"I-41 expansion" not just an empty WisGOP promise, but a reminder of their idiocy

Our fair governor made yet another visit to the 920 area code this week, and used the occasion to make an announcement regarding future transportation plans.

"After speaking with community leaders and elected officials regarding the importance of Interstate 41 to the continued growth of northeastern Wisconsin, I am calling on the Department of Transportation to evaluate expanding the Interstate 41 section between Appleton and DePere," said Governor Walker. "I want to thank Senator Roger Roth, Representative Jim Steineke, and Representative David Murphy for their leadership on this issue." …

WisDOT can now focus on future improvements of Interstate 41. WisDOT's analysis could result in a department request for the Transportation Projects Commission (TPC) to approve the entire corridor, or portions of the corridor, for environmental study as a potential Major Highway Project.

Great if it can be done, However, here’s the fine print ….which is that there is little to no print at all.

Walker’s administration has not given initial estimates on the cost of expanding I-41 from Appleton to De Pere or said when it would like the work to happen. The study that would take approximately six months would determine the project’s price tag.

The work would ultimately need the approval of the state Transportation Projects Commission, the Legislature or both.

The idea to expand I-41 comes as Walker and his administration have delayed or rejected other projects. For instance, Walker in 2011 approved expanding State 15 from New London to Greenville but so far has not provided funding to build the project. And this March the DOT abandoned a study of expanding I-94 from Madison to Wisconsin Dells.

Another reason you should be VERY skeptical of Walker’s public statement is that the expansion of I-41 between Appleton and Green Bay would have to leapfrog several other road projects throughout the state that have already been planned. Many of those projects have been stalled and/or delayed in recent years because of a lack of available funds.

For southeastern Wisconsin alone, the Department of Transportation has identified more than $3 billion for the largest projects that need to be done. Other possible major projects around the state could add billions of dollars to those costs, according to a 2017 review by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

In addition to allowing other roads to deteriorate, the inaction by Walker and Wisconsin Republicans in the Legislature has meant that costs for current projects have also gone up, as evidenced earlier this month by a $30 million increase in the price tag for the north end of the slow-walked Zoo Interchange project.

The delays and added costs for the Zoo Interchange is something that Wisconsin’s Transportation Development Association noted in the latest installment of their “Just Fix it” series of press releases. In it, the TDA notes that WisGOP’s decision to hold off on the completion of the Zoo Interchange leads to half-assed measures that often cause more problems than they solve.

And it is not only inflation on the cost of the delayed improvement project. It is also the “throw-away” costs of short-term patches that only last a couple years and the inconvenience to drivers of recurring orange barrels.

Earlier this year, WisDOT proposed to spend about $10 million on this corridor to remove and replace the top inch or so of asphalt and change the pavement markings from 3 lanes to 4 narrower lanes with smaller shoulders. This would have done nothing to improve the structure of the pavement or bridges, and given the heavy traffic along the route, it would only be a few years before the surface pavement started to crack and fail.

The Zoo project’s delays and half-measures happened because we already don’t have enough money to handle our everyday road repair needs. But in an attempt to kiss up to Fox Valley voters who are rightfully unhappy about being neglected, somehow Walker and the WisGOP legislators from the 920 think there will be some magic pot of money that falls from the sky to pay for an expansion of I-41? In addition, would moving this costly I-41 project to the front of the line run up more costs by delaying the Zoo Interchange project (again) along with other projects for highways and freeways around the state?

I know the WisGOPs are desperate to be seen as having a plan to deal with the Scottholes that are a result of their neglect of the state’s roads. But this stunt of supporting a future expansion of I-41 between Appleton and the Green Bay burbs leads to more questions and it reminds people of their failures around the state over the last 8 years. Nice move, dimwits!