Wisconsin notes

[SSOWorld]

The implementation of the 70 zones is quite inconsistent.  US-45 to West Bend, sections of WIS-29 north of Eau Claire and US-41 north to US-141's split are all 70, but the US-51 freeway through and north of Wausau along with the WIS 29 freeway sections are all Interstate standard and still 65. As is 10 east of 45 to 41.  30 and the beltline being 55 make sense in an urban environment with some sub-standard build.  WIS-16 also is 65 in Waukesha County.  This one I'm not sure is standard, but I don't see why it shouldn't be 70 either.

[triplemultiplex]

Bridge fixin's are well underway on the triplemultiplex at WI 19.  I recon they want to get that in before Memorial Day.  39/90/94 is down to two lanes each way until then.

All the barrels are ready to close lanes between CTH CS and the Wisconsin River on 39/90/94 for off-peak paving operations.  They patched some of the potholes in the concrete last fall and now are going to overlay the whole thing.

More bridge work on I-39 where it crosses the Wisconsin River and over WI 16. One lane each direction for several miles.  There was an amusing gap in the closed NB bridge over the Wisconsin River this weekend where they must be replacing an expansion joint.  Looks like that's another one they want to get in before the Memorial Day rush to the Northwoods.

[The Ghostbuster]

I hate the fact that they terminated the Interstate 39/90/94 study last year. I was actually looking forward to some of the potential improvements that came out of that study. With the study's demise (including the demise of the Interstate 90/94 study between Portage and Wisconsin Dells), it appears the Interstate 39/90/94 will remain as-is for a long time to come, with the exclusion of replacing the Wisconsin River Bridge.

[SSOWorld]

I finally noticed they replaced the signs for the I-39 (Cascade) Interchange NB off ramp - they removed US-51 altogether from the advance signs and dropped any reference to Stevens Point and Portage (the latter was added as a line above Wausau on the overheads, barely leaving room for the down arrow.

I'm surprised they didn't put in APLs.

[Roadguy]

I hate the fact that they terminated the Interstate 39/90/94 study last year. I was actually looking forward to some of the potential improvements that came out of that study. With the study's demise (including the demise of the Interstate 90/94 study between Portage and Wisconsin Dells), it appears the Interstate 39/90/94 will remain as-is for a long time to come, with the exclusion of replacing the Wisconsin River Bridge.

The section of 90/94 between 39 and exit 92 in WI Dells is already a problem. The improvements to Hwy 12 around Baraboo over the years are not going to relieve this pressure as 95% are not going to exit to the beltline to take 12 around the congestion (the travel time is 20 minutes longer assuming no congestion around the Madison beltline, which rarely occurs).  There's a lot of political pressure from tourism related owners in the Dells where eventually the state will be politically pressured into expansion.  I expect state representatives will write into a budget bill it shall be expanded giving WisDOT no choice but to expand it.

Time to sit back and enjoy the show 

Side Note: Due to all of the development around the Dells, it's a shame that WisDOT never did a study from exit 85 to south of exit 92. Would have allowed them to look at the future 3 thru lanes + 1 auxiliary lane between exits needed in each direction and preserve the right of way for it as development occurs along the 90/94.

[triplemultiplex]

Political winds don't blow the same way forever.  I only consider studies like Madison-Dells to be dormant.
Wisconsin might only be one election away from going back to investing in its infrastructure, even with all the gerrymandering.

[SEWIGuy]

I hate the fact that they terminated the Interstate 39/90/94 study last year. I was actually looking forward to some of the potential improvements that came out of that study. With the study's demise (including the demise of the Interstate 90/94 study between Portage and Wisconsin Dells), it appears the Interstate 39/90/94 will remain as-is for a long time to come, with the exclusion of replacing the Wisconsin River Bridge.

The section of 90/94 between 39 and exit 92 in WI Dells is already a problem. The improvements to Hwy 12 around Baraboo over the years are not going to relieve this pressure as 95% are not going to exit to the beltline to take 12 around the congestion (the travel time is 20 minutes longer assuming no congestion around the Madison beltline, which rarely occurs).  There's a lot of political pressure from tourism related owners in the Dells where eventually the state will be politically pressured into expansion.  I expect state representatives will write into a budget bill it shall be expanded giving WisDOT no choice but to expand it.

Time to sit back and enjoy the show 

Side Note: Due to all of the development around the Dells, it's a shame that WisDOT never did a study from exit 85 to south of exit 92. Would have allowed them to look at the future 3 thru lanes + 1 auxiliary lane between exits needed in each direction and preserve the right of way for it as development occurs along the 90/94.

US-12 is the better option if you are going to the far west side of Madison.  Really anything west of Fitchburg and north toward Middleton, Waunakee, etc.  And that's about it.

