Advocates raise awareness about the need to widen the Interstate in southern Wisconsin.
It’s called the “I-39/90 Now Coalition.” It’s an effort to expand from four to six lanes the section of that Interstate spanning from the Illinois border at Beloit through Janesville to Madison.
Dan Cunningham with Forward Janesville says without expansion, it is estimated that traffic volume could double — or more — by the year 2035.
“If we don’t upgrade this road by the year 2035, every section that we’re talking about of this road here will be rated either an “E” or an “F,” meaning pretty much gridlock.”
Cunningham says his group has compiled all kinds of data, including crash averages, and traffic volumes and projections for the 45-mile stretch of highway.
He says the this project is long overdue and they want the state’s Transportation Project Commission to make it a priority.
Cunningham says it’s a very important corridor for Wisconsin commerce and tourism.
“Frankly this road just isn’t cutting it anymore.”
Cunningham says when the highway narrows from six to four lanes, it creates a bottleneck of traffic, paving the way for what they already know to be a disproportionate number of traffic crashes in that area.
State Department of Transportation traffic counts in 2002 for the Beloit-to-Madison segment are as high as 60,000, averaging more than 600 crashes a year.
Jackie Johnson report 1:38