|
Highways
400 through 894
STH-441 | I-535 | I-794 | STH-794 |
SPUR STH-794 | I-894 | Jump
to Bottom
|
|
|
Southern Terminus: |
Jct US-41, US-10 & STH-441 (at US-41 Exit 134) just west of Menasha in northeastern Winnebago County |
Northern Terminus: |
US-41 at Exit 145 in the northeast corner
of Appleton near Little Chute |
Length: |
10.88
miles |
Map: |
Route
Map of STH-441 |
Notes: |
STH-441,
also known as the "Tri-County
Expressway (or Freeway)" as it travels through portions of
three counties—Winnebago,
Calumet and Outagamie—is a loop route completing the freeway
encircling the City of Appleton in east-central Wisconsin. Its route
designation is derived from its "parent route," US-41, similar
to a three-digit Interstate designation looping off a mainline Interstate
route. |
|
|
US-10 is concurrently designated with STH-441
along the first 4.0 miles of the latter highway's route on its
southern end. |
|
|
The Appleton
Post-Crescent quotes
state transportation officials who say they expect to begin construction
on a second US-10/STH-441 span crossing Little Lake Butte des Morts
by the end of the decade. The paper states the second span would
be constructed immediately south of and adjacent to the current
one, which has been designated the Roland Kampo Bridge. The Post-Crescent wrote
in 2000: "Jack
Robb, manager of DOT District 3 project development, said ...the
agency has begun preliminary planning for the second bridge in
anticipation of a new flood of traffic when the new U.S. 10,—west
of U.S. 45—opens in 2003. 'It's not listed on our five-year
plan, so we're looking at some time after 2006—probably 2008
to 2010,' Robb said after addressing the Winnebago County Highway
Committee. 'It's going to be very expensive and we're going to
have to come up with the money first.'" Then in August 2005,
two Neenah state lawmakers were quoted in the Post-Crescent as
attempting to find transportation dollars to expedite the project,
hoping to move it up from a 2010-2012 starting date to 2007-2008, closer
to its originally-proposed timeframe. In addition to the new lake crossing,
a third through lane would be added to the freeway from US-41 easterly
to US-10/Oneida St as well as reconstructing the existing US-41 interchange
to add the ramp movements (ebd US-10 to nbd US-41 and nbd US-41 to
wbd US-10) which were removed for safety reasons in 1997 when the
US-10 freeway west of US-41 was completed. |
|
History: |
STH-441, the "Tri-County Expressway" in
the Fox Cities area, was proposed more than three decades before
any major portion was opened to traffic. It was in 1964 that the
official name
for this proposed freeway was set as the "Fox Cities Expressway." In
an ironic headline from the October 28, 1965 edition of the Appleton
Post-Crescent stated, "Construction of the Tri-County
Expressway set for mid-'66." Ten years later, the first segment
of highway to eventually be incorporated into the highway—today's
Roland Kampo Bridge over Little Lake Butte des Morts—was
completed and opened at 11:00 am on November 30, 1975 as CTH-Q
from US-41 to CTH-P/Racine Rd. |
|
|
The Post-Crescent noted
in a July 1979 article that parcels of land had been purchased
for the construction of the freeway, and noted in December of 1979
that a group had formed to back the completion of the highway.
Another headline, this one from June 1982, noted that, "[State
legislator Michael G.] Ellis wants Tri-County on I-system." How
an 11-mile long freeway more than thirty miles from the nearest
Interstate can be included in the Interstate system is unclear
and it is understandable why this ended up not happening... Then
in late-1983, funding for the Tri-County Freeway was left out of
WisDOT's
six-year project listing. Pressure soon brought the highway back
to the transportation department's project lists, and in May 1994,
the Post-Crescent noted
that the Tri-County was finally given a state highway designation:
STH-441. The first signs denoting this designation apparently went
up along what had been designated CTH-Q from US-41 across
the bridge to CTH-P/Racine Rd in 1985 or 1986. |
|
|
Major
construction on STH-441/Tri-County Freeway finally got underway
in the late-1980s, with the first segment of new freeway from CTH-P/Racine
Rd to US-10/Oneida St opening to traffic on November 15, 1991.The
final long segment of the freeway, from US-10 around the south
eand east sides of Appleton back to US-41 at Exit 145, was opened
on September 24, 1993. Soon after, in 1995, US-10 was rerouted
out of downtown Appleton to run concurrently with STH-441 from
the Oneida St interchange to US-41, then northerly with US-41 to
its former alignment near Fox River Mall. In November 1997, US-10 was rerouted to head westerly from the western terminus of STH-441
on a new freeway extension. |
|
|
In 2000-01, what had been called one of
the largest freeway bottlenecks in the region, the interchange
of US-10/STH-441 & US-41 in the Town of Menasha, underwent various
improvements. Although the westerly US-10 freeway extension was
completed in 1997, it was not until this project that ramps from
sbd US-41 to wbd US-10 and from ebd US-10 to sbd US-41 were added.