Milwaukee, Chicago, most of Madison, the interstate is the better option.

[mgk920]

The 2018 WisDOT County maps were posted this week.  These are notable updates:

*completion of the US 12 Baraboo bypass to Ski-hi Road (shown as freeway)
*completion of the STH 64 St. Croix River Bridge and approach freeway (not shown to the state line though)
*completion of multi-lane US 18/STH 60 east of Prairie du Chien
*incorporation of Salem Lakes in Kenosha County (but they missed the incorporation of Somers)

Ongoing errors still not addressed: multiple freeways, such as the Madison Beltline, shown as multi-lane divided highways in a number of counties.  Why were these ever "declassified"  anyway?   While other orphan freeways, such as STH 64 in St Croix County are correctly depicted?

Salem Lakes is not really a straight incorporation, it was the result of Salem Township merging with the already existing Village of Silver Lake.  A couple of years ago I also read through a boundary agreement between them and the Village of Paddock Lake (incorporated from Salem Township in 1960) that would transfer a significant part of Salem to Paddock Lake, essentially the NE 20-25% of the pre-1960 township's land mass, with a nice squared off mutual border, as a part of this merger.  What is the status of this?

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

The 2018 WisDOT County maps were posted this week.  These are notable updates:

*completion of the US 12 Baraboo bypass to Ski-hi Road (shown as freeway)
*completion of the STH 64 St. Croix River Bridge and approach freeway (not shown to the state line though)
*completion of multi-lane US 18/STH 60 east of Prairie du Chien
*incorporation of Salem Lakes in Kenosha County (but they missed the incorporation of Somers)

Ongoing errors still not addressed: multiple freeways, such as the Madison Beltline, shown as multi-lane divided highways in a number of counties.  Why were these ever "declassified"  anyway?   While other orphan freeways, such as STH 64 in St Croix County are correctly depicted?

Salem Lakes is not really a straight incorporation, it was the result of Salem Township merging with the already existing Village of Silver Lake.  A couple of years ago I also read through a boundary agreement between them and the Village of Paddock Lake (incorporated from Salem Township in 1960) that would transfer a significant part of Salem to Paddock Lake, essentially the NE 20-25% of the pre-1960 township's land mass, with a nice squared off mutual border, as a part of this merger.  What is the status of this?

Still in place.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/paddock-lake-won-t-oppose-salem-silver-lake-merger/article_da309a0d-e2cb-5f05-b7c5-8c6dac03578d.html

[mgk920]

The 2018 WisDOT County maps were posted this week.  These are notable updates:

*completion of the US 12 Baraboo bypass to Ski-hi Road (shown as freeway)
*completion of the STH 64 St. Croix River Bridge and approach freeway (not shown to the state line though)
*completion of multi-lane US 18/STH 60 east of Prairie du Chien
*incorporation of Salem Lakes in Kenosha County (but they missed the incorporation of Somers)

Ongoing errors still not addressed: multiple freeways, such as the Madison Beltline, shown as multi-lane divided highways in a number of counties.  Why were these ever “declassified” anyway?   While other orphan freeways, such as STH 64 in St Croix County are correctly depicted?

Salem Lakes is not really a straight incorporation, it was the result of Salem Township merging with the already existing Village of Silver Lake.  A couple of years ago I also read through a boundary agreement between them and the Village of Paddock Lake (incorporated from Salem Township in 1960) that would transfer a significant part of Salem to Paddock Lake, essentially the NE 20-25% of the pre-1960 township's land mass, with a nice squared off mutual border, as a part of this merger.  What is the status of this?

Still in place.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/paddock-lake-won-t-oppose-salem-silver-lake-merger/article_da309a0d-e2cb-5f05-b7c5-8c6dac03578d.html

Thanks!   

Now - to get the legislature to take action to clean up the total municipal messes here in northwest Calumet and northeast Winnebago counties....

Especially in Calumet County - Harrison Township did an incorporation and boundary agreement thing in 2013 that likely kiboshed $50M-100M+ in near-term proposed economic development projects in Appleton, Kaukauna, Menasha and especially Sherwood, along with rendering tens of millions of dollars more in the munis' taxpayer investments in infrastructure upgrades needed to service this anticipated development useless and wasted, simply to 'protect their borders'.  Harrison then got a court to rule that their township boundary agreements with Appleton and Menasha that included mandatory transfers of territory on very logical lines did not apply in that they were agreed to by the 'town', but not the 'village' ("not a party to the agreement(s)").  Menasha Township (Winnebago County) then followed suit a couple of years later (Appleton does feel that they have a case against Menasha Township on this due to how the city's boundary agreement with them is worded).  Yes, there are a LOT of very hard feelings between the munis around here due to that and the resulting economic development issues from this are, IMHO, a matter of critical statewide concern.



