Is Wisconsin widening a highway whose traffic has not increased in 20 years?
Wisconsin's Interstate 94, the state's longest expressway, has experienced modest traffic increases in the past decade.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, weekday traffic volumes along Milwaukee's segment of the I-94 have increased between 4% and 10% between 2009 and 2019. Traffic is expected to increase by 6% along well-traveled sections between 2019 and 2050.
The department has proposed adding two additional lanes to I-94 to "reduce congestion" as well as "improve safety" and "replace aging infrastructure." Two members of the Milwaukee Common Council responded in an open letter that money from the $1.2 billion project would be better spent repairing existing infrastructure and enhancing public transit, "especially when traffic volume doesn’t justify the need for additional lanes."
The department's environmental impact study revealed that the expansion would displace up to 13 homes and 10 businesses, cause adverse effects to up to three historic properties and potentially contaminate up to 50 sites.
