WisDOT holds public hearing on 8-lane I-94 expansion after opposition to plan
WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is hearing from the public about their recommended eight-lane plan for the redevelopment of I-94 running east and west between 16th and 70th streets in Milwaukee.
Monday marked the first of two public hearings this week.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials say the eight-lane plan was chosen because they predict it will decrease the number of crashes along I-94 more than any other option.
Ahead of this public hearing, officials from the Wisconsin CLUB, Sierra Club Wisconsin, and MICAH voiced their concerns about the expansion proposal.
They say the over-a-billion-dollar proposal operates on a 1950s understanding of city infrastructure.
Representatives from the ACLU say the increased air pollution of more cars on the highway, issues with construction, and increased flooding concerns will disproportionately affect predominantly Black and Latino communities who live north and south of the section of highway and won't speed things up for people from predominately white suburbs long-term.
"What many studies and many highway expansions have shown is that there may be a slight reduction in congestion, we're talking a few minutes between Waukesha and Milwaukee, for a few years. Maybe two-to-five years, then congestion will be back at the state level," said ACLU Wisconsin Staff Attorney Chris Donahoe.
Instead, people like Sierra Club Wisconsin Legal Chair Dennis Grzezinski say they want the Department of Transportation to work with the 'Fix at Six' plan, addressing the safety concerns with the current number of lanes while investing money saved in public transit, which they say would help decrease highway traffic.
"One of the last things the city of Milwaukee, the region, needs, is 40 or 50 more acres of highway, dead concrete or asphalt, in the heart of the city," said Grzezinski.
WisDOT officials say the new plan aims to bring down congestion by updating 1960s design standards, making shoulders wider, and making ramps longer to decrease crashes.
While WisDOT Southeast Freeway Design Chief Brian Bliesner acknowledged traffic returning to previous levels does happen, it would make bike, pedestrian, and transit traffic on Greenfield, Wisconsin, and Bluemound safer and faster.
"Part of the reason that happens is because there's traffic on the local streets that really wants to be on the freeway, but it's so congested that they use the alternatives like Bluemound and Wisconsin, so I think we anticipate that volumes will go up because that traffic will be pulled out of those local arterials," said Bliesner. "So, it's certainly true, but again, the freeway is the safest type of facility, so having that traffic on the freeway is inherently more safe."
People who came out to speak at Monday's public hearing at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center were overwhelmingly against the eight-lane plan.
The next hearing will be at Marquette High School on Wednesday night, from 4-7 p.m.
People can testify there or online on WisDOT's website. That comment forum runs through Jan. 17.
For more information, click here.