Mike

[triplemultiplex]

Wisconsin has a knack for petty municipal squabbles hampering metro/regional cooperation.

[SEWIGuy]

I personally think town governments should be disbanded an all unincorporated issues be dealt with at the county level.  I also think municipal annexation should be a much easier process than it is already.

[tchafe1978]

Looks like the I-39/90 and Beltline interchange is back on the table as part of the I-39/90 widening project. I knew the interchange had been removed from the original scope of the project because of cost and lack of money, but the article makes no mention of that at all. Just something about not needing to do a full EIS.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/traffic/beltline-interchange-project-up-for-discussion-april/article_feea6ff4-1dc5-5229-95bc-02609536bf9f.html?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wisconsin%20state%20journal

[dvferyance]

I personally think town governments should be disbanded an all unincorporated issues be dealt with at the county level.  I also think municipal annexation should be a much easier process than it is already.

I do too but again that is a political topic.

[SEWIGuy]

I personally think town governments should be disbanded an all unincorporated issues be dealt with at the county level.  I also think municipal annexation should be a much easier process than it is already.

I do too but again that is a political topic.

No it isn't. 

[triplemultiplex]

Link to WisDOT's info about the 4/17 PIM in McFarland:
https://projects.511wi.gov/i-39-90/segments/north/public/
I'd go, but I plan on being at a baseball game that evening.

[The Ghostbuster]

The sooner that interchange is reconstructed the better. I hope we don't have to wait another 10 to 15 years for it to happen.

[triplemultiplex]

The Beltline Interchange isn't terrible.  It would be nice to modernize with smoother ramps and no left exits on the interstate.  But it's functional.  The left exit EB is acceptable, maybe even preferred, given that more volume heads north than continues east.  It would be great if it were higher a speed ramp.
The worst tie-ups seem to come from all the weaving on the WB Beltline between there and Stoughton Rd.
And it's getting bumpy.  I think that concrete is pushing 30 years old.

[SEWIGuy]

The Beltline Interchange isn't terrible.  It would be nice to modernize with smoother ramps and no left exits on the interstate.  But it's functional.  The left exit EB is acceptable, maybe even preferred, given that more volume heads north than continues east.  It would be great if it were higher a speed ramp.
The worst tie-ups seem to come from all the weaving on the WB Beltline between there and Stoughton Rd.
And it's getting bumpy.  I think that concrete is pushing 30 years old.

I agree, except the cloverleaf ramps that merge WB US-12/18 to SB I-39/90 traffic with the SB I-39/90 to EB US-12/18 traffic can get a bit hairy.  Those are the two directions that likely get the least volume, but I think it has grown substantially over the past 30 years. 

[triplemultiplex]

For sure need a c/d lane for those loops if they end up keeping both of them.  A SB->EB turbine ramp was included in many of the options I've seen from WisDOT.  But in reality, I doubt that's really needed.  Changing that ramp just improves the options to get better geometry from the other ramps.

[paulthemapguy]

Are Wisconsin's state highway markers getting boxier?  Compare the top photo to the bottom photo.  In the top photo, the triangle is less apparent, as in less of it protrudes from the square housing the route number.  You can barely discern the (presumably cheese) triangle from the rest of the shape, which makes me feel like the symbol is losing less of its unique character.  Please tell me there isn't a trend towards seeing even LESS of the triangle!


WI-060-188D by Paul Drives, on Flickr

WI-052 by Paul Drives, on Flickr 
               

[MNHighwayMan]

It does look like the WI-52 marker has less of the triangle at the top, but without looking at a ton of newer markers I don't think it's fair to say that it's some sort of new "design change." It might just be a one-off (or one of a small batch that were produced somewhat uglier.)

[DaBigE]

Depends on the QC of the vendor that made the sign. The official shape has not changed. Note that neither correctly reproduced the "triangle", as the top angle should be different from the bottom.

[GeekJedi]

You can barely discern the (presumably cheese) triangle               

It would be hilarious if it was cheese, but it's not. It's essentially a triangle overlaid by a rectangle. The original state marker was an "upside down" triangle, but the route numbers were hard to see being squeezed in there. So they created room for the numbers, and the rest is history.

[gbgoose]

For sure need a c/d lane for those loops if they end up keeping both of them.  A SB->EB turbine ramp was included in many of the options I've seen from WisDOT.  But in reality, I doubt that's really needed.  Changing that ramp just improves the options to get better geometry from the other ramps.

Speaking of the beltline, has there ever been any discussion of extending the beltline through the north side between Middleton and Waunakee and re-connecting it with 39-90?