Madison Area

[mgk920]

I've also seen many state highway detours on county highways or even local city streets,  but this year they seem more nonsensical here with some work on local roads that are also state highways, near I-41 in the Appleton area, too.  The locals know the best ways to avoid those work zones, anyways.

Mike

[dvferyance]

I've also seen many state highway detours on county highways or even local city streets,  but this year they seem more nonsensical here with some work on local roads that are also state highways, near I-41 in the Appleton area, too.  The locals know the best ways to avoid those work zones, anyways.

Mike

Waukesha County never likes to post detours on any road that is not either a state or county highway. It many times creates much longer detours than otherwise would be.

[The Ghostbuster]

A Madison man died participating in the Ironman triathlon: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ironman-wisconsin-athlete-who-died-was-a-51-year-old-madison-man-sheriff-s-office-says/ar-AA1gCjPI?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a5915b2bb7f8447191c2b74ec1f3b943&ei=71. Maybe the triathlon is too rigorous for some competitors.

[mgk920]

A Madison man died participating in the Ironman triathlon: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ironman-wisconsin-athlete-who-died-was-a-51-year-old-madison-man-sheriff-s-office-says/ar-AA1gCjPI?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a5915b2bb7f8447191c2b74ec1f3b943&ei=71. Maybe the triathlon is too rigorous for some competitors.

hat is the responsibility of the individual participants.  They all sign such a legal release when entering anyways.

Mike

[triplemultiplex]

When they did major work on WI 70 between Winter and Fifield ~20 years ago, the posted detour took one all the way down to Ladysmith.
And this summer's detour of WI 21 between Coloma and Wautoma is quite circuitous.
Both to stay on state highways or above.
WI 113 between Madison and Waunakee this year is another one where the posted detour takes one much further than if they had used some county roads.

So yeah, sometimes they seem to default to not using county roads for official detours despite there being viable options. I think it's all situational with the condition/functional classification of the potential county road detour being a factor as well as maybe experience with locals complaining about extra traffic.

[peterj920]

The County M construction project starts next week. 

[midwesternroadguy]

The County M construction project starts next week. 

Is there any discussion of widening County Trunk M from Oncken Road to the Middleton city limits?  Or is that tied into planning for the Mendota Parkway?

[The Ghostbuster]

Construction on CTH M will begin on Tuesday, and last until Fall 2024: https://highway-projects-countyofdane.hub.arcgis.com/pages/cth-m. As for the North Mendota Parkway, it is probably dead permanently. A pity.

[hobsini2]

When they did major work on WI 70 between Winter and Fifield ~20 years ago, the posted detour took one all the way down to Ladysmith.
And this summer's detour of WI 21 between Coloma and Wautoma is quite circuitous.
Both to stay on state highways or above.
WI 113 between Madison and Waunakee this year is another one where the posted detour takes one much further than if they had used some county roads.

So yeah, sometimes they seem to default to not using county roads for official detours despite there being viable options. I think it's all situational with the condition/functional classification of the potential county road detour being a factor as well as maybe experience with locals complaining about extra traffic.

I definitely remember the last time 23 had a detour between Princeton and Green Lake. The detour had you taking 73-21-49. That was several years ago.

[peterj920]

With the US 18/US 151 Verona Rd exit constantly backing up onto the Beltline Mainline it may be time to accelerate Phase 3 of the project. It's becoming the biggest choke point on The Beltline.

[mgk920]

With the US 18/US 151 Verona Rd exit constantly backing up onto the Beltline Mainline it may be time to accelerate Phase 3 of the project. It's becoming the biggest choke point on The Beltline.

WisDOT and Madison area locals have been arguing about adding a set of 'fly under' ramps there since the 1990s.  Typical Madison anti-car BANANAs.

< sigh . . . >

Mike

[peterj920]

With the US 18/US 151 Verona Rd exit constantly backing up onto the Beltline Mainline it may be time to accelerate Phase 3 of the project. It's becoming the biggest choke point on The Beltline.

