How can an I-94 expansion best meet economic and safety needs, while limiting the environment and social impacts?
History of I-94
Interstate 94 is a highway that spans from Billings, Montana, to Port Huron, Michigan. There have been many different projects on this highway, to change, update, and improve its functionality. Construction of the Wisconsin portion of the highway began in 1964 and was not complete until 1968, and cost about $33 million. The highway was officially opened to the public in December of 1968. The total traffic of the Marquette Interchange area of the highway eventually reached around 300,000 vehicles a day, which was much more than anticipated; in fact, it was over double the original intended traffic count. Between the spring of 2005 and December of 2008, there was a $810 million project to improve the highway. These improvements included creating new ramps so that cars only exit and enter the highway from the right side, creating longer merging lanes, and attempts to reduce the impact of the highway on the nearby communities. What is the New Project? The new project’s purpose is to address the deteriorating condition of I-94, non-required roads and bridges, and to address the frequent crashes and the existing and future traffic along the highway. The construction of the new project would start in 2025 and was planned to last approximately 4 years. This expansion would expand the highway with an extra lane on either side, with a goal of improving safety and lowering congestion on the highway. The highway would also be linked to the state freeway which would help truckers hauling freight have easier access to their destinations. Funding of project The funding for this project has one main source. Cities in Wisconsin, mainly Milwaukee, have experienced a decrease in state spending on public transportation. The number of people using this transportation decreased due to the Covid pandemic, which caused state funding for public transit in Milwaukee and Madison to be cut by over half. Another source of funding for this project is to increase the registration fees and title fees of vehicles. These sources of funding will impact practically anyone with a car or purchasing a car, and may efficiently raise funding for the project, however will even affect those who do not have access to a vehicle, making it harder for them to actually obtain a vehicle, because they need to pay more for it, which will negatively affect low-income areas. |
Source: Handout packet from Public involvement meeting for I-94 East-West Freeway Corridor Study, by Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation and U.S. Dept. of Transportation
Credibility of Expansion
There are a few points of emphasis of the new project. The new project is supposed to evaluate the difference of adding 2 new lanes to the existing 6 lanes, and the impact those lanes would have compared to the current lanes. The Wisconsin Department Of Transportation is taking into consideration the input of other sources, such as citizens, transit committees, local organizations, among others. The impact of the new construction on equity and diversity of the area is officially being concerned, emphasized by Governor Tony Evers, as is the participation of the business community. Looking at other local projects, two notable projects are the Zoo Interchange and Marquette Interchange, which lowered the crash rates on each section of the highway by 34% and 45%. The average daily traffic fluctuates, and is influenced by many factors. In recent years, examples of dramatic changes in traffic volume are the 2007/2008 economic recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary, Craig Thompson, said “Doing nothing about this portion of road is not an option, this aging stretch of highway is one of the most dangerous roads in the state. We’ve seen crash rates decline dramatically in the portions of the southeast interstates that have already been modernized, so we know that upgrading the east-west corridor will prevent injuries and needless deaths.” This shows that action must be taken to improve the existing road, however, it should be the ethically, economically, and morally correct one. |
Downsides of the Project
Some downsides of the expansion are that it might increase vehicle emissions. This is because the increase in lane space could influence more people to drive to their destinations such as their job, which would produce more emissions from the vehicles, which in turn may have other impacts. These include potentially harming local wetlands and green spaces that are filled with biodiversity due to emissions and runoff from the highway that could be contaminated with any number of contaminants. These emissions also harm local communities, which are made up of mostly minority groups, which also happens to be a low-income area. A primary care physician in Milwaukee, named Victoria Gillet stated the fact that more than 50,000 people die prematurely across the nation each year because of exposure to vehicle emissions. Many of those in her care were from areas just as these, low-income and communities of color, and they bear the brunt of the emissions from these cars. The locals themselves, being low-income, do not even own vehicles themselves, so a different option that would help them with public transportation and better access would make their everyday lives easier, and would not force them to live with the pollution caused by the highway expansion, when they themselves do not even have vehicles. Lastly, this expansion may also promote the idea of sprawl development, and influence communities to expand outwards rather than upwards, which lowers space for natural resources and habitats for animals, and also lower space potential for things such as agriculture and growing crops for food. |
Source: Fix at Six
Key Players
There are a few key players we’ve seen in this I-94 expansion plan:
First of these are Fix at Six, which is a local coalition of many different people and organizations such as Friends of valley park, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and Milwaukee riverkeeper, and they are trying to give an option that is a sustainable alternative to expanding I-94.
A few others that are involved are the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, who are taking on the main force under the project, former governor Scott Walker, who initially gave the go-ahead for the expansion, however could not get the necessary funding, and governor Tony Evers who revived the project in 2021.
Another key player is the community of Pigsville. I-94 will affect its community parks, making it unsafe for kids to play in, and it could add additional fumes and sound pollution if moved closer to the neighborhood. Gas stations could be expanded to provide more real food options rather than synthetic foods, however, the gas station along with the local urgent care will need to be demolished for the expansion to take place.
Other Options
There have been multiple other proposed options rather than the expansion of the highway. One example of this is the Transit Committee, which advised that a transit construction would work better, and that the city should build bike lanes/paths, and pedestrian sidewalks. Similarly, Fix at Six gave an option that was that instead of building 8 lane’s, the state should fix pre-existing roads, add bus routes, and focus on infrastructure that encouraged using bicycles or walking instead of motorized transportation.
