Wisconsin notes

[mrose]

Right, I think they might be putting in some kind of C/D system around the Janesville exits at US 14 and WI 26, which was always kind of messy.

[JREwing78]

Right, I think they might be putting in some kind of C/D system around the Janesville exits at US 14 and WI 26, which was always kind of messy.

Not right now. They did reconfigure the US 14 interchange this fall in preparation for construction of the C/D system between the Hwy 26 and US 14 interchanges. They are currently reconstructing the Hwy 11 West/Avalon Rd interchange, and I believe there is still work being done at the County A overpass north of the Hwy 51/Stoughton interchange. None of this should be much concern.

There is construction on I-90 between I-294 and Elgin, but it's wide open west of Elgin.

[SSOWorld]

There is construction on I-90 between I-294 and Elgin, but it's wide open west of Elgin.

with a speed limit only at 65 between Elgin and I-39.

[discochris]

So who's funding that massive new weigh station on US 2 outside Superior? That has to be an incredibly expensive project, and for what purpose?

[jwags]

My family is heading to the Dells for a late spring vacation this May (with a brief stop in Madison). Are there any outstanding projects I need to be on the lookout for along the I-39/90/94 corridors?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

If you don't mind taking a little longer way to get up the Dells from Madison I highly recommend taking WIS-113 out of Madison and taking the free ferry across Lake Wisconsin. You can then follow 113 to Baraboo and take either CTH-A or US-12 to Wis Dells. WIS-113 is especially scenic driving between Merrimac and Baraboo.

[mgk920]

My family is heading to the Dells for a late spring vacation this May (with a brief stop in Madison). Are there any outstanding projects I need to be on the lookout for along the I-39/90/94 corridors?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

If you don't mind taking a little longer way to get up the Dells from Madison I highly recommend taking WIS-113 out of Madison and taking the free ferry across Lake Wisconsin. You can then follow 113 to Baraboo and take either CTH-A or US-12 to Wis Dells. WIS-113 is especially scenic driving between Merrimac and Baraboo.

That part of US 12 is both an unattractive commercial chaos and a faceless rural freeway.  Take County 'A', it is a nice rural two-lane drive and then POW!, you're in the middle of the Wisconsin Dells/Lake Delton 'strip'.



Mike

[on_wisconsin]

My family is heading to the Dells for a late spring vacation this May (with a brief stop in Madison). Are there any outstanding projects I need to be on the lookout for along the I-39/90/94 corridors?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

If you don't mind taking a little longer way to get up the Dells from Madison I highly recommend taking WIS-113 out of Madison and taking the free ferry across Lake Wisconsin. You can then follow 113 to Baraboo and take either CTH-A or US-12 to Wis Dells. WIS-113 is especially scenic driving between Merrimac and Baraboo.

Agreed, the family (especially if there are kids) might think the ferry is cool. But... I would take the US 12 expressway out of Madison to STH 188 and get to the crossing that way. You would save some time and avoid going through the cluster-f that is downtown Waunakee.

That part of US 12 is both an unattractive commercial chaos and a faceless rural freeway.  Take County 'A', it is a nice rural two-lane drive and then POW!, you're in the middle of the Wisconsin Dells/Lake Delton 'strip'.

Skip CTH-A it is absolutely nothing special and you have to go through Baraboo itself to get to it. After the boat take STH 113 and CTH-DL/ STH 159 back to US 12, it's just as scenic and faster then Highway A. (IMHO) Plus by then the family will probably just want to 'get there'.   

[Roadguy]

So who's funding that massive new weigh station on US 2 outside Superior? That has to be an incredibly expensive project, and for what purpose?

It's only $13.4 million   

There are a lot of heavy trucks up in that region from logging and other operations.  The intent is to have it open more often with weigh in motion compared to the old weight station to check these trucks for overweight issues.

[peterj920]

I'm surprised that much would be spent on a weigh station.  There were 2 north of Stevens Ponit that closed on I-39 a few years ago and a virtual weigh station was put up along I-43 northeast of Beloit.  The weigh stations I see in Wisconsin are barely open and seem like they're hardly used. 

