Widening of I-94 on west side will cost $1.74B
Expansion project to run from 2025 to 2031
Interstate 94’s expansion on Milwaukee’s west side will cost an estimated $1.74 billion, with the construction work scheduled to run from late 2025 to 2031.
That amounts to another huge project for southeastern Wisconsin’s freeway system. It will affect commuters, businesses that need to relocate, and Milwaukee Brewers fans who might have fewer parking spaces.
Here’s what we know.
Most of the work centers on adding two lanes
The project centers on widening I-94 from six lanes to eight lanes between 16th and 70th streets.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says that’s needed to reduce congestion and improve safety. Business groups and construction labor unions are among those supporting the project.
Opponents say those goals can be accomplished with a six-lane rebuild. They say adding lanes would bring more auto emissions that add to climate change.
Project wins approval but faces civil rights review
WisDOT announced March 8 the project had received final approval from the Federal Highway Administration − with U.S. taxpayers providing most of the funding. Meanwhile, the administration is conducting a project civil rights review.
The Sierra Club and other opponents say the project’s benefits favor suburban commuters over Black and Brown people living near the freeway — many of whom don’t own cars. They also say the project will bring increased air and water pollution and other harmful impacts which disproportionately affect people of color.
WisDOT says it continues to minimize any harmful effects.
The FHA investigation is ongoing, an agency representative told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She declined further comment.
The review could result in WisDOT taking additional action to mitigate against any harmful impacts.
AmFam Field could get a new parking structure
A rebuilt Stadium Interchange will shift east, which means the freeway
needs more land. That will come from American Family Field parking lots east of Highway 175/Stadium Freeway, mainly south of I-94.
One plan calls for using 10 acres of existing parking. That would remove around 600 parking spaces for fans and 600 parking spaces for Brewers employees. Those plans are still being refined.
Lost parking spaces will bring compensation from the federal and state governments for the Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, the taxpayer-supported agency that owns the ballpark and leases it to the Brewers.
That could involve building new parking lots on open land or existing WisDOT right-of-way that will no longer be needed; building more of the proposed roadways over stadium parking lots on bridges to provide for parking underneath, or paying for a stadium parking structure.
Cemeteries along I-94 won’t see graves moved
A conceptual plan, disclosed in 2013, could have resulted in moving graves at Wood National Cemetery to accommodate more lanes.
WisDOT also considered a doubledeck stretch on I-94 just west of the Stadium Interchange − an area which includes Wood National Cemetery and other nearby cemeteries. That plan was dropped in 2015.
Instead, lanes widths will be 11 feet instead of the standard 12 feet in the cemetery area.
The Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration remains concerned that vibration from the construction project could cause alignment issues with Wood National Cemetery’s headstones − a key element of its visual setting, a project document said.
WisDOT and the Federal Highway Administration will monitor any possible impacts, it said.
Six businesses and one residence need to move
The project will require six business relocations and one residential relocation, according to WisDOT.
That’s down from 11 business relocations and eight residential relocations in a plan that won federal approval in 2016. Relocations were reduced by design revisions for the eastbound 68th Street entrance ramp, 35th Street interchange, and 27th Street interchange.
The affected businesses are Badger Ford Truck Center, 2326 W. St. Paul Ave.; Central Bark Doggy Day Care and Milwaukee Dog Training Club, 333 N. 25th St.; MKE Junk Junkies salvage yard, 2640 W. Greves St.; a private storage/warehouse building on West Greves Street, and a private storage building on West St. Paul Avenue, according to a project document.
The residence being displaced is south of I-94 and east of South 66th Street.
Expansion plans date to Gov. Walker’s administration
The I-94 expansion plans date back more than 10 years to Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.
An earlier proposal received federal approval to pay most of its costs. But Walker in 2017 dropped the project because the state didn’t have a way to fund its share.
Since then, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans who control the Legislature have added money for road projects by raising vehicle title and registration fees.
Evers, who defeated Walker in 2018, in 2020 said his administration would revive the project. WisDOT’s updated plan was disclosed in November 2022 − three days after Evers won a second four-year term.
Other Milwaukee freeway stories are coming
I-94 connects with two other Milwaukee freeways making headlines: the Stadium Freeway and I-794.
WisDOT is studying whether the Stadium Freeway between Wisconsin and Lisbon avenues should be replaced with an at-grade boulevard − creating opportunities for new housing and other development. That study is to be completed this year.
Also, WisDOT this year will narrow its proposals for a nearby section of I-794 between the Hoan Bridge and just west of the Milwaukee River.
The agency last year released seven conceptual plans to repair that stretch of I-794 and two proposals to remove it. WisDOT plans to choose a preferred alternative by the end of 2024.
Downtown business interests, as well as officials from St. Francis, Cudahy and South Milwaukee, fear removing part of I-794 would clog nearby surface streets and greatly lengthen commutes.
Freeway removal supporters say the streets can handle the change, which would open 15 to 18 acres for commercial development — and tear down a barrier between downtown, the lakefront and the Third Ward.