Fix at Six
Fix at Six was the main alternative to the expansion project. This solution was based on fixing what was already in place, and put a focus on public transportation. This plan proposed the state fix the dangerous lanes that were currently in place, add new bus routes to lower congestion on the highway and lower emissions because more people can take public transport, requiring less vehicles. It also included building local bicycle infrastructure on pre-existing local roads to also lower emissions and traffic, and increase local health. This solution would also allow for better housing and zoning practices, by requiring much less space and being transit-oriented. Focusing on revamping the existing roads, this solution would focus on replacing pavement, fixing the most dangerous hotspots, downsizing on large interchanges and ramps that are unneeded, and a plan to manage stormwater and runoff from the highway.
There are a few key players we’ve seen in this I-94 expansion plan:
First of these are Fix at Six, which is a local coalition of many different people and organizations such as Friends of valley park, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and Milwaukee riverkeeper, and they are trying to give an option that is a sustainable alternative to expanding I-94.
A few others that are involved are the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, who are taking on the main force under the project, former governor Scott Walker, who initially gave the go-ahead for the expansion, however could not get the necessary funding, and governor Tony Evers who revived the project in 2021.
Another key player is the community of Pigsville. I-94 will affect its community parks, making it unsafe for kids to play in, and it could add additional fumes and sound pollution if moved closer to the neighborhood. Gas stations could be expanded to provide more real food options rather than synthetic foods, however, the gas station along with the local urgent care will need to be demolished for the expansion to take place.
Other Options
There have been multiple other proposed options rather than the expansion of the highway. One example of this is the Transit Committee, which advised that a transit construction would work better, and that the city should build bike lanes/paths, and pedestrian sidewalks. Similarly, Fix at Six gave an option that was that instead of building 8 lane’s, the state should fix pre-existing roads, add bus routes, and focus on infrastructure that encouraged using bicycles or walking instead of motorized transportation.
Fix at Six
Fix at Six was the main alternative to the expansion project. This solution was based on fixing what was already in place, and put a focus on public transportation. This plan proposed the state fix the dangerous lanes that were currently in place, add new bus routes to lower congestion on the highway and lower emissions because more people can take public transport, requiring less vehicles. It also included building local bicycle infrastructure on pre-existing local roads to also lower emissions and traffic, and increase local health. This solution would also allow for better housing and zoning practices, by requiring much less space and being transit-oriented. Focusing on revamping the existing roads, this solution would focus on replacing pavement, fixing the most dangerous hotspots, downsizing on large interchanges and ramps that are unneeded, and a plan to manage stormwater and runoff from the highway.
Sources
USDOT. I-94 Handout Packet, WisDOT, Waukesha, WI, 2021.
Daykin, Tom. “A Controversial $1 Billion Plan to Expand I-94 on Milwaukee's West Side Will Be the Subject of Two Public Input Meetings.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Dec. 2021, https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2021/12/01/plan-expand-94-milwaukees-west-side-has-public-input-meetings/8811407002/.
Marley, Patrick. “Legislative Republicans Vote to Expand I-94 West of Downtown Milwaukee and to Cut Transit Funding.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 June 2021, https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/08/republicans-vote-expand-94-and-cut-state-transit-funding/7605299002/.
Calvi, Jason. “I-94 East-West Expansion Approved in Legislature-Passed Budget.” FOX6 News Milwaukee | Wisconsin & Local Milwaukee News WITI, FOX6 News Milwaukee | Wisconsin & Local Milwaukee News WITI, 2 July 2021, https://www.fox6now.com/news/i-94-east-west-corridor-given-the-go-needs-legislative-approval.
“About Fix at Six.” A Sustainable and Just Alternative to Expanding I94, 14 Sept. 2021, https://fixatsix.org/about/.
“Interstate 94.” Interstate, 13 Nov. 2020, https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-094/#:~:text=Interstate%2094%20was%20open%20from,to%20open%20in%20the%20state.&text=Until%201963%2C%20the%20alignments%20of,south%20Chicago%20to%20northwest%20Indiana.
“Interstate 94.” Interstate, 13 Nov. 2020, https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-094/#:~:text=Interstate%2094%20was%20open%20from,to%20open%20in%20the%20state.&text=Until%201963%2C%20the%20alignments%20of,south%20Chicago%20to%20northwest%20Indiana.
USDOT. I-94 Handout Packet, WisDOT, Waukesha, WI, 2021.
Daykin, Tom. “A Controversial $1 Billion Plan to Expand I-94 on Milwaukee's West Side Will Be the Subject of Two Public Input Meetings.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Dec. 2021, https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2021/12/01/plan-expand-94-milwaukees-west-side-has-public-input-meetings/8811407002/.
Marley, Patrick. “Legislative Republicans Vote to Expand I-94 West of Downtown Milwaukee and to Cut Transit Funding.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 June 2021, https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/08/republicans-vote-expand-94-and-cut-state-transit-funding/7605299002/.
Calvi, Jason. “I-94 East-West Expansion Approved in Legislature-Passed Budget.” FOX6 News Milwaukee | Wisconsin & Local Milwaukee News WITI, FOX6 News Milwaukee | Wisconsin & Local Milwaukee News WITI, 2 July 2021, https://www.fox6now.com/news/i-94-east-west-corridor-given-the-go-needs-legislative-approval.
“About Fix at Six.” A Sustainable and Just Alternative to Expanding I94, 14 Sept. 2021, https://fixatsix.org/about/.
“Interstate 94.” Interstate, 13 Nov. 2020, https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-094/#:~:text=Interstate%2094%20was%20open%20from,to%20open%20in%20the%20state.&text=Until%201963%2C%20the%20alignments%20of,south%20Chicago%20to%20northwest%20Indiana.
“Interstate 94.” Interstate, 13 Nov. 2020, https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-094/#:~:text=Interstate%2094%20was%20open%20from,to%20open%20in%20the%20state.&text=Until%201963%2C%20the%20alignments%20of,south%20Chicago%20to%20northwest%20Indiana.