Wisconsin Department of TransportationDBE CONTRACTING UPDATE

News for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise firms and stakeholders

January 2009

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Zoo Interchange Study update

The Zoo Interchange Team has met with city, county and regional governments, with potentially impacted property owners, coordinated with utilities and other stakeholders in the area. WisDOT continues to receive many thoughtful comments regarding the design alternatives for each leg of the project (north, south, east and west) as well as comments on the data collected and analyzed.

What happens in 2009?

The project team will continue to refine engineering alternatives and continue discussions with community officials and the public regarding potential impacts. The team will also contact neighborhood and community organizations to solicit additional input on the design alternatives.

A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared and circulated, and then a public hearing will be conducted. Testimony and comments on the Draft EIS will be received and documented and then a final EIS will be prepared to address testimony, comments, and provide additional detail on alternatives, impacts, and mitigation. Finally, a Record of Decision that outlines the final outcome will be developed and signed by the Federal Highway Administration.

Highlights of the comments received from the public:

Traffic

  • Concern regarding the amount of traffic on local streets and in local neighborhoods
  • Concern regarding the 84th/76th exit and entrance systems operations

Noise

  • Concern about current and future noise levels
  • Concern about additional noise during construction
  • Desire for noise barriers to be installed prior to construction

Capacity

  • Support for building eight lanes to accommodate current and future traffic
  • Desire to build the interchange to a large enough size so future projects are avoided

Real estate

  • Desire to sell property and move away from the freeway while others would like to stay.
  • Concern about the freeway moving closer to properties
  • Concern about timeliness of making a decision about property acquisition