No
new lanes for Zoo Interchange
Could be added later
Jan.
10,
2008
--
Studies
for the Zoo Interchange reconstruction project
will not consider adding lanes to increase
traffic capacity, according to the $7.7 million
environmental assessment contract for the
for the project.
The
ability to add lanes later will be preserved,
however, according to documents.
"No
overall system capacity improvements will
be included," according to the environmental
assessment contract issued by the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation.
The
Zoo Interchange project extends from 76th
Street on the east, 116th Street on the west,
Center Street on the north and just south
of Greenfield Avenue on the south.
The
most expansive concept to be considered would
correct many factors that WisDOT considers
to be deficiencies in the interchange, but
would not add capacity.
The
"full design and safety improvements”
concept would be developed “not to preclude
potential future capacity improvements as
designed in the latest SEWRPC study,"
according to the contract.
The
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission,
the area's federally-designated transportation
planning agency, has recommended expanding
the Zoo Interchange and connecting freeways
from six lanes to eight.
Milwaukee
Rising asked WisDOT Wednesday for more information
about the design decision, but has not yet
received it.
Preserving
the ability to add capacity in the future
is similar to what was done with the Marquette
Interchange project.
Ald.
Michael Murphy, who represents the Zoo Interchange
area on the Common Council, said, "I
want to make sure whatever footprint they
have doesn't result in taking more houses
in the City of Milwaukee."
He
also called on WisDOT to make it a priority
to build a ramp to the County Grounds to relieve
the increasingly problematic traffic congestion
in that area.
County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin agreed with both
points.
"That's
good, that's wonderful," she said, when
the contract language was read to her. Preserving
the ability to expand the interchange later,
she said, is "very typical every time
they've come in for major improvements. I'm
not surprised it's not in there."
"It
looks like they're doing a whole host of options
to improve both safety and congestion out
there and I think that will benefit the community,"
she said. Officials of many of the facilities
on the County Grounds recognize the need for
additional ramping, she said. Getting agreement
on where that should be is more difficult.
The
contract says additional ramps will be considered,
but does not identify where. The contract
also calls for two of the four open house
community design workshops to be held on the
county grounds -- one for the businesses on
the grounds and at the Milwaukee County Research
Park and one for the Milwaukee Regional Medical
Complex.
WisDOT
hired a team led two of its biggest contractors
-- HNTB Corp. and CH2M Hill Inc. -- and a
third party, Kapur & Associates, Inc.
to lead the environmental assessment effort.
The
three basic concepts, as described in he contract,
are:
-
Replace-in-Kind
- replicate existing footprint, no new right-of-way,
no correction of substandard geometric features,
no improvements to off-system elements,
replacement of bridge superstructures. For
purposes of description elsewhere in the
CONTRACT, the Replace-in-Kind alternative
equates to the No-Build Alternative.
-
Limited Safety Improvements - this alternative
will include the improvements necessary
to properly address many of the design
and design-related safety deficiencies.
For this alternative the design will provide
parallel entrance ramps, improve horizontal
and vertical curvature, grades, and vertical
clearance and provide full shoulders to
minimize exceptions to standards while
considering impacts and cost. Off-system
improvement concepts will be developed.
-
Full
Design and Safety Improvements - this alternative
will include the improvements necessary
to properly address all of the design and
design-related safety deficiencies with
limited exceptions such as vertical curvature
or horizontal sight distances. For this
alternative the design will provide all
entrance and exit movements to the right
hand side of the freeway, improve freeway
to freeway ramp operations, minimize lane
drops, provide route continuity, provide
auxiliary lanes, ramp braids or collector-distributor
lanes to address closely spaced interchanges,
provide parallel entrance ramps, convert
multi-point exits to single point exits,
improve horizontal and vertical curvature,
grades, and vertical clearance, provide
full shoulders to minimize exceptions to
standards while considering impacts and
cost. This alternative will be developed
in a manner to not preclude potential future
capacity improvements as defined in the
latest SEWRPC study. Off-system improvement
concepts will be developed. No overall system
capacity improvements will be included.
County,
cities struggle with County Grounds traffic
issues
April
16, 2007 --
The potential expansion of major facilities
on the Milwaukee County Grounds has officials
from the state, county and cities of Milwaukee
and Wauwatosa searching for solutions to traffic
problems in the area, County Supervisor Lynne
DeBruin said.
The
focus has been on freeways and roads and some
bus transit, she said.
"It's
all a freeway-based study," she said."The
real fight within the entitities is what combination
of components do you need and who is going to
get stuck paying for it?"
