Forward Janesville pushes for I-90/39 expansion

By STEVE BENTON   Monday, April 12, 2010
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Podcast Episode


WCLO's Steve Benton reports on a rally kicking of Forward Janesville's I 39/90 Now Coalition

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— Forward Janesville's Interstate 90/39 Now Coalition kicks off their campaign Monday morning with a rally at the Holiday Inn Express Conference Center.

Vice President of Forward Janesville, Dan Cunningham, says legislators and business leaders are calling for the expansion of the interstate in Rock County to six lanes.

He says safety is an issue because the interstate is six lanes in Dane County, to the North, and six lanes in Winnebago County, to the South, creating a bottle neck in Rock County. He says the expansion will also make it easier for economic growth in Rock County.

Assembly Speaker, Mike Sheridan, is scheduled to speak at the rally, which is slated to begin at 9:30.

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frusion
Apr 12, 2010 at 4:26 p.m.
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pablo,I'd like to high five you! I drive to Madison every day and the left lane drivers make me crazy! And justsaynotomath, you do not need to be a speeder to be annoyed at those that hang in the left lane for no other reason than to be irritating. I see people eating their breakfast, putting on makeup, curling their eyelashes all while yapping on their cell phone and hanging in the left lane obblivious to their environment.

pablo
Apr 12, 2010 at 2:47 p.m.
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Build 6 lanes. It's horrible driving to Madison with all you people that sit in the left lane, until then Drive right..Pass Left. Don't drive the same speed as the car to your right.

earnednotgiven
Apr 12, 2010 at 2:22 p.m.
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I know who Tim Cullen is and Mike Sheridan shouldn't win nor should Tim Cullen. WE NEED REAL LEADERSHIP IN ROCK COUNTY!!!

janesvillean
Apr 12, 2010 at 12:21 p.m.
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earnednotgiven, Tim Cullen is running for State Senate, not Mike Sheridan's seat. He will replace Judy Robson if he wins.
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Yes, Rockford did win the big Lowe's warehouse facility. The story said there were two factors, one being location (closer to center of area served) and the other being higher incentives from Illinois/Winnebago/Rockford. Since then (2005!), of course, Wisconsin has designated Janesville as a Development Opportunity Zone similar to Beloit's Gateway Project and Janesville officials are beginning to activate that process.
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The fact is, though, that these are parallel efforts. We need solid infrastructure, especially if we're going to keep the manufacturing jobs we have now. We also need incentives, but today's rally isn't about the DOZ. I'm not sure why anyone in favor of attracting jobs would be against this rally, but people seem to have a need to divide such efforts and turn them against each other. That's the opposite of the unity of purpose we need in Janesville.

Retired_Soldier
Apr 12, 2010 at 10:57 a.m.
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OK I stand corrected about Lowe's. Thinking about it, I believe they were going to build a distribution facilty also and that is what went elsewhere. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Increased rail industry will reduce the freight traffic on that corridor but the revenue to increase the "state owned" infrastructure is slow in coming. Privately owned Wisconsin & Southern RR (WSOR) operates between Madison and Janesville on state owned rail that is falling apart. There are plans to rebuild it but the plan was put on hold last year. Rock County (and Dane County) communities seem to despise railroads but rail keeps A LOT of freight off of the highways that would otherwise congest the roads even worse.
Update the railroad infrasructure and we won't have to expand the highways.

As side notes...
IC&E (owned by Canadian Pacific Railways) operates between Rockford and Janesville and Union Pacific has a terminal in Janesville as well.
WSOR exchanges car with UP and CP at Janesville and WSOR also runs to Chicago out of Janesville.

Stubby
Apr 12, 2010 at 10:35 a.m.
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The expanded highway is a good idea. I have to drive that corridor quite frequently, and it is very overcrowded. BTW, Lowe's did build a millwork facility in Janesville. It is still in operation.

Retired_Soldier
Apr 12, 2010 at 10:20 a.m.
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Economic expansion in Rock County?! The people here don't want it! Look at all the controversy that arose from the United Ethanol plant in Milton, the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, in Janesville, and several others. A few years ago Lowe's was considering in building a manufacturing plant outside of Janesville and instead they built elsewhere. Why? Most likely it was poor incentives. The city and county governments of Rock County need to offer industry real incentives and not tokens or contraversy. While farming is a noble and needed profession it employs very few. Offer businesses substantial tax credits for local hiring and construction and maybe industry will come.

earnednotgiven
Apr 12, 2010 at 7:31 a.m.
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I agree with option that we should look at expanding to 6 lanes, but you know the only reason Mike Sheridan is speaking is because
1.) ELECTION 2010 and he has to act like he cares
2.) Tim Cullen needs more money!!

Can't we get someone we actually want to hear from in our area to speak and talk about what we really need here in Rock County?

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