Wisconsin notes

[The Ghostbuster]

Here is the August 2025 TPC Report: https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/projects/6yr-hwy-impr/maj-hwy/status.pdf.

[on_wisconsin]

Still no movement on widening USH 53 around Eau Claire... Anyone who drives it more than a month knows it needs another lane each way from Golf Rd to Melby St (or at least the North Xing). Raw traffic counts obviously do not tell the whole story, especially around River Prairie Dr or when there's a minor accident. The 53 bypass was built shovel ready for expansion (ROW, bridge piers, etc.), but aside from the 151-EpicLand work, the only "major" thing going on the western side of the state is that La Crosse study.

[The Ghostbuster]

The only study on the DOT website in the Northwest Region is a new US 2 (Bad River Study): https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/nw/us2badriverstudy/default.aspx. Therefore, any expansion of US 53 in Eau Claire is a ways off.

[chrismarion100]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

[JoePCool14]

There, of course, has been a proposal to extend the STH 794/Lake Parkway to STH 100/E. Ryan Rd. However, any extension is quite a ways off since the extension was first proposed in 2012. I would support it 100%, since it would go by the house where my paternal grandparents once lived.

Right but they are likely not going to build anything over a new ROW, and it most certainly won't be a freeway. If anything, they'll just run the WI-794 designation down Pennsylvania Avenue.

WIDOT should be saving their $$$ for capacity build up on existing Milwaukee freeways.

And Pennsylvania Ave runs just fine currently. Maybe 20 years down the line I could see it being more of a boulevard or parkway to Ryan Rd but not now.

I would love to see WisDOT take jurisdiction and brand Pennsylvania Ave as WI-794 down to WI-100. Even if it wasn't widened beyond some additional turn lanes, the speed limit that drops to 25 and still only goes up to 35 in South Milwaukee is obnoxiously slow.

[SEWIGuy]

There, of course, has been a proposal to extend the STH 794/Lake Parkway to STH 100/E. Ryan Rd. However, any extension is quite a ways off since the extension was first proposed in 2012. I would support it 100%, since it would go by the house where my paternal grandparents once lived.

Right but they are likely not going to build anything over a new ROW, and it most certainly won't be a freeway. If anything, they'll just run the WI-794 designation down Pennsylvania Avenue.

WIDOT should be saving their $$$ for capacity build up on existing Milwaukee freeways.

And Pennsylvania Ave runs just fine currently. Maybe 20 years down the line I could see it being more of a boulevard or parkway to Ryan Rd but not now.

I would love to see WisDOT take jurisdiction and brand Pennsylvania Ave as WI-794 down to WI-100. Even if it wasn't widened beyond some additional turn lanes, the speed limit that drops to 25 and still only goes up to 35 in South Milwaukee is obnoxiously slow.

Well yeah. It's a residential street through there. Why would South Milwaukee and Oak Creek want to it to be more than that? And WIDOT isn't going to take it over just to jack up the speed limit.

[JoePCool14]

It always just bothered me the way WI-794 ended at nothing in terms of state highways. And the fact that South Milwaukee and Oak Creek created a road that carries arterial-levels of traffic at 25 mph. It puts a lid on how useful 794 can be as a alternative corridor to 94/41.

Is it a fictional request? Almost certainly.

[The Ghostbuster]

There was a proposal to extend the STH 794/Lake Parkway to STH 100/E. Ryan Rd., but it has been dormant for 13 years, and likely won't be built anytime soon, if ever.

[SEWIGuy]

It always just bothered me the way WI-794 ended at nothing in terms of state highways. And the fact that South Milwaukee and Oak Creek created a road that carries arterial-levels of traffic at 25 mph. It puts a lid on how useful 794 can be as a alternative corridor to 94/41.

Is it a fictional request? Almost certainly.

Yes, it is odd that it doesn't end at a state highway. It would be better to extended it west along College to end at the interstate.

There was a proposal to extend the STH 794/Lake Parkway to STH 100/E. Ryan Rd., but it has been dormant for 13 years, and likely won't be built anytime soon, if ever.

Yeah that would have been on a new terrain route and my guess is completely dead. Too many other needs right now.

[mgk920]

The original mid-20th century plan was to extend it as a six-lane freeway all the way to the state line as an alternative to I-41/94, but that was dropped decades ago.  Much of that abandoned full ROW can still be traced.

