The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and their contractors are nearing the end of a four-year project covering 14 miles of Interstate 43 (I-43). The interstate runs from near the Illinois border at Beloit to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and a lengthy section of the road runs parallel to Lake Michigan.
The project area stretches from Glendale to Grafton (north-south). Glendale is less than 10 miles from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the entire corridor is part of the city’s suburbs. The project will improve the drive for those commuting to and from Milwaukee.
The 14-mile-long project was split into five parts. Each part or segment was let as a separate project because a single project would have been too massive.
“It would impact too large of a geographic area and too many communities at one time,” said Steve Hoff, WisDOT Design Project Manager. “It would also significantly disrupt traffic along the corridor.”
The average daily traffic is approximately 93,000 in the south segment and approximately 50,000 in the north segment. Trucks make up a high percentage of the traffic. The corridor is vital for interstate travel, particularly from Milwaukee — to the north.
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Another reason for breaking the project into five separate entities was related to the budget and when money became available.
The project has been a long time in the making, as a corridor study was performed in the early 2010s to determine what the freeway should look like. The freeway needed updating, since those in and around Milwaukee were constructed in the 1960s. Today’s traffic volume and vehicle types are very different.
Some prevalent issues included geometric deficiencies, short merging distances, and low bridges. Once it was determined that these issues would be addressed, a decision was made to reconstruct and expand the freeway.
Then, there were the traffic levels. There were frequent backups on the southbound side of the project area in the morning (heading into Milwaukee) and on the northbound side during evening rush hour.
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The project scope includes the following:
- Expanding I-43 from four to six lanes
- Replacement of five existing interchanges
- Construction of one new interchange at Highland Road
- Expanding one interchange from a half interchange to a full interchange
- Expansion of an adjacent local road from four to six lanes
- Replacement of the Union Pacific railroad bridge
The two remaining construction projects are the Mequon Road Interchange and the I-43 South End. On the Mequon Road segment, the team is reconstructing and expanding 2.3 miles of I-43, reconstructing an interchange, and constructing a noise wall on the west side of I-43.
Work on the South End segment includes:
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- Reconstructing and widening I-43
- Replacing a railroad bridge
- Reconstructing two interchanges, including the first diverging diamond interchange in WisDOT’s Southeast Region
Rather than move in one direction from north to south or vice versa, the projects have been scheduled strategically.
“We started in the North End and put in a new interchange,” Hoff said. “It made sense to build that since there was no access before that, and we were not disrupting travelers. ... We could build it unencumbered, since there wasn’t an existing interchange there that would be disrupted.”
Like other projects along active, busy roadways, handling traffic has been challenging.
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“The design team split I-43 into multiple segments, which has allowed us to stage projects so that crews have full access to one side of the highway,” said Tom Erdmann, WisDOT Construction Project Manager. “Because we gave contractors enough room to work, it helps them to be productive and meet the project scope and schedule.”
Besides the challenge of dealing with traffic, the team had to be mindful of adjacent WisDOT projects. The other projects impacted detours and moving equipment and materials to and from the site.
There is a significant residential populace since there are six-plus communities in the vicinity, as well as an active business community around the South End project area. The area is also home to a large high school in the middle of its construction project.
A railroad bridge is being slightly realigned, so another stakeholder must be considered.
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“They get a say in the process, and we must coordinate with them [Union Pacific Railroad company],” Erdmann said. “This required a rigorous amount of communication, which led to long lead times.”
Erdmann added that Union Pacific staff is on site during construction. “If they want subtle changes, we have to respond to their needs on a dime,” he said.
The realignment of the railroad bridge was necessary because the current bridge is on a big curve. The team is pushing the bridge north to flatten the curve, which will allow for increased speeds on the rail line.
The team is doing a large amount of local roadwork on the South End project. A set of frontage roads, including one major one, is being expanded as part of the project.
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“It’s a high-volume local road, but it couldn’t previously be expanded due to the constraint of the railroad bridge,” Hoff said. “The existing portal was only wide enough for a two-lane roadway. When the railroad bridge was replaced, WisDOT partnered with the city of Glendale to lengthen the bridge, thereby allowing for the expansion."
