Wisconsin wasting money on underused highway projects, watchdog says

[triplemultiplex]

I dispute that I-94 "needs" six lanes all the way between Milwaukee and Madison.  West of Oconomowoc, it functions well enough.  There are more worthwhile projects in the state.
I feel the same way about the eight lane expansion to Illinois south of MKE.

[GeekJedi]

I dispute that I-94 "needs" six lanes all the way between Milwaukee and Madison.  West of Oconomowoc, it functions well enough.  There are more worthwhile projects in the state.
I feel the same way about the eight lane expansion to Illinois south of MKE.

As someone who drove I-94 back and forth once a week from Delafield to I-90 and back up until a few months ago, I can tell you that it absolutely needs a third lane.  Traffic is a mess CTH-SS to CTH-F going west, and from CTH-N to WI-89 going east.  At that point, it makes sense to just to the entire length.  It may be light mid-days and at night, but traffic is pretty gnarly during drive times and weekend.

[mgk920]

I dispute that I-94 "needs" six lanes all the way between Milwaukee and Madison.  West of Oconomowoc, it functions well enough.  There are more worthwhile projects in the state.
I feel the same way about the eight lane expansion to Illinois south of MKE.

As someone who drove I-94 back and forth once a week from Delafield to I-90 and back up until a few months ago, I can tell you that it absolutely needs a third lane.  Traffic is a mess CTH-SS to CTH-F going west, and from CTH-N to WI-89 going east.  At that point, it makes sense to just to the entire length.  It may be light mid-days and at night, but traffic is pretty gnarly during drive times and weekend.

I'm wonder how things will be changing up here as people in metro Milwaukee and Chicagoland start discovering en-mass that it is now shorter and faster to take US(I)-41/US 45/US 10 between Milwaukee and Stevens Point than it is to use the all-interstate routing via Madison and Portage when going to and from the northwoods.



Mike

[Brandon]

I dispute that I-94 "needs" six lanes all the way between Milwaukee and Madison.  West of Oconomowoc, it functions well enough.  There are more worthwhile projects in the state.
I feel the same way about the eight lane expansion to Illinois south of MKE.

As someone who drove I-94 back and forth once a week from Delafield to I-90 and back up until a few months ago, I can tell you that it absolutely needs a third lane.  Traffic is a mess CTH-SS to CTH-F going west, and from CTH-N to WI-89 going east.  At that point, it makes sense to just to the entire length.  It may be light mid-days and at night, but traffic is pretty gnarly during drive times and weekend.

I'm wonder how things will be changing up here as people in metro Milwaukee and Chicagoland start discovering en-mass that it is now shorter and faster to take US(I)-41/US 45/US 10 between Milwaukee and Stevens Point than it is to use the all-interstate routing via Madison and Portage when going to and from the northwoods.



Mike

Not for those of us who live south and west of Chicago.  Why would I go through Chicagoland, past O'Hare and brave the Tri-State when I can go west to I-39 and avoid all that craziness?  It might work well if you live in Lake County or north Cook County.

[JREwing78]

Given the work on other routes, I'm mildly surprised that US-14 between Darien and Madison hasn't gotten more consideration than it has. There's a fair amount of truck traffic (particularly east of Janesville) and heavy commuter traffic (particularly Evansville north to Madison). It's also the most obvious alternative between Janesville and Madison for the upcoming I-39/90 expansion. It may not need 4-laning west of County H to Evansville yet, but the rest of the stretch has the traffic to warrant it.

I have been hoping for the better part of 20 years that WI 11 / US 14 between I-90/39 and I-43 would at the very least be closely looked at for expansion. That was always the preferred route for Janesville-Milwaukee traffic IMO. I'd be curious to see how much southbound I-43 traffic from Milwaukee exits at US 14 west versus how much heads to Beloit. Since Beloit got the interstate proper, then Janesville should at least have an expressway connection to 43.

I've always felt like US 14 through Wisconsin took a backseat to US 12 and was perhaps under-constructed somewhat as a result.

I'm wondering if WIDOT thinks a lot of the Janesville to Milwaukee traffic will take WI-26 instead.  It is only slightly longer, and once it is done and ramps up to 65 mph, it will probably be faster. 

