US-41 Interstate Conversion

[SEWIGuy]

I've noticed over the past week or two the addition of many new I-41 sign assemblies, this time on intersecting streets. Passed the signing crew truck this morning as they were putting up new aluminum assemblies on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa.

Yep.  Just saw an I-41 sign by the 84th St. interchange.  However the I-43/I-894 sign remains on a separate sign across the street.

[marcreichman]

I've noticed over the past week or two the addition of many new I-41 sign assemblies, this time on intersecting streets. Passed the signing crew truck this morning as they were putting up new aluminum assemblies on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa.

Just came here to say this, like someone flipped a switch in Milwaukee. All the I41 stuff around me in Tosa by Watertown Plank has been uncovered, including the signage around the interchange to I41/US45.

[peterj920]

I've noticed over the past week or two the addition of many new I-41 sign assemblies, this time on intersecting streets. Passed the signing crew truck this morning as they were putting up new aluminum assemblies on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa.

Just came here to say this, like someone flipped a switch in Milwaukee. All the I41 stuff around me in Tosa by Watertown Plank has been uncovered, including the signage around the interchange to I41/US45.

Have the alternate I-41 shields along I-43 been uncovered yet and is Wis 175 fully signed along the Stadium Freeway?

[mgk920]

The amazing new full-speed curving fly-over ramp though the woods from NB I-41 to SB I-43 in the Howard Interchange in the Green Bay, WI area opens on Friday (2015-08-28).  This replaces the former 'truck eating' ramp in the original mid-1970s era interchange.



http://m.us41wisconsin.gov/news/alert-new-i-41-i-43-flyover-ramp-opens-friday-morning-in-brown-county

Mike

[FightingIrish]

I've noticed over the past week or two the addition of many new I-41 sign assemblies, this time on intersecting streets. Passed the signing crew truck this morning as they were putting up new aluminum assemblies on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa.

Just came here to say this, like someone flipped a switch in Milwaukee. All the I41 stuff around me in Tosa by Watertown Plank has been uncovered, including the signage around the interchange to I41/US45.

Have the alternate I-41 shields along I-43 been uncovered yet and is Wis 175 fully signed along the Stadium Freeway?

Don't know about I-43, but the signing crews have been busy signing connecting roads and uncovering many others. As for WIS 175, there was a short burst of signing along Appleton Ave and Lisbon Ave, with one sign on the Stadium Freeway. Since then, nothing. Still a mix of 175 and 41 signs. The I-41 signing activity has been pretty heavy lately, aside from  overhead BGS assemblies on the freeways.

[Big John]

The amazing new full-speed curving fly-over ramp though the woods from NB I-41 to SB I-43 in the Howard Interchange in the Green Bay, WI area opens on Friday (2015-08-28).  This replaces the former 'truck eating' ramp in the original mid-1970s era interchange.



http://m.us41wisconsin.gov/news/alert-new-i-41-i-43-flyover-ramp-opens-friday-morning-in-brown-county

Mike

http://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay/i-41i-43-interchange-now-open

[mgk920]

The amazing new full-speed curving fly-over ramp though the woods from NB I-41 to SB I-43 in the Howard Interchange in the Green Bay, WI area opens on Friday (2015-08-28).  This replaces the former 'truck eating' ramp in the original mid-1970s era interchange.



http://m.us41wisconsin.gov/news/alert-new-i-41-i-43-flyover-ramp-opens-friday-morning-in-brown-county

Mike

http://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay/i-41i-43-interchange-now-open

Note the 'SOUTH I-43' reassurance sign just after the NB Velp Ave (US 141 south) off ramp gore sign at 0:34 and 0:54, too.  At 1:27, that's looking southward on I-41 at Oneida St.

The new NB I-43 to NB US 41/141 ramp in the Howard Interchange is also complete and open.



Mike

[noelbotevera]

Does it really take this long to sign a route? Four months is more than enough time.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Does it really take this long to sign a route? Four months is more than enough time.

It takes time and money to replace/add 120+ miles of signs.

[SEWIGuy]

There were still US-16 signs in Dodge County 20 years after it was decommissioned.  Four months is nothing!

[peterj920]

Does it really take this long to sign a route? Four months is more than enough time.

All of the reassurance signs were installed within a week.  There's a lot of signs that need to be replaced.  From the mileage markers that are .2 miles apart, to the big BGS signs, there are quite a few.  Wisconsin is also installing a lot of alternate I-41 signs in case of an accident and that adds to the volume of signs.  The speed limit 70 signs were installed within 2 days because county highway departments installed them.  The I-41 signs are being installed by a private contractor.

[Right on Red]

Speaking of the .2 mile markers, they're up in all of Washington County now.

[Mrt90]

I saw a new "US41 follow I41" sign going north in Kenosha County, about 3-4 miles north of the state line. 

Still nothing in Illinois.  At this point I'm assuming that the Illinois signage is the lowest priority.

[peterj920]

I saw a new "US41 follow I41" sign going north in Kenosha County, about 3-4 miles north of the state line. 

Still nothing in Illinois.  At this point I'm assuming that the Illinois signage is the lowest priority.

I'm assuming that the reason why the signs in Illinois aren't installed is because the state of Illinois did not provide the signs or they did not pay the contractor for the signs and installation?  On the sign plan, I noticed that the signs that are supposed to be installed in Illinois are supposed to be cut out shields with the narrower arrow signs, while all of the Wisconsin signs are one piece with the over-sized arrow signs.  It is interesting to see how the signs are being installed to each state's specifications, according to the plan.  Since the Illinois signs are specific to Illinois, I'm assuming that they have to pay for their share of the signs, and that they had input on which signs were going to be installed. 

