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.”

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?

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 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).

The JS is referring, presumably, to North-South I-94, which is in the early stages of a $1.9 billion reconstruction and wasteful, unnecessary expansion project.

What exactly is Walker planning? He says his Zoo plan will save taxpayers $600 million. Is Walker going for some sort of private-public scheme? Is the Research Park or any of the medical facilities on the Milwaukee County grounds going to kick in for the project? They are huge beneficiaries and certainly should share the cost.

Will Walker propose tolling the Zoo Interchange? That would technically save taxpayers a chunk of change, but in a press release about his state of the state speech, Walker’s office said his plan would save the state $600 million. A toll would not save the state money — it would just provide another funding source.

It could be that Walker is simply planning to shift money budgeted for the I-94 project to the Zoo Interchange project. That, of course, is just a fund transfer and doesn’t save anything in the long run.

It also is theoretically possible that Walker is committing himself to a reasonable reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange, without unnecessary gewgaws included in the project mainly to line the pockets of his road builder masters. But it’s Walker, so…naaah.

And, of course, there is the big question: where is Walker going to get the rest of the money? Saving $600 million means the state still will have to come up with $1.5 billion or so to reconstruct and expand the Zoo Interchange. The Federal Highway Trust Fund isn’t what it used to be and probably won’t be for a long time to come. So, Skippy, before you start chirping about the great deal you’ve come up with, show us the money.

Your great deal might be something the rest of us can’t afford.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation solicited bids for the $12 million to $22 million Zoo Interchange bridge repair project and got exactly one bid — from Milwaukee Constructors LLC, which is made up of Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc.; Lunda Construction Co.; and Zenith Tech Inc., the same folks who brought you the bulk of the Marquette Interchange, according to the Daily Reporter.

But just one bid? When construction firms are dying for work?Is WisDOT kidding?

I didn’t either, but that is what WisDOT is telling the world in its draft environmental impact statement for the Zoo Interchange project.

More here.

Even WisDOT recognizes that, and then says it wants to destroy part of it.

More here.

The hearings will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday (June 23) and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Wednesday, June 24). Both will be conducted at the Tommy Thompson Youth Center at State Fair Park Gate #5, 640 S. 84th Street in West Allis.

More here.