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[GeekJedi]

I was miffed at the need for a bypass to the south of Waukesha when I-94 went to the north

Problem is that 94 isn't really a bypass. It runs along the north side. If you, say, lived along East Ave your choices were pretty limited in terms of getting from I-94 to there.

Before the Les Paul Pkwy, your options of getting around the city from the south was Sunset Dr., former CTH-A, or through downtown. Later with he retail growth along Sunset, Merrill Hills to Sunset became a "de-facto" bypass route to the west and transformed a quiet farm road into a suburban artery. However, anyone sitting at the corner of MacArthur and Merrill Hills played Russian roulette during drive times making a turn at that intersection.

Add to that the crazy routing that US-18 took through Waukesha, and all the pieces were there to make it work.

I am a little curious why they didn't run 18 north at Merrill Hills to 94 and then over to the Bluemound exit. I mean, the bypass is really a "bypass" route as US-18, but it's certainly not the faster route.

[SEWIGuy]

I was at my storage shed yesterday (next to the tracks on Merrill Hills Rd. in Waukesha) and it really drives home why the West Bypass was needed. I used to live on Mac Arthur Rd., so I could see for years that Merrill Hills was unsafe.

However, just look at Merrill Hills off of Sunset and look at how narrow the road is and how close the trees are to the road. Then look over at the bypass and see the traffic there.

When I was growing up, Merrill Hills was a fairly quiet country road. It ended at a "T" intersection with US-18. However once it was extended north, traffic picked up. Trying to make a left onto Merrill Hills anywhere between Sunset Dr. and 18 was a challenge, often ending in a crash. The speed limit was 45 with people doing 55 on a road with no shoulders and limited sight lines.

Long story short, despite some rumblings on the expense, in hindsight finally finishing the bypass was necessary. I'm glad it's done!

I didn't know you grew up in that area! I spent the first few years of my life in Waukesha and Genessee, even going to a small, two room school house in first grade in the mid-70s (Torhorst School) which is now part of the church at the corner of Meadowbrook and Summit.  It was out in the middle of nowhere back then.

[GeekJedi]

I was at my storage shed yesterday (next to the tracks on Merrill Hills Rd. in Waukesha) and it really drives home why the West Bypass was needed. I used to live on Mac Arthur Rd., so I could see for years that Merrill Hills was unsafe.

However, just look at Merrill Hills off of Sunset and look at how narrow the road is and how close the trees are to the road. Then look over at the bypass and see the traffic there.

When I was growing up, Merrill Hills was a fairly quiet country road. It ended at a "T" intersection with US-18. However once it was extended north, traffic picked up. Trying to make a left onto Merrill Hills anywhere between Sunset Dr. and 18 was a challenge, often ending in a crash. The speed limit was 45 with people doing 55 on a road with no shoulders and limited sight lines.

Long story short, despite some rumblings on the expense, in hindsight finally finishing the bypass was necessary. I'm glad it's done!

I didn't know you grew up in that area! I spent the first few years of my life in Waukesha and Genessee, even going to a small, two room school house in first grade in the mid-70s (Torhorst School) which is now part of the church at the corner of Meadowbrook and Summit.  It was out in the middle of nowhere back then.

Yep! When I was growing up, MacArthur Rd. was named Westmoreland. It was changed for obvious reasons! The road was CTH-DE.

We moved in the same year Fox Run opened on the corner of what was then Sunset and STH-59. I've been on the planet long enough to now see it demolished!

I went to first grade at the then new Bethesda Elementary, and graduated from Waukesha North.

Things have definitely changed over the years!!

[peterj920]

For 2023 it doesn’t look like there’s really any new “exciting” projects other than ongoing construction on I-41 and I-43 in the Milwaukee Area and Wis 15 around Hortonville. Wis 172 is being resurfaced from the airport to I-43, I-894/I-41/I-43 will also be resurfaced, and the US 12/County AB Interchange will be open.

4 lane expansion is slowing down compared to other years and WISDOT appears to be either rebuilding and expanding existing freeways (I-94 MKE, I-41), or just maintaining existing roads. After Wis 15 is done, WISDOT doesn’t appear to have any projects widening any 2 lane roads to 4 lanes.

