Watertown Bypass Opens 7/6

[jwags]

The new Watertown bypass opens tomorrow (7/6).  It will feature two lanes in each direction and will have a 65 MPH speed limit from CTH Q to BUS 26.  I'll post a review after I drive the route tomorrow morning.

[mgk920]

I'll have to check it out on my next day off!  Thanx for the 'heads up'!



Mike

[JREwing78]

More info: http://www.wdtimes.com/news/local/article_d52c22da-c6c0-11e1-ab01-001a4bcf887a.html

Interesting that this new sections merits a 65 mph speed limit when all the rest of the Highway 26 upgrades only merit 55. Certainly they could have posted 65 down to Johnson Creek (not to mention south of Johnson Creek).

[jwags]

I drove on the new road this morning and most drivers really seemed to enjoy the 65 limit with most people going around 72. There is a driveway located on the north end in the 65 section which is something I don't think I've seen WISDOT do anywhere.

[mgk920]

That 'old road' though the city, especially the part north of WI 19, is going to be seeing a precipitous drop in traffic with this, indeed!



Mike

[jwags]

That 'old road' though the city, especially the part north of WI 19, is going to be seeing a precipitous drop in traffic with this, indeed!



Mike

It's already noticeable.

[Jordanah1]

I drove on the new road this morning and most drivers really seemed to enjoy the 65 limit with most people going around 72. There is a driveway located on the north end in the 65 section which is something I don't think I've seen WISDOT do anywhere.

WI 57 north of green bay is a 65MPH expressway, WI 29 between Green Bay and I 94 is mostly an expressway, and at 65MPH, most of US 151 between Iowa and Fond du Lac is an expressway and at 65MPH, US 45 north of oshkosh is almost done upgrading to a freeway, but had/has driveways, and 65MPH. US10 expressway parts east of stevens point are at 65MPH. i havent driven these roads, but i would assume US41 and US141 north of the abrams split, US51, and US53 are probably 65MPH. may be more aswell...

[GeekJedi]

I drove it this morning as well.  Two things I found interesting...

First, WI 19 uses only "Watertown" as a control city.  I would have expected Sun Prairie on there as well.  The other thing I noticed was that the advance BGS's say "EXIT 1 MILE" instead of the typical "1 MILE".  I don't recall - is that SOP for those signs on expressways?

One other thing - are they done striping?  They didn't use the embedded "epoxy/reflective tape" that they've been typically using on concrete roads as of late.

OK...that's three things. 

[jwags]

I also think one of the control cities on the hwy 16 connector should be Johnson Creek and perhaps adding to I-94 on that sign as well.

[JREwing78]

Soooooo.... I was bored. Up the road to Watertown I went.

I'll say this much - the work just north of Janesville is going quick. A bunch of overpasses sprouted up in the 3 weeks or so since I was last out that way. Most of the road base around Milton has been graded, and the overpass is going up next week over WI-59 in Milton. There's also work north of there past County N; the new WI-26 is going directly over the extent of County NN. No work yet on the stretch between there and Fort Asskickin' (as one of the local radio stations refers to it).

North around Fort Atkinson and Jefferson, through Johnson Creek, and north to Watertown, all (except through Johnson Creek) STILL posted at 55mph. Just past the Business 26 exit, BAM! 65mph all the way around. It's nice and wide, and the curves more gradual than around Fort Atkinson and Johnson Creek, if less scenic.

The interchanges to all the highways are solid. But the WI-16 section immediately east of the new WI-26 is a curious arrangement. Over to the old 26 intersection, the highway is 4 lanes and feels horribly underposted at 45mph. A ways down, the right lane becomes a turn only lane for SBD Business 26, forcing through traffic to the left lane. Right at the Business 26 intersection, the right lane drops abruptly. A thick curb and a huge median barrier abruptly squeezes traffic into the left lane, then shoves it back right to line up with the 2-lane section to go under the (dual-carriageway) overpass. This happens in about 300 feet right before the Business 26 overpass. I forsee that crash barrier getting a lot of abuse before WisDOT sees the error of this arrangement.

