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[TheHighwayMan394]

As part of the 39/90 rebuild and turning the US 14/WIS 26 cluster in Janesville into one exit with a C/D lane, WisDOT put a green gore-point style EXIT sign off to the right shoulder of the road, and even having driven through it several times it really psychs me out into thinking I missed the ramp. I hope no one goes into the ditch or anything thinking the same thing out of habit.

[JoePCool14]

As part of the 39/90 rebuild and turning the US 14/WIS 26 cluster in Janesville into one exit with a C/D lane, WisDOT put a green gore-point style EXIT sign off to the right shoulder of the road, and even having driven through it several times it really psychs me out into thinking I missed the ramp. I hope no one goes into the ditch or anything thinking the same thing out of habit.

That has the potential to be dangerous. Reminds me of when I've seen a Keep Right sign used in place of a Right Turn Only sign on the side of the road.

[mgk920]

Is those two high-speed 'flyunder' ramps were to be built, there would not be those backups.

Mike

[skluth]

As part of the 39/90 rebuild and turning the US 14/WIS 26 cluster in Janesville into one exit with a C/D lane, WisDOT put a green gore-point style EXIT sign off to the right shoulder of the road, and even having driven through it several times it really psychs me out into thinking I missed the ramp. I hope no one goes into the ditch or anything thinking the same thing out of habit.

I'm sure it'll be a lawsuit as soon as someone goes off the road during heavy rain or a white-out snowstorm into the ditch

[JREwing78]

As part of the 39/90 rebuild and turning the US 14/WIS 26 cluster in Janesville into one exit with a C/D lane, WisDOT put a green gore-point style EXIT sign off to the right shoulder of the road, and even having driven through it several times it really psychs me out into thinking I missed the ramp. I hope no one goes into the ditch or anything thinking the same thing out of habit.

A couple views of it from Street View, which really doesn't drive home its absurdity:
https://goo.gl/maps/f2EZWRAPRJwosgg69
https://goo.gl/maps/Y1QoLdfU43TUjSaYA

It's trying (poorly) to indicate a 4th lane is emerging to the right, and you have to change lanes to the right twice (three times if you're exiting at Hwy 26). 

What this needs is the same overhead they have on the NBD side at Hwy 14, to wit:
https://goo.gl/maps/bf3QXtmDdYm97g6U8

[peterj920]

As part of the 39/90 rebuild and turning the US 14/WIS 26 cluster in Janesville into one exit with a C/D lane, WisDOT put a green gore-point style EXIT sign off to the right shoulder of the road, and even having driven through it several times it really psychs me out into thinking I missed the ramp. I hope no one goes into the ditch or anything thinking the same thing out of habit.

A couple views of it from Street View, which really doesn't drive home its absurdity:
https://goo.gl/maps/f2EZWRAPRJwosgg69
https://goo.gl/maps/Y1QoLdfU43TUjSaYA

It's trying (poorly) to indicate a 4th lane is emerging to the right, and you have to change lanes to the right twice (three times if you're exiting at Hwy 26). 

What this needs is the same overhead they have on the NBD side at Hwy 14, to wit:
https://goo.gl/maps/bf3QXtmDdYm97g6U8

WISDOT did the same thing on US 10 at the Wis 22 South Interchange in Waupaca.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/GoQayXBv5DcCe29TA?g_st=ic

[Big John]

^^ That better be contractor error as when I lived there the sign was in the correct place and said exit 252.

BTW The Pennsylvania Turnpike used to do that too.

[The Ghostbuster]

The exit would be numbered Exit 206 if it was going by the actual mileage from the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. The exit numbers on US 10 are a sign of indigestion for me; not unlike Interstate 99 in Pennsylvania and Interstate 238 in California are for others.

[SEWIGuy]

The exit would be numbered Exit 206 if it was going by the actual mileage from the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. The exit numbers on US 10 are a sign of indigestion for me; not unlike Interstate 99 in Pennsylvania and Interstate 238 in California are for others.

What mile numbers are they using?

[TheHighwayMan394]

The exit would be numbered Exit 206 if it was going by the actual mileage from the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. The exit numbers on US 10 are a sign of indigestion for me; not unlike Interstate 99 in Pennsylvania and Interstate 238 in California are for others.

What mile numbers are they using?

It's been speculated on here that the exit numbers/internal WisDOT mileage on US 10 in Wisconsin still reflects the highway's original routing, which followed a duplex with US 12 from Minnesota rather than being based on US 10's current crossing of the MN/WI border at Prescott.

[invincor]

I looked into the US 10 mileage issue a little while ago.  To me, it appears that it's mileage list on the books was compiled way back when the route was first established in the 1920s and the west central portion was duplexed with U.S. 12 from the state line at Hudson until they separated somewhere around Fairchild or Humbird on more-or-less the routings they still have today through the rest of the state.  When U.S. 10 was shifted to its own more southerly routing from Prescott eastwards (after the drawbridge in Prescott was finished), they never changed the mileage numbering from what it had started with on the western half.  And it still has those numbers today.

 

[SEWIGuy]

Oh yes. Now I remember that. Thanks to you both.

The only other thought that made some sense was that they were using WI-54's mileage for some reason.