[triplemultiplex]

It's nice to see the interchange of WI 60 and the triplex getting modernized. Those parclo B2's sure were popular back when they built I-90 from Illinois to The Dells. They converted all of them to diamonds south of Madison last decade as part of that big project.  Now they're starting to chip away at the last ones north of Madison, it would seem.


In other holiday weekend observations, I'm struck by the change in character of US 53 north of Rice Lake when you transition from the freeway constructed in the 70's to the expressway constructed in the 80's.  The big sweeping curves and wide r/w with long, steel-girdered overpasses gives way to a more curvy 'tighter-feeling' facility with, of course, all the cross traffic and stuff.  To be expected for most of it as the expressway was built on-alignment of the old two lane highway.

Though I look at the Spooner bypass section and think about the missed opportunities there.  If my memory is right, it was built contemporaneously with US 51's super-2 bypass of Tomahawk in the early 80's.  But over there, they had the foresight to preserve as much access control as they could so that two decades later, it was a cinch to twin that stretch and have it be a freeway.  At Spooner, however, this long stretch of new (at the time) terrain four lane highway was built lousy with cross roads and no effort to grab up the r/w for future full access control.  They even made it worse by putting that veterans cemetery right off the highway with additional at-grades.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda, I suppose.

Anyway, the whole dynamic illustrates how highways were built pre and post NEPA.  And I find that interesting.

[GeekJedi]

It's nice to see the interchange of WI 60 and the triplex getting modernized. Those parclo B2's sure were popular back when they built I-90 from Illinois to The Dells. They converted all of them to diamonds south of Madison last decade as part of that big project.  Now they're starting to chip away at the last ones north of Madison, it would seem.

I'm guessing at the time, that was an easier choice for WisDOT because that was a very rural section of interstate. We'd use that interchange a lot when I was a kid to go to Devil's Lake via the Colsac ferry. As traffic picked up over the years, I've been very surprised that there hasn't been more accidents there.

[The Ghostbuster]

Hopefully, there will be enough space at the reconfigured interchange for a fourth traffic lane to be added in each direction in the future. That is what they are planning to do with the Wisconsin River Bridge Replacement Project further north.

[TheHighwayMan394]

The overhaul of the 90/94 and WIS 82 interchange in Mauston also wrapped up this fall. As a regular user of this interchange the roundabouts here feel to me like a huge improvement to the old configuration where 82 had free-flowing traffic.

[GeekJedi]

The overhaul of the 90/94 and WIS 82 interchange in Mauston also wrapped up this fall. As a regular user of this interchange the roundabouts here feel to me like a huge improvement to the old configuration where 82 had free-flowing traffic.

I'm going to have to check that out on my run up to La Crosse tomorrow. I know that whole thing has been under construction for quite a while, though the traffic flows pretty freely through there.

[TheHighwayMan394]

The overhaul of the 90/94 and WIS 82 interchange in Mauston also wrapped up this fall. As a regular user of this interchange the roundabouts here feel to me like a huge improvement to the old configuration where 82 had free-flowing traffic.

I'm going to have to check that out on my run up to La Crosse tomorrow. I know that whole thing has been under construction for quite a while, though the traffic flows pretty freely through there.

I should probably be a little more clear than I was, which is the bulk of the work on 82 and the interchange itself is done with the roundabouts open and temporary intersections/stoplights being removed, but some ongoing work on 90/94 continues (including a work zone speed reduction still being in effect westbound)

[GeekJedi]

The overhaul of the 90/94 and WIS 82 interchange in Mauston also wrapped up this fall. As a regular user of this interchange the roundabouts here feel to me like a huge improvement to the old configuration where 82 had free-flowing traffic.

I'm going to have to check that out on my run up to La Crosse tomorrow. I know that whole thing has been under construction for quite a while, though the traffic flows pretty freely through there.

I should probably be a little more clear than I was, which is the bulk of the work on 82 and the interchange itself is done with the roundabouts open and temporary intersections/stoplights being removed, but some ongoing work on 90/94 continues (including a work zone speed reduction still being in effect westbound)

Saw it today - there's a restriction EB as well. It's looking really good though!

[triplemultiplex]

I noted most traffic viewed the construction zone SL in Mauston as a mere suggestion.