WisDOT and Madison area locals have been arguing about adding a set of 'fly under' ramps there since the 1990s.  Typical Madison anti-car BANANAs.

< sigh . . . >

Mike

I moved from the Fox Valley to Madison about 5 years ago and I'd say that Madison has had a lot of car friendly projects since I moved here.

County M/Pleasant View Rd has been expanded to 4 lanes and there's a continuing project to expand Pleasant View between Old Sauk and US 14.

The Beltline has the flex lane and is very popular.

The Verona Rd phase 2 project was completed.

County M is new undergoing reconstruction to 4 lanes to County K from Wis 113.

County PD is being expanded to 4 lanes to the west (Epic probably paying the tab).

US 51 freeway opened in DeForest.


I'd say there's a lot of big projects that have been completed in the last 5 years.

[SEWIGuy]

Yeah, my recollection was that the free-flowing alternative was discarded mostly due to cost, not Madison being anti-car.

[mgk920]

There were a lot of anti-car objections that were raised by locals at the PIMs that I checked out in the 1990s regarding the then active 'fly under' proposals at Beltline/Verona Rd, too.  Yes, I do know that WisDOT has been otherwise mostly successful WRT highway upgrade proposals in the Madison area in that they were needed due to overwhelming traffic.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

Oh come on. Comments at PIMs? As far as I recall, the city's major concern was access to the neighborhood right to the east of Verona Road more than anything.

[The Ghostbuster]

While I would like Phase 3 on Verona Rd. to be implemented, it likely never will be, just like that one-discussed south reliever will never be constructed.

[SEWIGuy]

While I would like Phase 3 on Verona Rd. to be implemented, it likely never will be, just like that one-discussed south reliever will never be constructed.

I thought the problem with the south reliever is that it wouldn't do much relieving.

[The Ghostbuster]

True. It was a pie-in-the-sky proposal that would've never been constructed. While it might have facilitated local traffic, as well as traffic between US 18/151 and Interstate 39/90, it likely would have been more of a boondoggle than a boon.

[Molandfreak]

Why did they even need to do it in "phases" rather than doing it right the first time? They shouldn't have done any work in that area until the flyovers were funded to begin with.

[SEWIGuy]

Why did they even need to do it in "phases" rather than doing it right the first time? They shouldn't have done any work in that area until the flyovers were funded to begin with.

Lack of money.

[Molandfreak]

Why did they even need to do it in "phases" rather than doing it right the first time? They shouldn't have done any work in that area until the flyovers were funded to begin with.

Lack of money.

Well yes, that's why I said they shouldn't have done anything until they could afford to do it right.

[midwesternroadguy]

Why did they even need to do it in "phases" rather than doing it right the first time? They shouldn't have done any work in that area until the flyovers were funded to begin with.

Lack of money.

Mayor Dave was against the flyover, and that alternative was shelved due to local concerns and costs.  I thought it was to be revisited in 30+ years.  The current layout was designed so that the flyover could be added later. 

[SEWIGuy]

Why did they even need to do it in "phases" rather than doing it right the first time? They shouldn't have done any work in that area until the flyovers were funded to begin with.

Lack of money.

Well yes, that's why I said they shouldn't have done anything until they could afford to do it right.

I just don't think you can take that approach because "do it right"  is a subjective opinion. Furthermore doing something smaller to see if that's sufficient for a couple decades may prove more cost effective in the long run.

[triplemultiplex]

It's a tough case to make when outside of peak hours, the single point functions just fine.  At this point, it'll probably cost $300 million to construct 'Phase 3' just to shave a couple minutes off a rush hour commute.  Which in some cases might be worth it if it also creates a safer piece of infrastructure for everyone (not just those in vehicles.) 
Pretty safe bet the status quo at Verona Road is what we are going to have for at least another decade.  Probably even two.

[Molandfreak]

I mean, press releases from the time specifically said that people weren't going to be aware of just how bad traffic would get with ongoing construction in a known boondoggle. Multiple sessions of construction don't eliminate that problem, they just make a bottleneck happen twice when it could have happened in one go.