[TheHighwayMan394]

I don't dispute Invincor's conclusion as it makes the most sense of any explanations, but I do wonder if the difference between the two routings is enough to create a nearly 50-mile discrepancy.

[SSOWorld]

There are multiple inaccuracies in WI's exit numbering system.  I-41 and US 45 match US-41's current mileposts which did not change at all when 41 was moved to the freeways earlier and then to 894 recently. I-39's mileage follows that of US-51 which is still inaccurate.  The mileposting for 39 (including the former 51 bypass used by WIS-78 is ~6 miles off from its southern entry point (which belonged to I-90 to begin with.

I-90's mileposting also is way off. I-39 pulls off at 78 miles north of the IL State line - at exit 108.

[Big John]

I-90's mileposting also is way off. I-39 pulls off at 78 miles north of the IL State line - at exit 108.

What is the distance from the Minnesota state line, where the numbering starts?

[SEWIGuy]

I don't dispute Invincor's conclusion as it makes the most sense of any explanations, but I do wonder if the difference between the two routings is enough to create a nearly 50-mile discrepancy.

Not even close. Unless I am mis-measuring something, the US-12 routing is only a handful of miles longer.

[The Ghostbuster]

I took the mileage numbers from the "US 10 in Wisconsin" Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_10_in_Wisconsin. I knew that US 10 was co-current with US 12 from Hudson to Humbird when the US Highway System debuted in 1926. Since US 10 was relocated onto its present alignment in 1934 (replacing what was then STH-34), the DOT should have updated US 10 to correspond with its existing length (294.01 miles) a long time ago. As for Interstate 39 and Interstate 41, 39 corresponds with US 51's mileposts from Exit 92 northward; that is why the exits south of where US 51 exits 39 are numbered 84-92 (as opposed to 78-86). Also, if Interstate 41's exits had been numbered by the post-2015 mileage of Interstate 41/US 41, all numbered exits from the Zoo Interchange northward would be numbered five digits higher than they are currently numbered. I don't have a problem with how Interstate 39 and 41's exits are numbered, just US 10's. Unfortunately for me, the numbers posted will likely never be changed. I just hope that if more non-numbered exits on existing State and US Highways receive numbers, they more accurately correspond with the routes' existing mileage.

[invincor]

I don't dispute Invincor's conclusion as it makes the most sense of any explanations, but I do wonder if the difference between the two routings is enough to create a nearly 50-mile discrepancy.

Not even close. Unless I am mis-measuring something, the US-12 routing is only a handful of miles longer.

When I rerun the calculations now, I only get a small difference too.  I must have made a mistake when I first investigated this.  So sorry, everyone, this doesn’t explain it after all!

[JREwing78]

I-90's mileposting also is way off. I-39 pulls off at 78 miles north of the IL State line - at exit 108.

I-90's mileposting is from East to West - from LaCrosse to Beloit. The math checks.

[triplemultiplex]

The US 10 exit numbering is particularly annoying because they were starting from scratch when they started to number exits and put up mile markers ~10 years ago or whatever it was.  They could have done it to accurately reflect the actual path of US 10 in the state, but nope!

I think I measured it out when we first noticed this anomaly and I figured mile 0 for US 10 in Wisconsin would be in like Coon Rapids, Minnesota.  So the ancient routing for US 10 west of Fairchild wouldn't account for that large of a discrepancy. 

[invincor]

It's still an interesting puzzle to solve... what could account for this 40-ish mile discrepancy?

[JoePCool14]

It's still an interesting puzzle to solve... what could account for this 40-ish mile discrepancy?

The ability to add bypasses around little towns in the future that could potentially add mileage?

[JREwing78]

It's still an interesting puzzle to solve... what could account for this 40-ish mile discrepancy?

The ability to add bypasses around little towns in the future that could potentially add mileage?

Yep. Pick a number that won't have to change. Then, don't change it. If it ever becomes a big deal, change it then.

Wisconsin isn't big on mile-markers for 2-lane highways, and US-10 won't ever be 4-laned to a significant degree west of I-94. A 40-mile discrepancy is a bit extreme, but it's not uncommon for some number-fudging with milemarkers and exit numbers.

One example is I-69 in Indiana, where Indiana decided to make the milemarkers north of Indianapolis start with 200 (though the actual mileage from the start in Evansville is more like 180 miles). It was way simpler to just add 200 to the existing milemarkers than to precisely measure it - only for that precision to go away as soon as some portion is realigned or moved.

[SEWIGuy]

OK so I have a new theory about US-10's exit numbers, and it is probably a bad one.

The US-10 / WI-13 exit just outside of Marshfield is Exit 187.  Obviously the mileage is less than that if you follow US-10 westbound to the Minnesota line.  However, if you follow WI-13 southbound along its historical routing to the IL line, it is almost exactly 187 miles.

My guess is that is just an odd coincidence...but still.

[peterj920]

US 10 in Wisconsin is 293 miles long and the final exit number is Exit 291. Could WISDOT possibly have counted from the end and started in Appleton rather than Manitowoc where it ends?

In Appleton, Wis 441 has both Exit numbers for US 10 and Wis 441. Wouldn’t it be more consistent to use Wis 441 exit numbers throughout so the mile markers don’t go from 291 to 5 like they do now? And why does US 10 have markers every 2/10s of a mile while Wis 441 has the basic mile markers for every mile?