Milwaukee
Regional Medical Complex development could grow
by up to 4 million square feet, far in excess
of the 1 million square feet previously projected,
DeBruin said.
That
does not include the possibility of the University
of Wisconsin - Milwaukee building an engineering
school and business incubator on the grounds,
an idea floated by UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago.
That
would make traffic problems even worse, DeBruin
said.
Ald.
Michael Murphy has requested the Wisconsin Deparment
of Transportation build a freeway off-ramp leading
directly on to the grounds, but the MRMC opposes
that, DeBruin said.
"MRMC
would support a ramp but going only to Wisconsin
Ave. or Watertown Plank," she said.
Other
ideas being studied include widening Wisconsin
Ave. and Swan Blvd., building access roads along
the freeway, and expanding existing roads within
the County Grounds.
"None
of this has been finalized," she said.
Traffic
volumes, already heavy, will be most affected
by the fate of the Milwaukee County Mental Health
Complex. County Executive Scott Walker has proposed
closing it and selling the buildings.
There
would be about 45 acres available between the
site of the Mental Health Complex -- which likely
would be razed by developers -- and adjacent
land, DeBruin said.
"The
reality is the Regional Medical Center is going
to keep growing to the extent they have land
out there," she said.
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Murphy
seeks new off-ramp to Medical Complex
Questions further development
plans
March
26, 2007 -- The state should consider
adding an off-ramp leading directly to the Milwaukee
Regional Medical Center when it reconstructs
the Zoo Interchange, according to Ald. Michael
Murphy.
.
"This would greatly relieve traffic pressure
in the area," Murphy wrote in a letter
to State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa).
Residents
living around the County Grounds have protested
loud and long about the neighborhood traffic
impacts caused by the development of the County
Grounds.
"I
have received numerous complaints regarding
this issue in the past, and I believe this solution
would satisfy the concerns of our constituents,"
he said.
County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin said three years ago
that the State Department of Transportation
promised to study building such a ramp, but
reneged. The county relied on that promise when
it allowed major development on the County Grounds,
she said.
Murphy,
in a separate letter to DeBruin and County Executive
Scott Walker, raised new concerns about County
Grounds development. He said he recently learned
that the Medical Complex revised its master
plan to include 4 million square feet of development,
rather than the 1 million square feet previously
anticipated.
"This
significant increase in proposed development
will have a large impact on the adjacent transportation
system and residents nearby that I represent,"
he said.
"I
would encourage the county consider the type
of roadway improvements necessary to suppor
this expanded development...and whether or not
these improvements are feasible or practical
to build," he wrote.
Gov.
Jim Doyle has proposed accelerating reconstruction
of the Zoo Interchange, but has not indicated
how the state would pay for it.
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DeBruin
calls for full environmental study for Zoo Interchange
project
Dec.
4, 2006 -- The state
should perform a full environmental impact study
for the Zoo Interchange reconstruction project,
County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin said.
“Absolutely,”
she said. "It's not doing your homework
unless you are doing the full EIS."
DeBruin
joins Mayor Tom Barrett and Ald. Michael Murphy
in calling for an in-depth study of the project's
potential impacts.
Without
a careful study, DeBruin said, "“Two
years after you fixed the damned thing you could
be redoing it all.”
Gov.
Jim Doyle, bowing to Republican pressure during
this year's election campaign, has directed
that Zoo Interchange reconstruction be accelerated
so the project can start in 2012, rather than
in 2016 as previously proposed.
The
project is being pushed forward even though
the Department of Transportation is delaying
numerous projects in other parts of the state
due to funding constraints.
Transportation
Secretary Frank Busalacchi has requested $24
million in 2007-09 for studies related to the
Zoo Interchange project. Busalacchi and his
department have made clear they do not want
to do a full environmental impact study for
the project, even though the project area includes
schools and parks.
DeBruin
While
conducting an environmental assessment would
not preclude a full environmental impact study
later, Busalacchi has said the state wants to
save time and money on environmental studies
-- a clear indication that an in-depth look
at the environmental impacts of the project
is not WisDOT's desired outcome..
“The
whole philosophy of EIS studies is there is
something important to address here, and that
is the long term environmental impacts,”
DeBruin said. The Department of Transportation
has not given a good reason for wanting to skip
the full study, she said.
The
argument that a lesser study is cheaper isn't
persuasive, she said. Instead, the department
should adopt the attitude of “ 'Better
safe than sorry' rather than 'is this going
to slow the project,' ” she said.
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