WISDOT neglecting on/off ramps and interchanges

[peterj920]

It seems to be a statewide problem, but WISDOT will repair mainlines of freeways and completely ignore the ramps and the roadway in the interchange area. Hwy GV at Wis 172 is finally being repaired after being left untouched since it was originally built and became very rough.

In the Madison Area, the Beltline has quite a few rough ramps. Old Sauk Rd is in awful shape, Rimrock Rd is getting rough, Gammon Rd was not repaired in the interchange area while Madison repaired Gammon Rd to the north and south of the interchange.

In the Dells Area, the US 12 ramps have become very rough along with Wis 13. When freeways are being worked on, the ramps need to be included more along with mainline work.

[JREwing78]

Can't be any worse than some of the examples I've encountered in Michigan.

[SEWIGuy]

The WI-172 project in the Green Bay area is almost complete. It included resurfacing of not only the highway, but all on and off ramps as well as the underpasses and overpasses as well.

[peterj920]

The WI-172 project in the Green Bay area is almost complete. It included resurfacing of not only the highway, but all on and off ramps as well as the underpasses and overpasses as well.

The roughness of GV in the Wis 172 interchange area is part of why I started this topic. It's very rough with the original pavement until now while Wis 172 has undergone several maintenance and resurfacing projects over the years.

In Madison Old Sauk, Gammon Rd and Rimrock Rd interchange areas off the Beltline really need work. The City of Madison completed its work near the Beltline on both sides. The state just needs to close the gap.

[triplemultiplex]

Add South Towne/Broadway to that list.  Beltline is good; Broadway and South Towne are good.  The ramps, though?  Not good.

[Henry]

This is inexcusable; if you're working on a freeway project, then in addition to the mainline, you need to do the ramps and crossing roads as well (no half-assing it either!). I get the impression that WISDOT is among the worst, if not THE worst, at doing the important construction-related tasks.

[Rothman]

Meh.  Ramps, yes.  Cross streets gets tricky depending on who owns them.

[JoePCool14]

This is inexcusable; if you're working on a freeway project, then in addition to the mainline, you need to do the ramps and crossing roads as well (no half-assing it either!). I get the impression that WISDOT is among the worst, if not THE worst, at doing the important construction-related tasks.

I'm doing some consultant work in Illinois, and we were told specifically to focus our efforts only on the mainline and not the ramps. It's a striping contract. It's frustrating to hear this especially when the ramps really need restriping. The paint on some of these is almost gone completely.

[peterj920]

Meh.  Ramps, yes.  Cross streets gets tricky depending on who owns them.

WISDOT owns the road in the interchange areas whether it's above or below the freeway. Gammon Rd in Madison was redone on both sides of The Beltline along with Old Sauk which are smooth until the ramp intersections. One out of the interchange area the road is fine again. Same in Green Bay at Hwy GV at Wis 172 which is now receiving the first maintenance in 40 years since it opened.

[peterj920]

Add South Towne/Broadway to that list.  Beltline is good; Broadway and South Towne are good.  The ramps, though?  Not good.

What's ironic is that the overpass received a new deck last year and the Beltline Mainline was resurfaced yet the ramps weren't worked on.

[peterj920]

Interesting that Wis 36/Burlington Bypass mainline was resurfaced but not the ramps. Now a ramp resurfacing has its own project. Why not include ramps with the mainline projects?

Now WISDOT needs a project like this on The Beltline Interchanges. It's sad that the City of Madison does a good job of maintaining Gammon and Old Sauk but the interchange areas are rough because they're maintained by WISDOT. And for some reason the Broadway bridge was rehabbed but not the ramps.

https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/se/BurlingtonRamps/default.aspx

[SEWIGuy]

Does resurfacing them later cost more money? Do they save money resurfacing them on a different schedule?

It feels like this might be complaining about something that might not be a problem.

[Big John]

Does resurfacing them later cost more money? Do they save money resurfacing them on a different schedule?

It feels like this might be complaining about something that might not be a problem.

Mobilization costs as it is more cost efficient to resurface the ramps while resurfacing the road instead of bringing back the equipment a second time.

[The Ghostbuster]

There are only so many times you can resurface a road before the pavement ultimately needs to be replaced (preferably every 50 years or so). Of course, that's no excuse for neglecting pavement maintenance in the meantime, but there is only so much money and so many projects that can be funded and implemented at a time, thus priorities need to be made. Hopefully, WISDOT will eventually get to addressing all needed pavement projects in due time.

[peterj920]

Does resurfacing them later cost more money? Do they save money resurfacing them on a different schedule?

It feels like this might be complaining about something that might not be a problem.

If the ramps and interchange areas wouldn't be so rough I wouldn't be complaining. Many of the Beltline Interchange areas are very rough especially at Old Sauk and Gammon Rd.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/moHRLNxmjd8zT8WF6?g_st=ic

Wis 172 and County GV was extremely rough and was the only section of Wis 172 with original pavement. It was finally fixed as a part of the Wis 172 resurfacing last year but skipped in 2008.

You can drive on many ramps across the state and they're in bad shape compared to the mainlines on many freeways. That's why I created this topic.