Green Jello Hotdish

The State of Wisconsin wants to expand a segment of the North-South Freeway from the current three lanes in each direction to four, in a section from the Illinois-Wisconsin border to Oak Creek.

Puhleeze.

Ignoring the obvious simpler KRM rail or high-speed Amtrak solutions, what would expanding the expressway actually do? Once you get onto the Illinois Tollway, the roadway would revert to three lanes. Going into Milwaukee, it would revert to three lanes, and we can assume it would remain that way for a long while since the Marquette Interchange construction is just about over and I don’t think anyone is going to start rebuilding that again soon.

The article claims the expansion would improve safety and usability along the roadway:

Attendees sat through a brief overview from Roberto Gutierrez, state supervisor for freeways in southeast Wisconsin, who explained the timelines and built a case for expanding the freeway from six lanes to eight. The extra lanes would reduce congestion and crashes on the 50-year-old freeway corridor.

Except when there is a crash — or this weekend’s weather patterns, congestion along that segment isn’t a big issue. I consistently can drive from Milwaukee to Kenosha in 30-40 minutes. Minor crashes, those not closing lanes of traffic, usually increase that time to 45 minutes. So where’s the problem?

Of course, no one has given a price tag for this ridiculous project…