[SEWIGuy]

I'm surprised that much would be spent on a weigh station.  There were 2 north of Stevens Ponit that closed on I-39 a few years ago and a virtual weigh station was put up along I-43 northeast of Beloit.  The weigh stations I see in Wisconsin are barely open and seem like they're hardly used. 

It seems to make sense to invest resources where the problems are.  And if they are mostly up north, due to the content of the trucks and their weight, I would rather spend $13M on a modern station that is open more regularly than opening a bunch of him on the IL border where they problems supposedly don't exist to the same extent.

[mgk920]

WisDOT also installed automatic weigh-in-motion scales on the north end of the I-41 Lake Butte des Morts causeway in Oshkosh when it was rebuilt a few years ago.

Mike

[midwesternroadguy]

My family is heading to the Dells for a late spring vacation this May (with a brief stop in Madison). Are there any outstanding projects I need to be on the lookout for along the I-39/90/94 corridors?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Not sure about large-scale projects, but they are rebuilding some of the interchanges on I-39/90 south of Madison in preparation for a full-scale rebuild and widen of that stretch later this decade.

If you want to take one of the mentioned detours from Devil's Lake on STH 159 to US 12, you would be able to see the construction of the Baraboo bypass from Ski-hi Road to Terrytown Road.  There's a large cut through the bluff near Point of Rocks and the road grade is finished through there.  Some construction of the piers has begun on the bridge over the Baraboo River.  However, the portions south of Point of Rocks have only seen minor clearing.

[fuller523]

So who's funding that massive new weigh station on US 2 outside Superior? That has to be an incredibly expensive project, and for what purpose?

My opinion: the new weigh stations are the prime examples of WisDOT wasting money.  Why build a Taj Mahal one?  Either build a basic one or put in a virtual one on the road. 

[fuller523]

On another note, it looks like the City of Brookfield is starting to widen Pilgrim Pkwy around Gebhardt Rd.  I thought I read somewhere that SEWRPC recommended plans to widen Moorland Rd and Pilgrim Pkwy/Rd to make up for the Belt Fwy not being built. I do not see Elm Grove agreeing to widen their portion, but one can only hope.  With I-41/US-45 being under construction until 2018 at the earliest, there are not a lot of good alternate north-south routes as WI-100 is just as crowded as I-41/US-45

[SEWIGuy]

On another note, it looks like the City of Brookfield is starting to widen Pilgrim Pkwy around Gebhardt Rd.  I thought I read somewhere that SEWRPC recommended plans to widen Moorland Rd and Pilgrim Pkwy/Rd to make up for the Belt Fwy not being built. I do not see Elm Grove agreeing to widen their portion, but one can only hope.  With I-41/US-45 being under construction until 2018 at the earliest, there are not a lot of good alternate north-south routes as WI-100 is just as crowded as I-41/US-45

I'm not sure how many people use, or will use, Pilgrim/Moorland as an alternate to I-41.  I think it is almost entirely local traffic.

[midwesternroadguy]

Sounds like the state legislature is shunting responsibility for funding roads onto someone else.  I suppose, they can't cancel/delay any more major projects without upsetting their donors friends at the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association.

WisDOT is trying to keep building roads like the state's gas tax is still indexed to inflation, but it hasn't for a decade so they are cutting local roads to try and keep the same pace of construction.  A robust construction industry developed in the state while the gas tax was indexed for inflation for a generation.  They became influential enough to keep the high-dollar projects coming while WisDOT cuts funding to local roads in post-indexed Wisconsin.  After all, local road projects mostly go to smaller companies who don't have the size to bid on major projects like Lunda and Hoffman.

The Gerrymandering of state legislative districts has painted Wisconsin into an anti-tax corner until at least 2023.
So now the state is in a place where you can't increase funding for transportation and a 25 year surge of highway expansion is not backed by adequate funding for continued maintenance.  This is going to result in Wisconsin's roads and highways getting shittier and shittier for the foreseeable future, save for a handful of brand new expansions.  It means there will be more stealing of money from great state institutions like the UW system or our fantastic network of state parks and public lands to chase the deficit of transportation maintenance.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid your analysis is spot-on. Couldn't have said it better myself.

I am in total agreement.  Very well put.

It is so disheartening watching from outside my home state, seeing Wisconsin just dissolve due to some very short-sighted policies.  I see a once-great state now teetering on ineptitude and I have lost confidence in its leadership, and I fear, its electorate. 

