Fond du Lac?

[peterj920]

Exit numbers were also just recently added to the US 151 Bypass

Fond du Lac?

Yes, Fond Du Lac. Standard green mile markers were placed every mile. There's now exit numbers up to Wis 23

[invincor]

That reminds me... there was some reconstruction and reconfiguration of I-94 and its ramps in Hudson last year and early this year.  As part of this, they added the blue "tenth-mile" markers to I-94 in this area between Exit 4 at US 12 and the state line.  As a result, now you can tell exactly where on the St. Croix River bridge the state line is.  There are also more small green signs in the median telling you what the next two or three exits are.  All that is new.

[SSOWorld]

That reminds me... there was some reconstruction and reconfiguration of I-94 and its ramps in Hudson last year and early this year.  As part of this, they added the blue "tenth-mile" markers to I-94 in this area between Exit 4 at US 12 and the state line.  As a result, now you can tell exactly where on the St. Croix River bridge the state line is.  There are also more small green signs in the median telling you what the next two or three exits are.  All that is new.

The blue tabs are becoming the new staple for freeway mile markers - particularly for Interstates.

[peterj920]

State Budget signed which increases funds for roads. However studies for  the I-41 expansion between Green Bay and Appleton along with the Southern Bridge in Brown County were taken out by the governor. Thoughts?

[SEWIGuy]

State Budget signed which increases funds for roads. However studies for  the I-41 expansion between Green Bay and Appleton along with the Southern Bridge in Brown County were taken out by the governor. Thoughts?

Both are problems that kicking the can down the road will make worse. The three lanes on I-41 are needed now. The "south crossing"  isn't yet a necessity but will be if DePere and points south continue to grow. Traffic backs up now over the Allouez bridge (WI-32) during rush and will only get worse.

[CapeCodder]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

[SEWIGuy]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

It ends prior to Wausau. If it is extended anytime soon it won't be much past Wausau. It was never really intended to be anything but a interstate along the US-51 freeway. And that will not be extended anytime soon.

[CapeCodder]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

It ends prior to Wausau. If it is extended anytime soon it won't be much past Wausau. It was never really intended to be anything but a interstate along the US-51 freeway. And that will not be extended anytime soon.

Sounds like a classic porkbarrel move.

[thspfc]

As far as I know, WISDOT has no vision for I-39 north of Wausau. I think they truncated it to WI-29 to establish an endpoint that has connections with other limited access highways - like how I-41 and 43 end in Green Bay instead of continuing north on the US-41/141 freeway.
Going into fictional highways ground, the furthest I-39 could ever be extended is Hazelhurst, if the at grade intersections on US-51 north of Merrill are removed and it is widened to four lanes past US-8, with no intersections. Going past Hazelhurst would require a bypass of Minocqua and Woodruff, and NIMBYs would literally burn down the plans for such a project.

[SEWIGuy]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

It ends prior to Wausau. If it is extended anytime soon it won't be much past Wausau. It was never really intended to be anything but a interstate along the US-51 freeway. And that will not be extended anytime soon.

Sounds like a classic porkbarrel move.

Not even sure what that means. The signing of I-39 didn't come with any highway upgrades. US-51 was interstate compatible already.

[mgk920]

State Budget signed which increases funds for roads. However studies for  the I-41 expansion between Green Bay and Appleton along with the Southern Bridge in Brown County were taken out by the governor. Thoughts?

How politically possible would it be for the legislature to override those line-item vetoes?





Mike

[mgk920]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

The original plan was for the 1960s-standard interstate-compatible US 51 freeway to be extended all the way to that trumpet at US 2 in Hurley, ditto US 53 north of the Rice Lake/Haugen area (note the change in engineering design style where it rejoined the 'old' road there).  The US 51 extension was dropped north of the Minocqua-Woodruff ('Lakeland') area due to a lack of traffic demand and for the part between there and about County 'K' south of the Lakeland area, the best that I can tell is that WisDOT just never got around to building it by the time that those upgrades were being scaled back in the mid-1970s, same with US 53 north of that point between Rice Lake and Haugen.

Those plans also had a similar four lane US 2 between Hurley/US 51 and Superior that was also dropped for a lack of traffic demand.

Mike

[CapeCodder]

I have a question in regards to I-39:

What was the plan supposed to be with its northern end? Seems like it just stops north of Merrill; was it meant to hook into the UP of Michigan?

It ends prior to Wausau. If it is extended anytime soon it won't be much past Wausau. It was never really intended to be anything but a interstate along the US-51 freeway. And that will not be extended anytime soon.

Sounds like a classic porkbarrel move.

Not even sure what that means. The signing of I-39 didn't come with any highway upgrades. US-51 was interstate compatible already.

i.e. "I'll get my constituents to vote for me. We want that interstate."