Project page on WisDOT for the WI 60 interchange doesn't specify what the bridges will be like; they have no useful maps of the project available.  But I have to assume the new spans will be able to accommodate four lanes each?  If for no other reason than it makes construction staging much easier because you can keep 3 lanes open in one direction at least.

[peterj920]

I noted most traffic viewed the construction zone SL in Mauston as a mere suggestion.

Project page on WisDOT for the WI 60 interchange doesn't specify what the bridges will be like; they have no useful maps of the project available.  But I have to assume the new spans will be able to accommodate four lanes each?  If for no other reason than it makes construction staging much easier because you can keep 3 lanes open in one direction at least.

I am noticing that rebuilt bridges are wider on I-94 mainly for that reason since there aren’t any expansion plans on many of the wider rebuilt bridges.

In the future most of I-94 is going to have to be rebuilt across the state especially between Cottage Grove and Milwaukee. The road beds are shot and resurfacings don’t even last 10 years anymore. The bridges are old and the interchanges are outdated.

Compare to I-43 and I-41 that have more modern interchanges and newer designs.

[JREwing78]

State 23 expansion wraps up for Sheboygan, Fond du Lac counties. Here's what's changed
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/state-23-expansion-wraps-up-for-sheboygan-fond-du-lac-counties-here-s-what-s-changed/ar-AA16awUV?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=9dcb2d0c87c047f3a72d5901240d8941

https://projects.511wi.gov/wis23resurface/full-project-overview/

[The Ghostbuster]

The STH 23 expansion to four lanes between Fond du Lac and Plymouth should have been constructed a long time ago. It was nearly universally supported (save for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, who should have told to go pound sand). Still, better late than never.

[peterj920]

The STH 23 expansion to four lanes between Fond du Lac and Plymouth should have been constructed a long time ago. It was nearly universally supported (save for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, who should have told to go pound sand). Still, better late than never.

It was a federal judge that delayed the project. If it would have been built earlier I’m guessing most of the J Turn intersections wouldn’t be there or the roundabout.

I do find it odd that some of these expressways “stop short” of free flow access.

Examples:

US 10 in Stevens Point
Wis 26 in Johnson Creek/I-94 and Janesville
US 53 Superior
US 18/151 Madison Eventhough Verona Rd is an improvement.
Wis 23 near US 151

Wis 29 eliminated all the lights and it’s completely free flowing and US 53 was fixed in Eau Claire. US 45 became free flowing in Oshkosh when I-41 was reconstructed. I’m guessing nothing will be done with the others.

 
                 

[SEWIGuy]

Why is it odd?  It's just a simply cost / benefit analysis.  WI-26 in Johnson Creek for instance. You weren't going to be able to build a free flowing I-94 exit in its current location. So you ramp up the costs to save...what...one or two minutes of travel time? The current set up can be a bit of a hassle, but by and large works fine.

[pianocello]

I do find it odd that some of these expressways “stop short” of free flow access.

Examples:

US 10 in Stevens Point
Wis 26 in Johnson Creek/I-94 and Janesville
US 53 Superior
US 18/151 Madison Eventhough Verona Rd is an improvement.
Wis 23 near US 151

Wis 29 eliminated all the lights and it’s completely free flowing and US 53 was fixed in Eau Claire. US 45 became free flowing in Oshkosh when I-41 was reconstructed. I’m guessing nothing will be done with the others.               

It sucks that there are these gaps, but given the ROW and bridge costs at these locations, I get it.

FWIW the US 18-151/Beltline interchange is on WisDOT's radar if I remember right, just low on the priority list.

[JoePCool14]

I do find it odd that some of these expressways “stop short” of free flow access.

Examples:

US 10 in Stevens Point
Wis 26 in Johnson Creek/I-94 and Janesville
US 53 Superior
US 18/151 Madison Eventhough Verona Rd is an improvement.
Wis 23 near US 151

Wis 29 eliminated all the lights and it’s completely free flowing and US 53 was fixed in Eau Claire. US 45 became free flowing in Oshkosh when I-41 was reconstructed. I’m guessing nothing will be done with the others.               

It sucks that there are these gaps, but given the ROW and bridge costs at these locations, I get it.

