US-14, Oregon, WI Information Meeting

[JREwing78]

WisDOT held a public open house last night in Oregon to discuss their plans for the US-14/WIS-138 interchange. This was the first time I've been to any kind of public meeting on roadwork, so it was rather illuminating.

According to the WisDOT staffers, the resurfacing of US-14 north of Oregon and the interchange work at County MM are on track to start next year, but the 4-lane section planned for south of 138 has been put on hold indefinitely. The explanation I was provided was that this project qualified as a "major" project due to cost, length, and the fact it was all on new alignment, and the board that determines when these projects move forward put it on-hold for now.

The WIS-138 exit work clearly favors the major rush-hour movements - WBD to NBD in the morning, and SBD to EBD in the evening. The east roundabout has a bypass lane for the WBD to NBD movement, and the on-ramp is 2-lanes for about 500 feet to allow smooth merging, In addition, the merging lane from the on-ramp is extended for at least 1/4 mile after merging with NBD US-14. That merging point is also at least 500 feet north of the existing on-ramp. All of this is in an attempt to feed this traffic more smoothly onto NBD US-14.

Due to the above hold on the 4-laning south of Oregon, the SBD on-ramp to US-14 is proposed to be much more permanent than originally planned. This will replace access from the SE quadrant at an at-grade intersection, and one slightly south of this from the SW quadrant.

Most of the people present saw the roundabouts planned for this exit as some kind of joke, or a sign of WisDOT incompetence. I found myself trying to explain to someone why they made sense in this instance - cars coming EBD on 138 trying to make a turn NBD on US-14 found themselves stuck in a long line waiting for openings. The new design would allow them to get on 14 with a much shorter wait, as they'd only have to wait for WBD traffic to clear, instead of all the traffic WBD headed NBD on 14. The staffer who was there to explain the roundabouts took this as a cue to go get a cup of coffee. 

The other major topic of discussion was what was planned for 14 south of Oregon, in particular at County A. With the 4-laning on new alignment waiting in the wings, WisDOT was understandably reluctant to do major work here, but they have a committee studying low-cost improvements to this stretch down to County A.

One gentleman insisted he knew a guy who could excavate the hills blocking sightlines at the County A intersection in one afternoon, without costing the state anything. The WisDOT staffer responded with the following: A) We would have to bid out for that work, B) We would need permission from the property owner, or purchase/eminent domain the ROW needed.

There was more discussion in that vein. One gentleman expressed irritation at the roundabouts, that tractor-trailers would end up driving through the middle of them because they didn't fit in the roundabouts. I attempted to explain to him the red concrete apron of the roundabout that's designed to allow long trucks to do exactly that, but this didn't seem to sink in.

A property owner who bought a home along the future US-14 4-lane ROW was expressing irritation at apparently just learning that a freeway is destined to be built just beyond her back yard, and had been since 1976 (because when was the last time a developer would tell you about this straight-up, or a home buyer bothered to read any of the fine print?). She was also disturbed to learn that no kind of sound barrier was going to be erected, and expressed frustration at the noise this road would generate disturbing her sleep. Never mind that at 11pm at night, this road would receive little traffic.

While I feel meetings like this are a good educational opportunity for residents, they're wasting an opportunity to educate the public on the kinds of decisions that factor into building a road. The WisDOT staffers explained WHAT they're doing well, but they spent little or no time explaining WHY. All of the suggestions I heard people make were ones that WisDOT had clearly evaluated and (correctly) rejected, and if people had an opportunity to better understand WHY they were rejected, they might better appreciate how road building is not a simple task.