It's obvious that WisDOT wasn't ready to dual the existing bridge over the Rock River on WI-16, but there was sufficient room between it and the Business 26 overpass to start the dual carriageway right there. This would have made the Business 26 intersection west of the overpass a lot less abrupt, and could have allowed posting for 55mph. "Bypass on the cheap" is still the name of the game here.

Another curious finding: SBD on WI-26, it's 65mph all the way down to Ebenezer Dr. Just past Ebenezer, with no warning at all, it drops to 55mph. NBD, it doesn't jump to 65mph until past the southern Business 26 exit.

Otherwise, it's a nice piece of highway construction, and it's slowly making the WI-26 corridor the fast way to get from the state line at Beloit over to the Fox Valley.

[jwags]

The reason the 16 connector is posted at 45 is because that's what the entire WI-16 bypass is at.  I also have a feeling they are going to eventually raise the speed limit to 65 for the entire length (except Johnson Creek) like US-151 does.

[JREwing78]

Oh, for sure. I've driven the WI-16 bypass, and know all about how substandard it is between County P and Main St in Watertown. But eastward from WI-26 to County P, there's no reason it couldn't be 55mph, if not for this jacked-up intersection at Business 26.

WI-26 south of Watertown could easily justify a 65mph limit (aside from Johnson Creek). It's maddening that it wasn't posted for 65 once construction was finished, and I haven't come across a good explanation for it yet.

[SEWIGuy]

I shared a couple emails with a WIDOT official.  The Jefferson and Fort Atkinson bypasses will be marked at 65 mph.  The signs were "backordered," but will be up within the next couple of weeks.

[jwags]

I shared a couple emails with a WIDOT official.  The Jefferson and Fort Atkinson bypasses will be marked at 65 mph.  The signs were "backordered," but will be up within the next couple of weeks.

Can you share the email address here?  I have a couple of questions for them.

[hobsini2]

I just drove down 26 last night to get back to Chicago using the new bypasses.  One thing that kind of threw me for a loop sorta speak was the lack of a 2nd control city for Wis 19. It had Watertown but no Marshall, Waterloo, or Sun Prairie for WB traffic.

I also did not see a mention of an exit to Bus 26 on the northside of Watertown from the bypass. Am I to assume that is reached by 16 bypass? Just seems odd that there would not be a connection with N Church St (Old 26) at all.

It was also nice to see that 26 around Ft Atkinson is no longer a super 2.

[JREwing78]

The Jefferson and Fort Atkinson bypasses will be marked at 65 mph.  The signs were "backordered," but will be up within the next couple of weeks.

Guess I'll need to make another excuse to head that way sometime. Did he happen to get into why they remained posted for 55 for so long after construction had been completed?

[SEWIGuy]

I shared a couple emails with a WIDOT official.  The Jefferson and Fort Atkinson bypasses will be marked at 65 mph.  The signs were "backordered," but will be up within the next couple of weeks.

Can you share the email address here?  I have a couple of questions for them.

It is "Mark" on this page.

http://www.dot.state.wi.us/projects/wis26corridor/contact.htm

Guess I'll need to make another excuse to head that way sometime. Did he happen to get into why they remained posted for 55 for so long after construction had been completed?

No but to be fair, I didn't ask. 

[SEWIGuy]

First, WI 19 uses only "Watertown" as a control city.  I would have expected Sun Prairie on there as well.  The other thing I noticed was that the advance BGS's say "EXIT 1 MILE" instead of the typical "1 MILE".  I don't recall - is that SOP for those signs on expressways?

I finally drove it this morning.  I find the absence of a west bound control city at the WI-19 exit to be bizarre.  They should use Waterloo....after all it is the city they use at the WI-89 interchange with I-94 and it is the next city west of Watertown.

On the WI-106 exit on the Fort Atkinson part of the bypass, they also only use the single control city of Fort Atkinson, but that makes some sense since 106 is a minor highway at that point.  (Edgerton would be the only city that makes sense.)  This is different though.  WI-19 is a well traveled route through the area.