That being said, WIDOT is studying the corridor.  Here is the site.

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/swregion/1411/

Looks as though the study of the section west of Janesville has been suspended indefinitely.  The eastern section has some alternatives and they are currently doing the EIS.

The section in question only refers to connecting Hwy 11 to Hwy 14 on the west side and widening west to County H. It does not include any widening northwesterly towards Oregon. As far as I can tell, WisDOT has never been interested in widening that stretch, aside from north of WI-92.

I agree WisDOT likely expects drivers to favor the WI-26/I-94 route to Milwaukee over US-14/I-43. Thing is, aside from the 2-lane stretch of US-14, the US-14/I-43 routing is comparable or faster unless your final destination is in Waukesha County.

[mrose]

The section in question only refers to connecting Hwy 11 to Hwy 14 on the west side and widening west to County H. It does not include any widening northwesterly towards Oregon. As far as I can tell, WisDOT has never been interested in widening that stretch, aside from north of WI-92.

I agree WisDOT likely expects drivers to favor the WI-26/I-94 route to Milwaukee over US-14/I-43. Thing is, aside from the 2-lane stretch of US-14, the US-14/I-43 routing is comparable or faster unless your final destination is in Waukesha County.

We always used 11/14 and 43 to get to Milwaukee from the west side of Janesville. We never went the other way at all. For whatever reason, I never thought to, although this was well before any of WI-26 was upgraded at all and before most of the bypasses.

West of Janesville, I don't think 14 needs much upgrading, certainly not to Evansville. I'd go ahead and build the freeway originally planned in the 70s from Oregon south to about WI-92 though, since they have the ROW, but that's probably enough.

[SEWIGuy]

I agree WisDOT likely expects drivers to favor the WI-26/I-94 route to Milwaukee over US-14/I-43. Thing is, aside from the 2-lane stretch of US-14, the US-14/I-43 routing is comparable or faster unless your final destination is in Waukesha County.

Downtown Janesville to downtown Milwaukee via WI-11/US-14 is 75.8 miles, via WI-26 is 78.9 miles.  Google has the US-14 route as about 5 minutes faster.  This will obviously change when the Milton bypass is complete, but I can't imagine that it will make up 5 minutes.

[GeekJedi]

Especially since traffic on I-43 is generally lighter and faster than I-94.

[triplemultiplex]

As someone who drove I-94 back and forth once a week from Delafield to I-90 and back up until a few months ago, I can tell you that it absolutely needs a third lane.  Traffic is a mess CTH-SS to CTH-F going west, and from CTH-N to WI-89 going east.  At that point, it makes sense to just to the entire length.  It may be light mid-days and at night, but traffic is pretty gnarly during drive times and weekend.

I've driven 94 enough over the years to see it in all kinds of traffic conditions and I've never seen justification for more lanes west of Oconomowoc.  Frankly there are very few places outside of Metro Milwaukee in Wisconsin where existing freeways really need more lanes right now that are not currently under construction.  Especially in the context of all the other non-freeway/expressway road improvement projects that are needed in cities and towns across the state.  For the price of six-laning I-94 to Madison, I'd rather see 3 dozen main streets reconstructed and a handful of super-2 community bypasses.

[GeekJedi]

While I don't think you'll find anyone who'd disagree, the funding for "Main St." and six-laning are mutually exclusive under current law.  One doesn't affect the other.  So improving freeways such as I-94 that do have traffic issues makes sense.  It's an important corridor.

[hobsini2]

One could even argue that 90/94 needs to be 6 lanes at the very least to Wisconsin Dells if not all the way to the split at Tomah.  Personally, I am hoping for the latter. Traffic on Sundays coming back from NW Wisconsin, Eau Claire, St Paul, La Crosse etc is really heavy on 90/94 in that section that there have been times where it has taken over an hour for me to get from Tomah to the Dells.

At least they are working on widening 39/90 from Illinois to Madison.

