Highway Expansions Happening Everywhere

Here Is What To Know And How You Can Help

Marco Marquez

Hey everyone, Marco here – I’m the Healthy Homes & Transportation Coordinator for Healthy Climate Wisconsin! In transportation news in Wisconsin there are 2 major developments to keep you aware of: a highway in Milwaukee is now under construction so it can be expanded, and a highway in Madison is considering doing the same thing.

Highways carry millions of cars, and a large percentage of those cars burn gas and pollute our air. That pollution is not equally distributed among the entire population though. I'm just gonna say it, highways are racist too. Many vibrant Black neighborhoods saw hundreds, even thousands of families lose their homes and lose their businesses to make way for giant freeways. Their neighborhoods were never the same after construction. And now, with so many more cars driving through their neighborhoods than before, we see higher rates of asthma and higher rates of students missing school in neighborhoods near highways. You can watch this 11 minute video from PBS talking about the racist history of our highway expansion if you're interested.

Milwaukee's Highway Expansion

Right now Milwaukee is expanding a large stretch of I-94 to add a new lane on each side, despite an ongoing lawsuit from climate groups and faith groups fighting to save the planet and our communities. This project is going to cost $1.7 BILLION DOLLARS, can you imagine how many buses and trains and bike paths we could build with that kinda money? These are taxpayer dollars too.

This highway expansion project will also make traffic horrible while it's being built, with several lanes shut down during construction. It's going to take them at least 8 years to complete and most highway expansion projects in Wisconsin take longer than expected. At our conference I talked about the concept of induced demand, which explains how building more traffic lanes on highways fixes traffic for a short period of time, and then actually makes it worse than before. Studies show that highway traffic returns to previous levels or even worse levels 2 years after expansion. Why are we spending over a billion dollars on something that isn't going to fix traffic?

What can we do about this? Unfortunately there aren't a ton of things we can do to stop the expansion since it's already being built. What we can do is use the new slowed traffic to talk about these issues with our friends, family, and coworkers! Let's get them to realize the immense costs this will take, the imaginary solutions that will never appear, and urge elected officials to invest in equitable and accessible active transportation options, which will only cost a tiny fraction of what this highway project costs.

Madison's Highway Expansion

Unfortunately the story I just detailed is playing itself out in Madison as well. In 2023 Madison added a flex lane to a portion of their highway, and it has indeed fixed traffic for a short time. However, many are saying the extra lane has led to more reckless driving, and some are experiencing traffic similar to levels before the lanes were added. Public opinion is split on the flex lanes, but the WI Department of Transportation (WISDOT) is considering adding an additional flex lane to each side of the freeway. You can read an overview of the issue here.

I don't need to repeat myself: this will be costly, and a waste of time and money. Several mayors of towns around Madison have publicly urged WISDOT to reconsider this expansion plan. Thankfully WISDOT is also considering expanding some pedestrian and bike options. You can submit a written public comment right now with WISDOT until mid-December. Please submit a written comment to share your support of the pedestrian and bike infrastructure proposals, and your opposition to the additional flex lanes. Here is a link to instructions for submitting a comment and a talking points you can use.