ROAD WARRIOR; Don’t Get Used to Latest Interchange Fixes
By LARRY SANDLER
No, we’re not there yet.
Lots of parents could use a T-shirt with that message for the kids in the back seat. But for the Road Warrior, it’s a typical answer to questions about Marquette Interchange reconstruction.
In the ever-changing interchange, readers often ask whether the latest change they’ve seen is The Way It’s Going To Be From Now On, even though we still have 1 1/2 years of girder-slinging action ahead.
For example, Geri Wilkinson and Carl Maglio are wondering whether a new, improved freeway ramp will work any better than the old demolished freeway ramp.
“The single worst problem spot in the old interchange, without exception, was the ramp from southbound I-43 to westbound I-94,” writes Wilkinson, a Glendale reader. “You had traffic from an on- ramp from State St. feeding into the traffic in the westbound exit lane from I-43, resulting in southbound cars having to cut through the exit-lane traffic to continue south on I-43. This area was the cause for the heavy morning commute backups on southbound I-43 as far north as Capitol Drive or Hampton Ave. and was the site of numerous accidents.
“I see absolutely no resolution to the problem with the new design. Cars intending to go southbound on I-43 from the new Fond du Lac Ave. entrance ramp still have to cut through traffic trying to exit westbound. Am I missing something?”
Maglio, a Whitefish Bay reader, has the same question, adding, “The resulting backup is longer than it’s ever been. Is there a cure to improve this ramp traffic build-up?”
Yes, Wilkinson is missing something. And, yes, the DOT has a cure for what ails Maglio, says Barbara Mikolajczyk, spokeswoman for the state’s interchange team.
When the ramp is finished – and no, we’re not there yet – it will have two lanes, Mikolajczyk said. Approaching the ramp, the far right lane of southbound I-43 will be an exit-only lane, meaning drivers entering from Fond du Lac Ave. can either stay in that lane to head west on I-94 or merge left to continue south. Meanwhile, drivers already on southbound I-43, in the next lane over, will have a choice between continuing south or exiting to westbound I-94, she said.
While it’s true that means a little weaving between lanes for drivers who want to head south from Fond du Lac Ave., they will have more space to change lanes, because the Fond du Lac Ave. on-ramp is three times as far from the ramp to westbound I-94 as the old State St. on-ramp was, Mikolajczyk notes.
Signing up
You don’t need a crystal ball to know what’s coming down the road.
A street sign would be enough. And that’s all Mike Reynolds wants.
“I think we need one little added info sign to all the freeway entrance ramps: A sign saying ‘left lane ahead’ or ‘right lane ahead’ as you approach,” writes Reynolds, a West Allis reader.
On a freeway, signs typically tell you well in advance whether an exit is coming up on the left or the right, Reynolds notes. But on a street heading for an on-ramp, he adds, “I am seeing more and more drivers in the ‘wrong’ lane as they approach the ramp – and usually the street has two or three busy lanes that the driver then has to cross.”
The DOT agrees and in recent years has started to place signs that say “left lane ahead” beneath signs showing a freeway on-ramp is coming up, said Tom Heydel, a DOT traffic operations engineer. More such signs are planned in the future, Heydel said.
Street lines
Constructive advice: Marquette Interchange reconstruction will close one block of N. 11th St., from W. Wisconsin Ave. to W. Wells St., starting at 7 a.m. today, the DOT reported. That stretch is not expected to reopen until late summer, Mikolajczyk said.
Driving force: The state Division of Motor Vehicles has set up a system for drivers to check online how much longer they will have to wait for their vehicle titles. You can find the DMV’s title tracker at www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/online.htm.
Electronic highway: Madison-area motorists can now check out traffic jams on the Internet, the DOT announced. Current images from 22 of the 24 traffic cameras on area freeways and E. Washington Ave. are posted at www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/madison, along with a map showing up-to-the-minute freeway traffic congestion patterns.
In transit: Milwaukee County Transit System ridership dropped 11% in March, to 3.94 million, the third straight monthly decline following a $2 increase in the price of weekly passes and sheets of 10 tickets, the bus system reported. For the first quarter of 2007, ridership also fell 11%, to 11.12 million, compared with the same three months of last year.
Riding the rails: Ridership on Amtrak’s Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line edged up about 1% each in March and April, compared with the same months last year, DOT rail chief Ron Adams said. For the first four months of this year, ridership was also up close to 1%, from 177,619 in the same period of 2006 to 178,998, Adams said.
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