See How State Thinks Traffic Would Change With I-794 Removal
Traffic model shows the biggest impacts outside of Downtown.
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Traffic model shows the biggest impacts outside of Downtown. Back to the full article.
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Categories: Transportation
I went to the meeting on Tuesday. The WISDOT engineers seemed surprised to meet members of the public that favored removal.
Ha! If you’re a fan of “City Nerd” Ray Delahanty, like I am, you may have already seen his great a YouTube episode on traffic engineering:
https://youtu.be/NgJ998KHBpc?si=rQAWHKesstN2B0Nd
He used to be one in Portland and, while much of this is about street-level urban traffic planning, it’s clear that traffic engineering is always in service to automobiles. It starts with the assumption that auto traffic is the highest and best use of thoroughfares and intersections to the detriment of all else. (Hey, traffic engineering is how we got here in the first place!) outmoded formulas and algorithms.
I get that part of planning is about looking well into the future, but ALL the projections are 25 years into the future. You’d think they could have run some interim numbers, too. Of course, these projections are all inertia-based. Nothing changes (including current rates of change) except that the freeway comes down.
Traffic engineering sure sounds like the easy life! No imagination required.
They’re saying I-43 rush hour traffic would get 2×3 times worse? Seems very unlikely. Why wouldn’t South Milwaukee/Oak Creek commuters just stick with the Hoan?
Yeah, their numbers don’t add up or there’s a miscommunication. How does an 8% traffic increase translate to such a large increase in travel time?
Mostly wishful thinking not planning. I assume DOT will reimburse drivers for the extra mileage required for the trips rom the south shore burbs. I utilized Superior Street to and from the Hoan as 794 was usually backed up during rush hours.
The 94 North-South corridor adjacent through this section could (and should) also see upgrades / improvements to handle shifts in traffic patterns, seems like an awfully huge miss to not recognize ANY of that.
National & 6th St, Lapham, Becher (and that ridiculous existing design), and no connection with Lincoln (and honestly the Chase bridge / whole design it has with everything else) could and should see proper rework with updated traffic patterns etc.
WDOT is not interested in changes in the method of transportation. Their assumptions are that there will be NO improvement in public transportation. Nor does WDOT take into account the rising levels of smog caused by increases in personal autos. Milwaukee is already experiencing high levels of smog because of the city’s unique geography. The engineers are stuck in the 1950s and still ignorant of issues other than autos.
Finally, WDOT does not take into account the cost savings and increased revenue–as a result of development on Clybourn–that removing I794 would create. The economics overwhelmingly favor removal.