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The DOT's Stoughton Road Policy Advisory Committee met last evening for the first time since last November. DOT has contracted with KL Engineering to prepare a needs assessment and environmental impact statement. The needs assessment is completed and available at DOT's web site. The EIS will be completed by 2009. Road construction will be in...?????
Three alternatives have been developed: Alternative A is the low-end and Alternative C is the high-end (freeway). You can see them in detail here.
NOTE: The information on the web site is being updated - hopefully very soon, so you may want to check back.
For my money, Alternative A is almost entirely pointless. The segment from Milwaukee Street to Terminal Drive would 'function' - dysfunction? - at Level of Service F in the 2030 design year (except for a small section right at Milwaukee Street). The cost? $105 million. Alternative B would cost $139 million and would provide LOS C or better in nearly all segments. If I'm going to spend over $100M on a road project I'd like for it to move traffic.
My sense, however, is that Alternative A is going to get a lot of support from Madison. A group promoting the worthy goal of revitalizing the Stoughton Road corridor and known as the Stoughton Road Revitalization Project appears to support the low-build alternative. I'm not sure why because I don't think that congestion is going to aid the project. I think they have great aspirations, but having a plugged up Stoughton Road won't help revitalize the corridor.
DOT plans a short term project is planned in 2008:
Cottage Grove Road to Buckeye Road – WisDOT is preparing plans for a project that will create an auxiliary lane southbound on US 51. The project will connect the on-ramp from Cottage Grove Road to the right-turn lane at the Buckeye Road intersection.
DOT plans to hold another round of Public Information Meetings in October with the date and location TBA.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
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Is there any chance that any of the Hwy 51 construction will overlap with Monona Drive construction? If so, that's a total nightmare!
ReplyDeleteNo, there is no chance the two will overlap because no one has any idea when funding might become available to do USH 51. It will likely get broken into several chunks and then get in the funding queue. And then wait and wait and wait.
ReplyDeleteSounds exactly like the Monona drive status.
ReplyDeleteApparently I am being too vague. No, the status of Stoughton Road is not at all like Monona Drive. The federal money has already been allocated to the Drive by the MPO (Metro. Planning Org.). Stoughton Road is nowhere near getting approval; it's not even near the line yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd when it does get in line it's going to be a long wait absent some special action. Stoughton Road is going to be a huge project - 3X the cost of E. Wash. or more.
Stoughton Road is going to get very bad before the work is done.