[kkt]

Much the same thing could be said for a lot of states, not necessarily through gerrymandering but the political situation.  Cutting state universities, parks, deferred maintenance in many programs, chasing a few high profile projects.

[The Ghostbuster]

The political situation is hopeless. Hopefully the road situation doesn't go into the crapper as well.

[triplemultiplex]

It's going to get worse before it gets better, if it ever does.  You can blame the politicians, but ultimately it's the shortsightedness of voters that is causing this problem.  They are the ones who are unwilling to pay a few extra cents per gallon to adequately fund the roads they drive on.  (or the roads others drive on to bring them stuff they need and want)

I predict that Wisconsin roads and highways are going to get much, much crappier before anything happens to address the systemic funding problem.  And with no other options for travel, we will be stuck dodging increasing potholes deep into the 2020's.

[SSOWorld]

It's going to get worse before it gets better, if it ever does.  You can blame the politicians, but ultimately it's the shortsightedness of voters that is causing this problem.  They are the ones who are unwilling to pay a few extra cents per gallon to adequately fund the roads they drive on.  (or the roads others drive on to bring them stuff they need and want)

I predict that Wisconsin roads and highways are going to get much, much crappier before anything happens to address the systemic funding problem.  And with no other options for travel, we will be stuck dodging increasing potholes deep into the 2020's.

You might be able to blame the voting public, but they are definitely conned into it by politicians trying to sell empty promises to land themselves jobs/continue their reign.  It's not the people who speak, it's the parties </end political rant - back to topic>

[The Ghostbuster]

That's the problem with road funding. We want good roads, but we don't want to pay for them. And I think both are to blame (voters and politicians).

[JMAN_WiS&S]

I'd love to see more of them pop up, there are several intersections that have left turn signals that needlessly hold up left turns because of a red arrow and no oncoming traffic - mostly because of dual left lanes. This may be a good way to fix that.

Dual left-turn lanes are not allowed to use the flashing yellow arrow aspect, they are still only solid green, yellow or red arrows.

Mike

It hasn't been updated on GSV yet, but S Hastings Way @ Bracket Ave in Eau Clarie has a dual left turn with a FYA. I snapped a couple pics when I drove through, but unfortunately they're on my work computer.

Otherwise, Mike is correct. WisDOT, along with many other agencies prohibit protected permissive left turn phasing for dual or triple left turn lanes, left turns on 45 mph+ facilities, in addition to turns that must cross more than 2 opposing thru lanes.

Hmm. Hastings Way and Brackett Ave In Eau Claire have a dual left turn lane setup with Protected/permissive flashing yellow arrows, cross 2 lanes, granted the speed limit is 35 MPH. Google street view hasn't been updated, but sometimes the intersection can be seen on this live camera. It is the intersection in which you can see a CVS and Walgreens across from each other. Not the intersection with kfc and Starbucks.http://www.weau.com/weather/skycamnetwork/ipcams/283243781.html?device=tablet&c=y

**UPDATE** It appears GSV car went thru a weird route in Sept 2015, so now the dual flashing yellow arrow at Hastings and brackett is shown. Also for those curious, River Prairie Dr at US 53 has been updated to show the new and odd signal upgrades/installations.

[invincor]

I had to drive over to northern Eau Claire yesterday and used the WIS 29 expressway to get there.  They've marked the portion past CTH T (if you're going eastbound) as a full freeway now, with a 70mph speed limit and a no-pedestrians/no-bikes sign at the start of it.  I'm guessing they'll have done this to anywhere along 29 that's marked on the state maps as a full freeway.  Maybe other highways like this too?  I know this was discussed last summer as being possible, and on this bit of 29 at least, it's happened. 

[peterj920]

That stretch of Wis 29 was marked with no bikes/pedestrians signs for quite a while.  The expressway portion of US 51 is also marked with them after every intersection between County K and County S.  US 41/141 north of Green Bay still doesn't have a 70 mph speed limit, but short stretches of Wis 29 and Wis 57 do, even though they're only about 5 mile stretches. 

[mahaasma]

Has the speed limit on US-53 north of Eau Claire been updated?