Wisconsin notes

[dvferyance]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

[thspfc]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

I agree. And Minocqua and Woodruff definitely should be incorporated. It's not a stretch to say those towns are the second most significant population/economic centers in Wisconsin north of US-8.

[SEWIGuy]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

I agree. And Minocqua and Woodruff definitely should be incorporated. It's not a stretch to say those towns are the second most significant population/economic centers in Wisconsin north of US-8.

Not sure about that at all but not putting unincorporated areas on signage is strange.

[mgk920]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

I agree. And Minocqua and Woodruff definitely should be incorporated. It's not a stretch to say those towns are the second most significant population/economic centers in Wisconsin north of US-8.

Not sure about that at all but not putting unincorporated areas on signage is strange.

I've been thinking for some time now that a wide area in the Minocqua-Woodruff area should be turned into a 'City of Lakeland'.  School District there is called 'Lakeland'.



Do they also know that Florence, WI is unincorporated?

Mike

[GeekJedi]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

I agree - even if they're unincorporated, they are still population centers. I had no idea that Minocqua wasn't incorporated!

[thspfc]

It appears that WisDOT is phasing out unincorporated places as control cities with their new signage. I-43 Exit 107 now only has Belgium previously Lake Church had also been used. I-39 and Hwy 34 no longer uses Knowlton no control city NB only Wisconsin Rapids is used SB. I-39 and Hwy W once used Bancroft but no longer being used SB still signed NB for now. I really don't like this I mean even if it's not officially incorporated it's still a place and it looks better than nothing. I wonder how many Wisconsinites even know that Minocqua and Woodruff are not incorporated towns. I also noticed that goofy north-south or east-west have also but phased out but I am cool with that.

I agree. And Minocqua and Woodruff definitely should be incorporated. It's not a stretch to say those towns are the second most significant population/economic centers in Wisconsin north of US-8.

Not sure about that at all but not putting unincorporated areas on signage is strange.

I've been thinking for some time now that a wide area in the Minocqua-Woodruff area should be turned into a 'City of Lakeland'.  School District there is called 'Lakeland'.



Do they also know that Florence, WI is unincorporated?

Mike

In that case the term "Island City" would have to go, as Woodruff is not on an island while Minocqua is (or was, until the US-51 trestle just north of downtown was built).

[triplemultiplex]

In that case the term "Island City" would have to go, as Woodruff is not on an island while Minocqua is (or was, until the US-51 trestle just north of downtown was built).

Technically, Minocqua is and has always been on a peninsula.  The railroad filled in the swamp that separated it from the 'mainland' long before any roads were built.  It was never open water to the north of "The Island".

(Queue Simpson's reference about Monster Island. )

[peterj920]

On I-41 there's signs for the Town of Lawrence. I believe that's the only official WISDOT sign for a township in the entire state.

[jwags]

On I-41 there's signs for the Town of Lawrence. I believe that's the only official WISDOT sign for a township in the entire state.

On I-94 there is an exit for Ixonia (exit 275)

[SEWIGuy]

Where is the Town of Lawrence sign?  It's not a BGS.

If they didn't use Ixonia on that I-94 sign, what would they use?  County F dead ends at Wi-16 and there isn't an incorporated city close.

[gbgoose]

Where is the Town of Lawrence sign?  It's not a BGS.

If they didn't use Ixonia on that I-94 sign, what would they use?  County F dead ends at Wi-16 and there isn't an incorporated city close.

The town signs for Lawrence are similar to what you'd see for a city/village limit sign on the highway. NB 41 is located upon entering into Brown County.  SB 41 just past the Main Ave exit in De Pere.

[dvferyance]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

[hobsini2]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

But for an unicorp town, Allenton doesn't look like one. It looks like a regular small town with about a dozen streets.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4212574,-88.3457859,15z?hl=en

To me, an real unicorp town is more like a crossroads like North Leeds in Columbia County.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.3309452,-89.3307791,16z?hl=en

[mgk920]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

Wind Lake is an incorporated village.

Mike

[mgk920]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

But for an unicorp town, Allenton doesn't look like one. It looks like a regular small town with about a dozen streets.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4212574,-88.3457859,15z?hl=en

To me, an real unicorp town is more like a crossroads like North Leeds in Columbia County.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.3309452,-89.3307791,16z?hl=en

Allenton is an unincorporated settlement in Addison Township, Washington County.  I am very surprised that it was not incorporated in the late 19th century.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

Drove the new Waukesha bypass today.  I thought they should have routed US-18 north to the interstate, duplex it with I-94, then exit at Bluemound to resume its route.  WI-318 could have been used for the short stretch between US-18 and WI-59. 

