A group of Wisconsin legislators have sent a letter to the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Kristina Boardman.
The coalition of Waukesha County legislators requested that Boardman “Recommended a study for expanding Interstate 94 (I-94) in western Waukesha County as a Major Highway Project at the next Transportation Projects Commissions (TPC) meeting”.
The letter stated that I-94, which runs between State Highway 55 and the Jefferson County line has continued to be a major concern for residents in the area.
Allegedly, this section if interstate experiences higher than average amounts of traffic, including record setting levels of congestion, unsafe merging patterns, and “frequent crashes”.
According to legislators, this portion of interstate typically sees about 75,000 vehicles traveling on its roadways each day, meaning it is also one of the highest density traffic areas in the state of Wisconsin.
However, its crash rate is a point of critical concern. Compared to the average vehicle crash rate, this section of interstate can have anywhere between double to quadruple the typical state collision rate.
Legislators have stated that this is because of an inadequate amount of lanes along the corridor.
The addition of one lane in both directions may help alleviate some of the congestion and would reduce some of the traffic, merging, and collision concerns experienced over the past few years.
This section of interstate is also a vital part of a rapidly developing portion of Wisconsin’s economic infrastructure.
As it stretches between Milwaukee and Madison, this strip of land allegedly “Accounts for 40% of the state’s economic output”. Because of this, any inadequacy in the area’s transportation system may also lead to significant impacts on the financial growth of Wisconsin’s time, workforce access, and growth.
The legislators who signed onto the letter for Secretary Boardman included Representative Cindi Duchow, Senator Julien Bradley, Senator Rob Hutton, Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin, Representative Chuck Wichgers, Representative Barbara Dittrich, Representative Adam Neylon, Representative Dave Maxey, Representative Robyn Vining, and Representative Scott Allen, among others.
Governor Tony Evers appointed Secretary Boardman to her role in September 2024, where she oversees the WisDOT.
The WisDOT is one of the largest of the state’s agencies, and has a biennial budget of over $8 billion.
