Floods force Wis. DOT to create interstate connector

The I-94 connector will create a 4-to-5-mile stretch of two-lane interstate between Johnson Creek and Lake Mills, Wis., where another connector will funnel westbound traffic back into its original lanes.

By TODD RICHMOND
The Associated Press

6/18/2008

JOHNSON CREEK, Wis. — Workers scrambled to build an emergency bypass on Interstate 94 and restore the flood-threatened freeway to working order Tuesday as damage reports from last week’s storms climbed into the tens of millions of dollars.

The swollen Rock and Crawfish rivers have lapped at the edges of westbound I-94 between Milwaukee and Madison for days. The State Patrol and the state Transportation Department rerouted traffic from Milwaukee to the state Capitol through Beloit — a 113-mile detour.

I-94 is a crucial artery in Wisconsin, linking Milwaukee and Chicago with the Twin Cities. On Monday DOT Secretary Frank Busalacchi signed a $900,000 emergency contract with Black River Falls-based Hoffman Construction Co. to connect the unaffected eastbound lanes with the threatened westbound lanes.

The connector will create a 4-to-5-mile stretch of two-lane interstate between Johnson Creek and Lake Mills, where another connector will funnel westbound traffic back into its original lanes, Busalacchi said.

Workers are racing to finish the connector by the end of the week. Drivers still will find themselves in a traffic jam as cars inch through the connector and crawl up and down the two-lane section.

Busalacchi said it beats driving 100 miles out of the way, adding he lives in Brookfield, a Milwaukee suburb, and commutes to Madison two or three times a week. He’s as sick of going out of his way as anyone, he said.

“Like everyone else, I get in my car and I moan and groan,” Busalacchi said during a press conference on I-94. “It’s going to be a bottleneck. But you know what? We won’t have the 100-mile detour.”

On Tuesday the Rock and Crawfish were giant blue lakes on both sides of I-94 between Johnson Creek and Lake Mills. The Crawfish had risen almost to the guardrails of the bridge that cross it, and the Rock was inching into the right-hand lane. DOT workers parked dump trucks on a bridge spanning the Rock to weigh the structure down and prevent the water from rocking it.

Busalacchi said the rivers show no sign of receding and he’s afraid they could surge and take out traffic.

“There’s an enormous amount of water pushing against it,” Busalacchi said. “Safety has been the key here.”

The money for the contract will come out of the state’s $2.8 billion transportation fund, Busalacchi said.

Interstate 39 around Portage remained closed. Parts of more than a dozen other state roads remained closed as well.

Forecasts called for sun through Thursday, but Friday brings a chance of thunderstorms.

“Right now we’re in a defensive mode,” the DOT’s Busalacchi said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I understand the public is frustrated. I’m frustrated.”

Associated Press Writer Robert Imrie in Wausau, Wis., contributed to this story.