Stoughton Road Non-Update UPDATE

So I serve as Monona's rep on the "Stoughton Road Policy Advisory Committee", which is a group of elected officials and other interested persons who, well, advise DOT on the reconstruction of Stoughton Road. A lot more inforamtion can be found on DOT's web site at:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/us51-stoughtonrd/index.htm

The main message from Monona has been that we want Stoughton Road to carry traffic efficiently enough so that Monona Drive is not an attractive alternative for drive-through traffic.

When we first started the process some 2+ years ago, we were told that construction might start in 2012. Well, what that really meant was that if we went through the process, got public input, got the EIS approved, plans designed, and so forth then the road could be built in 2012 if funds were available. The long and short of it is that funds are not available for the foreseeable future. The project will probably cost somewhere around $250 million for the stretch between I-39/90/94 on the north to the Beltline on the south. In my opinion, it needs to be done, but my judgment is that it's going to be put off for a very long time.