FWIW the US 18-151/Beltline interchange is on WisDOT's radar if I remember right, just low on the priority list.

I don't see anything happening with the 18/151 and Beltline interchange within the next decade at minimum. They just spent money rebuilding it, so I can't see them turning around and ripping it out again soon. If there's an explosion of growth around Verona, then maybe. But again, probably not for at least ten years from now.

[triplemultiplex]

More significantly, the completion of WI 23 seems to mark the end of the era of major rural four lane expansions in the state for a while.  There's a four lane highway to every city with at least 20,000 people and they're all pretty robustly connected.

Just in time to start fixing the ones that are aging out of their ~30 year initial lifespan.  With some minor exceptions here and there, our future is going to be mostly fixing pavement and addressing safety concerns in this state with our road money.

[chrismarion100]

I do find it odd that some of these expressways “stop short” of free flow access.

Examples:

US 10 in Stevens Point
Wis 26 in Johnson Creek/I-94 and Janesville
US 53 Superior
US 18/151 Madison Eventhough Verona Rd is an improvement.
Wis 23 near US 151

Wis 29 eliminated all the lights and it’s completely free flowing and US 53 was fixed in Eau Claire. US 45 became free flowing in Oshkosh when I-41 was reconstructed. I’m guessing nothing will be done with the others.               

It sucks that there are these gaps, but given the ROW and bridge costs at these locations, I get it.

FWIW the US 18-151/Beltline interchange is on WisDOT's radar if I remember right, just low on the priority list.

I don't see anything happening with the 18/151 and Beltline interchange within the next decade at minimum. They just spent money rebuilding it, so I can't see them turning around and ripping it out again soon. If there's an explosion of growth around Verona, then maybe. But again, probably not for at least ten years from now.

There are plans to eventually make US 18/151 from the beltline to Verona Rd into a freeway (however not a full freeway-to-freeway connection) but won't happen until needed (WisDOT say 2030 or later)
Link to a diagram of that will look like.https://projects.511wi.gov/veronard/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/map-altstage3.pdf

[mgk920]

I do find it odd that some of these expressways “stop short” of free flow access.

Examples:

US 10 in Stevens Point
Wis 26 in Johnson Creek/I-94 and Janesville
US 53 Superior
US 18/151 Madison Eventhough Verona Rd is an improvement.
Wis 23 near US 151

Wis 29 eliminated all the lights and it’s completely free flowing and US 53 was fixed in Eau Claire. US 45 became free flowing in Oshkosh when I-41 was reconstructed. I’m guessing nothing will be done with the others.               

It sucks that there are these gaps, but given the ROW and bridge costs at these locations, I get it.

FWIW the US 18-151/Beltline interchange is on WisDOT's radar if I remember right, just low on the priority list.

I don't see anything happening with the 18/151 and Beltline interchange within the next decade at minimum. They just spent money rebuilding it, so I can't see them turning around and ripping it out again soon. If there's an explosion of growth around Verona, then maybe. But again, probably not for at least ten years from now.

There are plans to eventually make US 18/151 from the beltline to Verona Rd into a freeway (however not a full freeway-to-freeway connection) but won't happen until needed (WisDOT say 2030 or later)
Link to a diagram of that will look like.https://projects.511wi.gov/veronard/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/map-altstage3.pdf

That's kind of like what WisDOT was proposing a decade or so ago.  Even then, engineering studies showed such a low traffic demand for turns between the Beltline to the northwest and US 18/151 to the southwest that any thoughts of (highly complex and EXPENSIVE) free-flow freeway-o-freeway ramps for them were omitted early on - the existing ramp intersection turns are more than sufficient for the demand.  I generally like that preliminary proposal.

Mike

[The Ghostbuster]

I highly doubt that freeway proposal will ever be implemented (although I would not oppose such a proposal being built). The two stages of Verona Rd. improvements built between 2014 and 2020 are probably as upgraded as Verona Rd. is ever going to get.

[triplemultiplex]

And the WB off ramp to Verona Rd will forever backup onto the freeway during peak times.

[Stephane Dumas]

Google Streeview showed the construction progress of the I-43 interchange at Highland road from last October. https://goo.gl/maps/uRS4JiQxsPD5D4Vh7