Wisconsin's roads: Failing to plan costs us more than money, it costs us time
By CRAIG THOMPSON
Jul 8, 2018
While much of the discussion about the poor condition of Wisconsin’s road network has centered around funding in recent years, the less covered story is the lack of planning. Although the idea of long-term planning can feel rather academic, the impacts of failing to do so in the Racine area are about to feel very real.
Headaches will intensify as the region prepares for the arrival of Foxconn. Make no mistake, the logistics of preparing for a company the size of Foxconn is daunting under the best of scenarios.
No community would be turn-key for such a huge endeavor. Invariably, infrastructure upgrades would be necessary.
What is exacerbating the situation, however, is those upgrades are now going to be made at the same time we are rushing to rebuild a stretch of Interstate that should have been completed years ago. As a result, we don’t have a logistical challenge, we have a logistical nightmare. Translation: plan a lot of extra time to get to where you are going.
I-94 North-South as it is known, was started in 2009 and was slated to be fully completed in 2016. Unfortunately, like so many other parts of our network, the project was kicked down the road again and again.
Read more