Finally, crews are constructing the first diverging diamond interchange (DDI) in WisDOT’s Southeast Region on the South End project. The previous interchange was a cloverleaf interchange with sprawling loop ramps.
“A DDI requires less space yet still fits the traffic needs in the area,” Erdmann said. “The continuous movements, particularly left turn movements, offer improved safety and fewer points of potential conflict.” It is also more efficient, particularly in areas with a high volume of left-hand turns.
The team kept the previous interchange open while building the DDI, though they occasionally had to close ramps. This required careful planning and lots of temporary pavement.
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Throughout construction, traffic was maintained on their respective sides of the road. To successfully put traffic into a DDI configuration, the entire roadway had to be closed overnight. In that timeframe, all old pavement markings had to be removed, and all new pavement markings for the new configuration had to be installed. Additionally, signage and traffic signals had to be altered to face traffic appropriately.
Construction on the Mequon Road project began around September 2023 and is scheduled to finish in mid-2025. The team started the South End project at the end of 2022 and expects to finish it mid-2025 around the same time as Mequon Road.
Both projects are on schedule. Erdmann credits staging and work zone availability for keeping the projects on schedule.
“The way this project was staged [getting traffic bidirectional on one side] gave the contractors the room they needed to work,” Erdmann said. “The design set us up for the construction and made life easier for us in construction.”
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The staging setup also helped with safety for the driving public and construction crews.
“We started doing work zone prep, such as shoulder widening, on the North End project,” Hoff added. “The preparation allowed us to shift traffic early and prepared us for the more significant adjacent project.”
The two projects had different general contractors. The Zignego Group serves as the general contractor on Mequon Road, and Hoffman Construction is the general contractor for the South End project. Both contractors are based in Wisconsin and have done work around the state with WisDOT.
The construction budget for the Mequon Road project is $50 million, and it is $201 million for the South End project. Both projects are on budget.
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The federal and state governments are funding the projects via the traditional 80/20 split. Local government is contributing less than 1 percent to the work done on local roads.
As the two projects approach their completion, the 14-mile section of I-43 will be entirely finished. The extra lanes will reduce traffic congestion, drivers will enjoy safer conditions due to the increased merging distances, and the DDI will shave off minutes from their commute.
- Owner: Wisconsin Department of Transportation; David Nguyen, Design & Construction Chief; Manojoy Nag, Design Supervisor; Jay Obenberger, Construction Supervisor; Thomas Erdmann, Construction Project Manager; Steve Hoff, Design Project Manager; Dan Sellers, Regional Communications Manager; Keegan Dole, Construction TMP Lead
- Prime Contractors: Michels Corporation, Brownsville, Wisconsin; Zignego Group, Waukesha, Wisconsin; Hoffman Construction Company, Black River Falls, Wisconsin
- Key Subcontractors: DK Contractors, Inc., Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; James Peterson Sons, Inc., Medford, Wisconsin; Lunda Construction Co., Black River Falls, Wisconsin; Payne and Dolan, Waukesha, Wisconsin; Stark Pavement Corp., Brookfield, Wisconsin; Trierweiler Construction, Marshfield, Wisconsin; Vinton Construction Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Volkman Railroad Builders, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin; Zenith Tech, Waukesha, Wisconsin
- Design and Construction Consultants: Benesch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Bloom Companies, LLC, Milwaukee; Collins Engineers, Inc., Milwaukee; CORRE, Waukesha, Wisconsin; DAAR, Milwaukee; De Vor Communications, LLC, Germantown, Wisconsin; GESTRA Engineering, Milwaukee; Heritage Research Ltd., Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin; HNTB, Milwaukee; Jacobs, Milwaukee; JT Engineering, Milwaukee; Kapur Inc., Milwaukee; Lakeside Engineers, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; Lynch & Associates Engineering Consultants, LLC, New Berlin, Wisconsin; Michael Baker International, Milwaukee; Mortenson, Milwaukee; raSmith, Milwaukee; Spann & Associates, LLC, Germantown, Wisconsin; Wisconsin State Patrol
