Tag Archives: Zoo Interchange

More reasons to oppose the Zoo Interchange plan

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From comments filed with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation by the ACLU, Black Health Coalition and Midwest Environmental Advocates:

Federal law states that federal funding recipients may not, “directly or through contractual or other arrangements, utilizecriteria or methods of administration which have the effect of subjecting persons to discriminationbecause of their race, color, or national origin, or have the effect of defeating or substantially impairing accomplishment of the objectives of the program with respect to individuals of a particular race, color, or national origin.
That the state is planning to increase highway spending while cutting transit in the Milwaukee-Waukesha region is unquestionably a method of administering its transportation programs that has a significant racially discriminatory effect.
Build bigger freeways in a time of increasingly scarce oil while simultaneously decreasing funding for local roads and transit. It’s Scott Walker’s Wisconsin!

WisDOT withheld Zoo Interchange information: Murphy

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An angry Ald. Michael Murphy said Tuesday that Wisconsin Department of Transportation did not disclose to city officials its plans to build super-sized, 18-foot-wide shoulders on I-94 east of the Zoo Interchange.

The wide expanse of shoulders would damage property values and create negative impacts for residents living near the freeway, he said.

The shoulders would be wide enough to accommodate additional traffic lanes in the future, should WisDOT decide to add a fourth lane eastbound and westbound along that stretch of freeway. Standard shoulders are eight feet to 12 feet wide, according to WisDOT documents.

“It was a sin of omission,” Murphy said in an interview Tuesday.  He said WisDOT representatives were asked about potential expansion scenarios several times when they met with him, City Engineer Jeff Polenske and Public Works Commissioner Jeff Mantes.

“They weren’t forthcoming with that information,” Murphy said, adding that he was “very disappointed in the professionalism” of the WisDOT employees.

Murphy said city officials would seek to extend the April 4 deadline for comments on revised draft environmental impact statement for the proposed project. He said the Common Council needed the time to take an official on the WisDOT proposal.

“This has been on a very fast pace,” he said. The council meets April 12.

Polenske said he did not learn of the plan to build the super-sized shoulders until public meetings on the project last week.

Said Murphy: “If you don’t ask the question the right way, they won’t provide the information. You understand why people get cynical about them.”

The Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement does not discuss the possibility of 18-foot shoulders.

One page of the document promises “full 8- to 12-foot shoulders on all ramps and freeways” in the core of the interchange. The possibility of significantly wider shoulders is only hinted at.

“WisDOT and FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) have decided not to implement either narrower lanes or allow shoulder use,” the document states. “However, the Modernization Alternatives would not preclude using shoulders as travel lanes at some point in the future.”

And, several pages later,  the document says the core interchange will have “4 lanes on all four approach legs (or 3 lanes, with adequate median and shoulder width to add a fourth lane in the future without need for additional right-of-way acquisition).”
WisDOT has proposed keeping a three-lane freeway on eastbound I-94 east of the Zoo Interchange to 70th Street. In its revised impact statement, though, it is highly critical of a three-lane option, saying it “would not provide acceptable traffic operations.”

The Zoo Interchange — basic questions about a bad project in the making

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Question: Why is the Wisconsin Department of Transportation pushing a six lane eastbound option while simultaneously stating that six lane options are unacceptable? Can WisDOT be trusted to maintain its position or is the fix already in with a Republican legislature to flip back to an eight-lane option?

Question: What are the environmental, social and safety impacts of expanding Bluemound Rd., Watertown Plank and Highway 100?  What accommodations will be made for pedestrians and bicyclists? Will accidents and fatalities along this stretch count as urban freeway accidents and fatalities since the roads are now so intimately tied to the freeway project? Will we end up with eight-lane freewaysin all directions and bigger arterials?

Question: Where will WisDOT get the money to pay for this concrete fantasy?  How will it pay to maintain it all?

How does this benefit people who don’t have cars?

Six lanes eastbound; eight lanes north-south

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OK. Go figure.

The north and south freeway legs headed out from the Zoo Interchange will be expanded to eight lanes, but the eastbound leg of I-94 will stay at six lanes under WisDOT’s latest plans, according to city officials and the JS.

WisDOT has publicly opined that a six-lane version of one of its newest designs for the interchange would be inadequate:

While an 8-lane Reduced Impacts Alternative would result in less efficient traffic operations (and increased congestion) through the design year than any of the previously-developed Modernization Alternatives, the reduction is not significant (see Section 3.3). A 6-lane version of this alternative would not provide acceptable traffic operations (delay, level of service), and therefore is not offered as a reasonable alternative.

Keep your eye on this one. This is not the first time WisDOT has twisted itself up trying to explain what it plans for the Zoo Interchange.

WisDOT’s new Zoo Interchange plan includes expansion; hearings scheduled

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The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will hold a hearing March 22 and March 23 on one of those things Gov. Scott Walker thinks is more important than education or transit — a bigger Zoo Interchange.

WisDOT has revised its proposal for the Interchange, reducing the estimated price tag from$1.9 billion to a mere $1.7 billion, plus about $65 million for alterations to nearby streets. (Earlier estimates put reconstruction and expansion costs at up to $2.3 billion — WisDOT doesn’t explain how the projected cost dropped by $400 million.)

The new plan, called the Reduced Impact Alternative, includes freeway expansion. From the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

While an 8-lane Reduced Impacts Alternative would result in less efficient traffic operations (and increased congestion) through the design year than any of the previously-developed Modernization Alternatives, the reduction is not significant (see Section 3.3). A 6-lane version of this alternative would not provide acceptable traffic operations (delay, level of service), and therefore is not offered as a reasonable alternative.

Under the old plans, WisDOT would need to acquire 6 to 32 residences for reconstruction and expansion. The revised plan calls for the acquisition of eight homes, in the form of one multi-family apartment building three businesses. The work on nearby streets would lead to the acquisition of one commercial building containing two businesses, according to WisDOT documents.

The new plan greatly reduces the impacts around 84th St.

The old plans are still included in WisDOT’s alternatives for reconstruction, but it’s pretty clear which road the agency is traveling down.

The hearings on the new plan will be on March 22, 2011, 2-7 p.m. and March 23, 2011, 4-8 p.m. at State Fair Park, Tommy Thompson Youth Center, gate 5, 640 S. 84th St., West Allis (Milwaukee County Transit System Route 67).