[Jordanah1]

I haven't been on 94 west of oconomowoc  very much, but when I have the traffic was pretty bad. Another section of freeway that could use 3 lanes is us41 north of the us41/45 Richfield split, at least until wi 60 at slinger. The whole corridor from Green Bay to Milwaukee can be a little rough at times, even in the rural eat of parts. Though, at the moment much of the corridor is ok. I would still like 6 lanes to slinger, no overpasses or unerpasses would have to be replaced if I'm not mistaken, as everything except for a few creek bridges are wide enough. This is true for the entire corridor to Oshkosh except for the Cty N interchange in northern fdl county and the wi 144 interchange in slinger. The fond du lac segment should have been built as 6 lanes when it was upgraded about 10 years ago or so? At least they planned for 6 lanes and built extra wide river crossings.

[froggie]

While I don't think you'll find anyone who'd disagree, the funding for "Main St." and six-laning are mutually exclusive under current law.

Are they really?  Which law would that be?

[Rick Powell]

While I don't think you'll find anyone who'd disagree, the funding for "Main St." and six-laning are mutually exclusive under current law.

Are they really?  Which law would that be?

Not really mutually exclusive, but the federal funding pot for Interstate maintenance (I-Maint) is restrictive funding, whereas the potential funding pot for "Main Street" usually comes from less restrictive sources.  Interstate funding can, but usually does not, come from a less restrictive pot, b/c there is a lot of competition for those funds, whereas I-Maint has no competitors other than interstate highways.

[GeekJedi]

Additionally, Main St. is generally funded by the cities, while state funding is reserved for state roads.  Any state funding for local roads comes in the form of "assistance" from the state.

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/localgov/highways/lrip.htm

[Revive 755]

I strongly believe that I-94 between Madison and Milwaukee should have been expanded to six lanes before WI-26 was expanded to four.

And IMHO, US 12 should have been finished between I-43 and I-39/90 before WI 26 was started.

Also IMHO, instead of looking at upgrading US 14 between Janesville and I-43, WISDOT should look at a facility along CH A that would tie into the northern end of the existing US 12 freeway.  It would kill two needs with one facility.

[SEWIGuy]

I strongly believe that I-94 between Madison and Milwaukee should have been expanded to six lanes before WI-26 was expanded to four.

And IMHO, US 12 should have been finished between I-43 and I-39/90 before WI 26 was started.

Also IMHO, instead of looking at upgrading US 14 between Janesville and I-43, WISDOT should look at a facility along CH A that would tie into the northern end of the existing US 12 freeway.  It would kill two needs with one facility.

There is actually a group in Whitewater that is trying to fast-track the funding for the "shortcut" between Elkhorn and Whitewater.

[midwesternroadguy]

Given the work on other routes, I'm mildly surprised that US-14 between Darien and Madison hasn't gotten more consideration than it has. There's a fair amount of truck traffic (particularly east of Janesville) and heavy commuter traffic (particularly Evansville north to Madison). It's also the most obvious alternative between Janesville and Madison for the upcoming I-39/90 expansion. It may not need 4-laning west of County H to Evansville yet, but the rest of the stretch has the traffic to warrant it.

I have been hoping for the better part of 20 years that WI 11 / US 14 between I-90/39 and I-43 would at the very least be closely looked at for expansion. That was always the preferred route for Janesville-Milwaukee traffic IMO. I'd be curious to see how much southbound I-43 traffic from Milwaukee exits at US 14 west versus how much heads to Beloit. Since Beloit got the interstate proper, then Janesville should at least have an expressway connection to 43.

I've always felt like US 14 through Wisconsin took a backseat to US 12 and was perhaps under-constructed somewhat as a result.

I agree about US 14.  Try finding an open passing zone on US 14 between Middleton and Gotham, Oregon and Evansville, or Janesville and Darien.  Does it need to be converted to a freeway?  Maybe not, but some extended four-lane sections would certainly help. 

[JREwing78]

I've found those passing zones occasionally on US-14, but definitely not routinely. I'll add west of Janesville to County H as a place passing is difficult to impossible, particularly during the morning and evening commute.

If IDOT and WisDOt ever got their acts together, the US-12 corridor would make sense as a toll road. Since they've already heavily invested in 6-laning I-90, and the other obvious issues in punching a tollway through the NW suburbs, I don't see this happening anytime soon.