The route US-18 now takes is nonsensical.

[The Ghostbuster]

I disagree about putting US 18 on Interstate 94. I think putting it on the new and pre-existing Waukesha bypass was the right move. The new bypass helped get me and my mother to her mother's house quicker than the old way we went (of course that was before my grandmother had a stroke, and had to be moved to a nursing home). My only complaint is that I think they shouldn't have decommissioned US 18 through Waukesha until after the West Waukesha Bypass was completed. Instead, US 18 though Waukesha was decommissioned a few years before the West Waukesha Bypass was built, probably around the same time that STH-74 was decommissioned.

[SEWIGuy]

But if you want to take US-18 around Waukesha to Bluemound, you would not take the bypass. You would take the route I mention above.

[dvferyance]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

Wind Lake is an incorporated village.

Mike

Oh it is? Since when?

[dvferyance]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

But for an unicorp town, Allenton doesn't look like one. It looks like a regular small town with about a dozen streets.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4212574,-88.3457859,15z?hl=en

To me, an real unicorp town is more like a crossroads like North Leeds in Columbia County.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.3309452,-89.3307791,16z?hl=en

I agree but neither was Bancroft it looks like a regular town.

[peterj920]

Drove the new Waukesha bypass today.  I thought they should have routed US-18 north to the interstate, duplex it with I-94, then exit at Bluemound to resume its route.  WI-318 could have been used for the short stretch between US-18 and WI-59. 

The route US-18 now takes is nonsensical.

US 18 is used more for local traffic so it makes perfect sense to route it on the Waukesha Bypass. With that logic why have US 18 on Bluemound Rd since it's close to the interstate?

If you want to talk about a nonsensical route US 45 in Fond Du Lac is a complete mess since the reroute. It bypasses southern Fond Du Lac and rejoins its original alignment at the edge of Downtown Fond Du Lac. Hwy V is also used more than US 45 between Kewaskum and Fond Du Lac also making the route even more of a questionable route in the area.

[hobsini2]

Drove the new Waukesha bypass today.  I thought they should have routed US-18 north to the interstate, duplex it with I-94, then exit at Bluemound to resume its route.  WI-318 could have been used for the short stretch between US-18 and WI-59. 

The route US-18 now takes is nonsensical.

US 18 is used more for local traffic so it makes perfect sense to route it on the Waukesha Bypass. With that logic why have US 18 on Bluemound Rd since it's close to the interstate?

If you want to talk about a nonsensical route US 45 in Fond Du Lac is a complete mess since the reroute. It bypasses southern Fond Du Lac and rejoins its original alignment at the edge of Downtown Fond Du Lac. Hwy V is also used more than US 45 between Kewaskum and Fond Du Lac also making the route even more of a questionable route in the area.

Yeah I always thought that when they rerouted 45 onto the FDL Bypass, the logical thing would be to keep it on 41 until the split in Oshkosh. Have old US 45 become Wis 245 or an extension of Wis 175.

[triplemultiplex]

Looks like we are very close to opening the 3rd lane on 39/90 between Janesville and the Rock River.  Traffic is back in their respective carriageways and northbound only needed a yellow stripe on the left when I passed through yesterday.  Crews were busy pulling up the temporary pavement markings from the southbound carriageway and disassembling the temporary concrete barrier from the segment.

Some bridges in the northern part of the larger rebuild appear to be getting a fresh friction coating; including ones that already had one.  Crews on the NB bridge over the Rock River were throwing up a heck of a dust cloud with whatever they were doing.  I thought that bridge was totally done; it looked that way earlier this year.  So I wonder what was up.

[mgk920]

They still use Allenton for WI-33 West at I-41 although an alternative would be Horicon the next town which is incorporated. I find some unincorporated places to be bigger than some incorporated places. Wind Lake in Racine county has a population of 4,000 you can find many incorporated towns much smaller than that over the state.

Wind Lake is an incorporated village.

My bad, I was thinking of Wind Point (Racine Suburb).

Mike

Oh it is? Since when?

[EpicRoadways]

This has probably already been addressed somewhere on the forum, but what is the point of these concrete overhead sign "poles" that have been popping up along urban stretches of freeway in Wisconsin for the past 10 years or so? Is there enough of a (or any?) design benefit to justify the additional cost as opposed to a traditional overhead sign assembly, or is it solely for aesthetic reasons?