[GeekJedi]

Since the Illinois signs are specific to Illinois, I'm assuming that they have to pay for their share of the signs, and that they had input on which signs were going to be installed. 

Actually, I was under the impression that WisDOT was going to pay for the signs in Illinois, and it would be customary to have them designed to IDOT specs. I don't think I've seen anything confirming that 100% though.

[silverback1065]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

[SEWIGuy]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

[silverback1065]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

I guess, but that still doesn't really seem like a good reason, are they designing US 41 in the Milwaukee area? (the surface street portion)

[SEWIGuy]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

I guess, but that still doesn't really seem like a good reason, are they designing US 41 in the Milwaukee area? (the surface street portion)

It's on the reassurance markers that I have seen.  I think this entire thing has been screw up for years.  US-41 should have been moved off the streets of Milwaukee and onto the US-45 and I-894 freeways long ago.  Then you simply could have just replaced the US-41 designation with an I-41 designation and no one would have really noticed.  There is simply no need to have any US-41 signs between Green Bay and the Illinois border.  To me, the duplicate numbers on different shields only adds to confusion.

[GeekJedi]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

I'm guessing that it's to prevent confusion by having two different "41"'s on two different routes, or even one route that changes designations. If you think about it (other than the concurrencies) it sort of makes sense. 41 is now an interstate route from where it leaves it's surface route in Illinois to where the freeway segment ends north of Green Bay (OK, a bit before it actually ends..). So in a way, signing I-41 from just south of Illinois, and rerouting US-41 in Milwaukee, it makes one continuously signed route from Illinois to Green Bay.

[silverback1065]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

I guess, but that still doesn't really seem like a good reason, are they designing US 41 in the Milwaukee area? (the surface street portion)

It's on the reassurance markers that I have seen.  I think this entire thing has been screw up for years.  US-41 should have been moved off the streets of Milwaukee and onto the US-45 and I-894 freeways long ago.  Then you simply could have just replaced the US-41 designation with an I-41 designation and no one would have really noticed.  There is simply no need to have any US-41 signs between Green Bay and the Illinois border.  To me, the duplicate numbers on different shields only adds to confusion.

I agree, that segment of 41 could be WIS-175 or 341, or nothing at all. 

[peterj920]

http://wigrants.gov/projects/neregion/41/docs/map-ex3.pdf

4 alternatives for naming interstate 41 were submitted to AASHTO, and all 4 routes had different locations for the southern terminus.  No explanation was given for reasoning behind each alternative, but I'm guessing the reason why I-41 was signed down to Illinois is to clear up confusion on which direction I-94 runs.  I-94 eastbound actually travels south, while I-94 west travels north.  By signing I-41 north and south, it clears up confusion on which way traffic is flowing.  Chicago is thought of as south of Milwaukee, not east and vice versa.  Also, a lot of truck traffic continues on US 41 to Chicago to avoid the tolls on I-94.  A Weigh Station just south of the split with I-94 on US 41 is very busy when open. 

[mgk920]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Navigation.  A common refrain that I've heard up here in the Appleton (et al), WI area for as long as I've been alive is how difficult it is for people to navigate the Milwaukee area freeways when driving between here and the Chicagoland area due to how many times the most logical routing changes its route numbers.  Having a single number (I/US 41) on that entire routing solves that problem.

I was on WisDOT's case about that as early as at least the early 1990s already ("Why not just reroute US 41 to follow the logical US 45/I-894 freeway routing?").

Mike

[mgk920]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

I guess, but that still doesn't really seem like a good reason, are they designing US 41 in the Milwaukee area? (the surface street portion)

It's on the reassurance markers that I have seen.  I think this entire thing has been screw up for years.  US-41 should have been moved off the streets of Milwaukee and onto the US-45 and I-894 freeways long ago.  Then you simply could have just replaced the US-41 designation with an I-41 designation and no one would have really noticed.  There is simply no need to have any US-41 signs between Green Bay and the Illinois border.  To me, the duplicate numbers on different shields only adds to confusion.

I agree, that segment of 41 could be WIS-175 or 341, or nothing at all.

The city streets routing of US 41 (north of National Ave/WI 59?) is being renumbered to WI 175.



Mike

[silverback1065]

is there a reason why I-41 doesn't start at i-94 in Milwaukee? what's the point of it being cosigned all the way down to Illinois?

Because US-41 used to be.  Or still is.  I don't know.

I guess, but that still doesn't really seem like a good reason, are they designing US 41 in the Milwaukee area? (the surface street portion)

It's on the reassurance markers that I have seen.  I think this entire thing has been screw up for years.  US-41 should have been moved off the streets of Milwaukee and onto the US-45 and I-894 freeways long ago.  Then you simply could have just replaced the US-41 designation with an I-41 designation and no one would have really noticed.  There is simply no need to have any US-41 signs between Green Bay and the Illinois border.  To me, the duplicate numbers on different shields only adds to confusion.

I agree, that segment of 41 could be WIS-175 or 341, or nothing at all.

The city streets routing of US 41 (north of National Ave/WI 59?) is being renumbered to WI 175.



Mike

o ok so 41 will disappear in Illinois and reappear in green bay? is that the official end of I-41 where it meets 43 in GB?  sorry I'm not from the area, and new to this thread.