Should WISDOT take over Brown County Southern Bridge Project?

[peterj920]

A bridge south of De Pere is badly needed to take traffic out of Downtown De Pere. A city of over 25,000 shouldn't just have one bridge connecting the two sides. The roundabout has already reached design capacity since the bridge in the city is the only one. Brown County has proposed a new bridge as part of a County GV extension for over 25 years and the project is going nowhere with Brown County in charge of the project. There will be a new interchange where the new route will connect with I-41, but Brown County's ineptitude will probably prevent the bridge from being built for many years if ever.

Wis 441 was a Tri County project between Winnebago, Calumet, and Outagamie Counties that was supposed to have signals at intersections until WISDOT took over and made it a freeway. Thank goodness that happened since intersections would have created a nightmare traffic situation.

WISDOT should play "hero"  again and take over the Southern Bridge Project between Wis 57 and I-41. A rerouted Wis 32 would be perfect and reconnect with its existing route on Ashland Ave. Thoughts?

[SEWIGuy]

So why do you believe the project is "going nowhere?" 

Anyway, WIDOT would probably keep WI-32 on its current routing. I would propose a new state highway running from I-41 to WI-172.

[paulthemapguy]

This isn't how anything works.  The agency responsible for a project on a roadway depends on which agency owns the roadway.  You don't slack it to the state DOT when some connected individual or disconnected rando decides that you should.

[peterj920]

This isn't how anything works.  The agency responsible for a project on a roadway depends on which agency owns the roadway.  You don't slack it to the state DOT when some connected individual or disconnected rando decides that you should.

In this case the road doesn't exist yet because it hasn't been built. There have been 2 cases in the last 30 years where counties initiated a project and WISDOT took over. Wis 441 in the Fox Cities started as a county project and was intended to be an expressway, but WISDOT took over and upgraded the plans to a full freeway.

In Waukesha County, a western bypass was being proposed by the county and WISDOT took over the project and rerouted US 18 around the city.

[peterj920]

So why do you believe the project is "going nowhere?" 

Anyway, WIDOT would probably keep WI-32 on its current routing. I would propose a new state highway running from I-41 to WI-172.

It's been proposed for nearly 30 years and it did just get funds to design, but it's far from being built. Brown County and De Pere badly need it but the project is working at a snails pace.

[SEWIGuy]

To blame the current people in Brown County for the last 30 years is a bit unfair. They published the decision of the route in their EIS two years ago, got money to fund the design earlier this year, and got a dedicated exit as part of the I-41 expansion. It probably would be best for the state to manage the project but it seems like the County is working within the resources they have.

[Rick Powell]

To blame the current people in Brown County for the last 30 years is a bit unfair. They published the decision of the route in their EIS two years ago, got money to fund the design earlier this year, and got a dedicated exit as part of the I-41 expansion. It probably would be best for the state to manage the project but it seems like the County is working within the resources they have.

When I was at IDOT, there was a county-led effort to put in a new I-80 interchange at Brisbin Road east of Morris. The county did a good job with the limited resources they had, but it was apparent that the effort was woefully underfunded and they ran out of money about a third of the way in to a preliminary engineering study. The state took over and got the work done, and the US congresswoman at the time got a federal grant of $1M to add to the state's funding. Sometimes it's in the best interests of the project to have a larger, more experienced and better funded agency take on a project if the benefits are there.

[SEWIGuy]

To blame the current people in Brown County for the last 30 years is a bit unfair. They published the decision of the route in their EIS two years ago, got money to fund the design earlier this year, and got a dedicated exit as part of the I-41 expansion. It probably would be best for the state to manage the project but it seems like the County is working within the resources they have.

When I was at IDOT, there was a county-led effort to put in a new I-80 interchange at Brisbin Road east of Morris. The county did a good job with the limited resources they had, but it was apparent that the effort was woefully underfunded and they ran out of money about a third of the way in to a preliminary engineering study. The state took over and got the work done, and the US congresswoman at the time got a federal grant of $1M to add to the state's funding. Sometimes it's in the best interests of the project to have a larger, more experienced and better funded agency take on a project if the benefits are there.

Oh I agree. I just think blaming Brown County, when they have a fraction of the resources available to them, is a little short-sighted. I agree that the project is highly needed though. I drive across the current De Pere bridge pretty much every day, and the back ups can be significant. Having something further south is sorely needed.

[Big John]

$50 million allocated in proposed state budget for this bridge project: https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/50-million-put-toward-construction-of-south-bridge-connector-project-in-brown-county/