Mike

[on_wisconsin]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

The current repairs ongoing are mundane upkeep and almost certainly would not affect any widening plans.

Part of me thinks there are still some sour grapes among the old suits at the EC WisDOT office and local govt when it comes to the 53 bypass and the bitter routing debate (inner vs. outer schemes) back in the early '90s when it got finalized. A bit unlikely, but there's still some lingering animosity even 30 years later (if you listen to some of the crusty types around the area)...

[SEWIGuy]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

The current repairs ongoing are mundane upkeep and almost certainly would not affect any widening plans.

Part of me thinks there are still some sour grapes among the old suits at the EC WisDOT office and local govt when it comes to the 53 bypass and the bitter routing debate (inner vs. outer schemes) back in the early '90s when it got finalized. A bit unlikely, but there's still some lingering animosity even 30 years later (if you listen to some of the crusty types around the area)...

I think these are the excuses locals come up when in reality WIDOT has a lot of major projects in other part of the state that need attention. And IMO they are behind on a lot of those because of wasteful spending elsewhere. (I don't think the US-53 bypass fits in that category.)

[mgk920]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

The current repairs ongoing are mundane upkeep and almost certainly would not affect any widening plans.

Part of me thinks there are still some sour grapes among the old suits at the EC WisDOT office and local govt when it comes to the 53 bypass and the bitter routing debate (inner vs. outer schemes) back in the early '90s when it got finalized. A bit unlikely, but there's still some lingering animosity even 30 years later (if you listen to some of the crusty types around the area)...

I think these are the excuses locals come up when in reality WIDOT has a lot of major projects in other part of the state that need attention. And IMO they are behind on a lot of those because of wasteful spending elsewhere. (I don't think the US-53 bypass fits in that category.)

For MANY years, the attitude in the state legislature was "If they don't want it in SE Wisconsin, there are plenty of other places in the state that would love t."

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

The current repairs ongoing are mundane upkeep and almost certainly would not affect any widening plans.

Part of me thinks there are still some sour grapes among the old suits at the EC WisDOT office and local govt when it comes to the 53 bypass and the bitter routing debate (inner vs. outer schemes) back in the early '90s when it got finalized. A bit unlikely, but there's still some lingering animosity even 30 years later (if you listen to some of the crusty types around the area)...

I think these are the excuses locals come up when in reality WIDOT has a lot of major projects in other part of the state that need attention. And IMO they are behind on a lot of those because of wasteful spending elsewhere. (I don't think the US-53 bypass fits in that category.)

For MANY years, the attitude in the state legislature was "If they don't want it in SE Wisconsin, there are plenty of other places in the state that would love t."

There were and are plenty of places in SE Wisconsin that "want" highway funds. Milwaukee doesn't speak for the entire region. For example, the recently completed I-43 expansion should have been done years ago. But instead WIDOT spent all sorts of $$ on projects in the very same region that should have been lower priority. (Burlington bypass, I am looking at you.)

I look at projects like the WI-26 expansion and just shake my head at how little traffic exists on a massively overbuilt expressway, meanwhile I-94 goes down to two lanes before hitting Oconomowoc. Just poor prioritization.

[Rothman]

according to this 2021 article, maybe WisDOT starts looking at US 53 in Eau Claire by 2026 but any new upgrades will probably not happen for awhile as WisDOT is currently in the process of making repairs along the bypass

https://www.wqow.com/news/you-ask-we-answer-answering-your-highway-questions/article_48452c30-cf8d-534c-92c4-9980737c284a.html

The current repairs ongoing are mundane upkeep and almost certainly would not affect any widening plans.

Part of me thinks there are still some sour grapes among the old suits at the EC WisDOT office and local govt when it comes to the 53 bypass and the bitter routing debate (inner vs. outer schemes) back in the early '90s when it got finalized. A bit unlikely, but there's still some lingering animosity even 30 years later (if you listen to some of the crusty types around the area)...

I think these are the excuses locals come up when in reality WIDOT has a lot of major projects in other part of the state that need attention. And IMO they are behind on a lot of those because of wasteful spending elsewhere. (I don't think the US-53 bypass fits in that category.)

For MANY years, the attitude in the state legislature was "If they don't want it in SE Wisconsin, there are plenty of other places in the state that would love t."

Mike

When I lived in Superior, the mantra was that Madison ignored everything above WI 29 or US 8.