janesvillean;
Oh really! You are so wise!
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That fact of the matter is, in case you could not u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d (slow enough for you) which would make more sense???
OMG

It doesn't matter what we think. They will do what they want anyway.
Just ask the farmers who continue to lose land at the Avalon Road area...

killngrill, it's not like the highway isn't costing us anything, either. Did you, um, notice?

LaborParty;
"minimal construction $"???
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You have to be kidding; right?
Do you know what it would cost to upgrade that stretch of rail line to meet the requirements for passenger travel at a "decent" speed of travel?
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"minimal construction $"???
I don't think so!

Yes; and all the way to Tomah!!!

The bad part of this is that where they start will already need to be repaired and redone before they finish it...because they still cant make a road hold up more than 3 years. It will be a 10 year continual construction project and then year 11 will start the re-doing it. Ugh.

"Should I-90/39 be four lanes here?"

Yes, of course. Easier and cheaper to do it now than later. It doesn't take a PHD to understand that it is much cheaper to build something when the equipment is already out and all set up building a 6 lane road than to go through the process from start to finish to add a lane later.

I am unable to see the reasoning that it would make more noise having an 8 lane highway compared to a 6 lane highway. This is presuming that the right of way from fence to fence remains the same size. There is no reason to believe that the 8 lane will bring more traffic than the 6 lane. If anything, it might make it less noisy. The traffic would be able to flow more smoothly, less stop and go, less slow downs and speedups. Just flow right on by, less chances for fast lane huggers to cause vast strings of traffic backed up and passing and accelerating away from the slow pokes.

By all means, include sound barriers. I built my house 17 years ago, I had previously planted rows of White Pines to deaden some of the I90 noise, it is 2 miles away but gives an annoying drone when there is a West breeze to carry the sound to my property.

dakman, it's very simple. When you already have the people, the equipment, and the raw materials at hand, it's easily something on the order of half as expensive as coming back later, doing all the studies, hiring the contractor, digging up the existing roadbed, and augmenting what was put in a decade or more earlier.
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Ask your house contractor about whether it makes sense to add a room when you build, or later.
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OnWisconsin, you should know that traffic is many times what it was predicted to be when the Interstate system was built. Also, with 1980s deregulation, the trucking industry expanded quickly, changing the nature of that traffic. Land use has adapted over time, with multi-family, commercial and industrial uses, but the homes that were built when the highway was new are still there, some of them still occupied by the original owners.
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BirdMom, you may not think so, but it's likely the six lane expansion will be more than sufficient, as it isn't just a matter of how "full" the highway feels, but of how easy it is for faster traffic to pass slower. The Janesville metro being eight lanes is less about the actual traffic numbers as it is the ease and safety of entering and exiting for three closely-spaced interchanges. Whole lotta mergin' goin' on.

Yes.

dakman - check the cost of building a mile of road now vs. 10 years ago and you'll understand. Save the money, time, and frustration and do it now.

I drive from Edgerton to Madison to work and it NEEDS to be 4 lane, as Janesvilean suggests, overall cheaper to do it now. When I emailed the DOT they said according to "their studies" we won't need the 4th lane until 2040. Obviously he has never driven this stretch of road and doesn't remember the "new" Beltline screw-up..

Frogger, of course! It was irritating then, and as I mentioned earlier, only planned on living there for a few years. What difference does it make? It's getting unbearable now, I would rather not live here but with property values in the tank, selling isn't an option! I would still want the wall built even if I didn't live here. Even several blocks away it is annoying. If the money is going to be spent on widening, which it should, build the wall!

Yes- do it now instead of doing 3 now and then in 3 years ripping it up again and adding one more. Didn't they already rip stuff up to expand and then decide we need 3 lanes?
ledfoot- was the I-90 there first?

Didn't we just discuss this about a month or so ago? Looks like a rerun to me.

We should not put in 4 lanes. I think that sometime within the next decade, between our growing national debt, and problems in the Middle East, America is going to become disenchanted with the transportation costs associated with Just In Time delivery and truck freight. I think a few major investors will decide to look beyond the next fiscal quarter and put some major funds into railroad rehabilitation and improvements. A viable "mini-container" system would standardize loading and unloading. Redesigning railroad stations for larger numbers of lower volume deliveries and pickups would facilitate the use of rail for a lot of intermediate distance shipping which semi-trucks now handle.

Onwisconsin; I didn't plan on living here for seventeen years! Times change and so did my life! Just because I bought here doesn't mean that I like the noise! By the way I grew up next to railroad tracks, they came by every night at about two in the morning. That, I could live with, this ... This is waaaaayyyyy different!!

@janesvillean You seem to know your stuff. Care to further elaborate on why it would be more expensive later?

Even though i agree that sound barriers should be considered, i find it funny how people complain about the traffic noise when they live right next to the interstate. What did you expect when you moved there? That would be like moving next to railroad tracks and complaining about the train noise or those that live next to the airport and complain about the air show being too loud.

We need the sound barriers now, with three or four lanes it will be ridiculous. I live near Sentry grocery store and can barley use my back yard as it is because of the noise. I can't even imagine what it will be like with four lanes each way. Anyone who doesn't think it necessary is an id10t!

Actually, it will save money to put the extra lanes in now, rather than at some later date. Massive highways are not my preference but better to do it right than piecemeal.
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Normally, btw, professionals talk about the ENTIRE roadway, not a single carriageway, so the headline should read "eight lanes". (Also, the USDOT officially lists the lower-numbered highway first, so "I-39/90".) The Gazette should probably change its terminology to be less confusing. Example:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/5...

Money grows on trees. Spend away!