Major ramp to reopen in Zoo Interchange

For the past 31⁄2 years, motorists traveling west on I-94 through the Zoo Interchange who wanted to head south on I-894 had to figure out a different way.

But the southbound ramp from westbound I-94 is finally reopening just in time for Summerfest. And it won’t be in the same place as before.

The ramp is scheduled to open at 6 a.m. Wednesday, though bad weather could push that back a day or two. Or it could reopen a day earlier if weather cooperates.

It was the first ramp to close in the massive Zoo Interchange construction project and it’s the last to reopen, said Michael Pyritz, a state Department of Transportation regional communication manager.

Instead of getting in the left lane to head south, though, motorists will have to get on the southbound ramp from the right lane.

“You have to be on the right to go left. Now, off- and on-ramps are all right side. That’s the modern way to design interchanges,” Pyritz said Thursday. “It’s much safer.”

Before construction started several years ago, the Zoo Interchange handled 350,000 vehicles daily and the southbound ramp from westbound I-94 was traversed by 17,000 to 18,000 cars and trucks. Those folks have used alternative routes since the southbound ramp closed, including exiting at South 84th Street and using side streets or going up to Blue Mound Road and looping back.

The end of the Zoo Interchange project is in sight — on- and off-ramps at South 84th Street are scheduled to reopen right before the Wisconsin State Fair starts Aug. 2. The core of the Zoo Interchange construction is expected to finish by Labor Day, in time for the Harley-Davidson 115th anniversary reunion.

“By the time we get to the end of August, right before all the Harleys come rolling in to town, all the orange barrels will roll out,” said Pyritz.