In addition, a new overpass for Jacobsen Rd overpass over US-41 immediately south of US-10/STH-441 was completed in late 2001,
replacing the former Lake St interchange which was removed. |
|
Freeway: |
Entire route (10.88 miles). |
|
NHS: |
Entire route. |
|
Photographs: |
|
|
Weblinks: |
US 10/WIS 441
expansion study - from
WisDOT: "WisDOT evaluated the impacts of expanding US 10/WIS 441
from four to six lanes, including the construction of an additional
bridge across Little Lake Butte Des Morts on the south side of
the existing bridge. The expansion study also reviewed upgrading
several US 10/WIS 441 interchanges." |
|
|
Southern Terminus: |
In central Superior at cnr Hammond Ave & 5th
St, two blocks south of jct I-535, US-53 &
STH-35. |
Northern Entrance: |
Minnesota state line (concurrently w/US-53)
on the Superior/Duluth city limit on the Blatnik Bridge. |
Length: |
1.21
miles (in Wisconsin, according to both WisDOT and FHWA figures)
|
|
Map: |
Route
Map of I-535 |
|
Notes: |
The majority of I-535 is above ground level
on the Blatnik Bridge, referred to by locals by its original name,
the "High Bridge." Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby
quotes the Federal
Highway Administration in his excellent
website stating, "I-535
crosses over the 7,975-foot John A. Blatnik Bridge, which was dedicated
on December 2, 1961, and got its current name on September 24,
1971." |
|
|
John Anton Blatnik was born on August 17,
1911 in Chisholm, Minnesota. He was a member of the Minnesota senate
from 1940 to 1944 and served in the Army Air Corps in World War
II. After the war, Blatnik became the U.S. Representative from
Minnesota's 8th District from 1947 to 1975, a member of the Democratic-Farm-Labor
party. Blatnik was an early supporter of the St Lawrence Seaway
and helped develop the original legislation to build the Seway.
He died on December 17, 1991. (See the Biographical
Directory of the U.S. Congress for more information on John Blatnik.) |
|
|
I-535
is the seventh-shortest state trunk highway in Wisconsin and the
third-shortest "regular" trunk highway as four of the
other highways shorter than I-535 are designated "SPUR" or
Business routes off of other highways. It is the shortest Interstate
route within the state as well. |
|
History: |
I-535 has the distinction of being—technically—the
first Wisconsin Interstate highway to be completed in 1961. Of
course, with a length of 1.21 miles in the state, and an overall
length of just 2.78 miles in total, it was not difficult to complete
this highway at an early date. All but the southernmost two blocks
of I-535 is concurrently designated with US-53 and has been so
since first opened to traffic in late 1961. |
|
Freeway: |
Entire route. |
|
NHS: |
Entire route. |
|
Circle Tour: |
Lake
Superior Circle Tour: From jct US-53 & STH-35
northerly into Minnesota. |
|
Continue on: |
I-535
north into Minnesota - via Steve Riner's Unofficial
Minnesota Highways website. |
|
Photographs: |
|
|
Weblinks: |
I-535 Minnesota;
Wisconsin - from
Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby's excellent 3-digit
Interstate Highways website, part of his Kurumi.com empire. |
|
|
Interstate
535 Minnesota/Wisconsin - from AARoads.com's
excellent Interstate-Guide.com website. |
|
|
I-535 Exits:
Duluth-Superior - from
Matthew Salek's Upper
Midwest Exit Guide website. |
|
|
I-535/US-53
Exit Guide - from Jody
Aho's Northern
Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula Road
Page. |
|
|
Western Terminus: |
Jct I-94/US-41 & I-43 at the Marquette Interchange (intersection of the North-South and
East-West Freeways) in downtown Milwaukee |
Eastern Terminus: |
Connection with STH-794/Lake
Parkway at
Carferry Dr (Exit 3) in Milwaukee, south of downtown |
Length: |
4.12
miles |
|
Map: |
Route
Map of I-794 |
|
Notes: |
I-794 is a four-mile long Interstate spur
route serving downtown Milwaukee, the Port of Milwaukee and crossing
the Milwaukee Harbor via the Daniel
Hoan Bridge. |
|
|
As a portion of the Milwaukee
Freeway system, I-794 was never completed as originally proposed.
The east-west leg of the freeway, from the Marquette Interchange
to Lincoln Memorial Dr was to be part of a freeway loop encircling
downtown. The eastern and half of the northern portion of that
loop were never built, and for many years ramps for this loop
ended in mid-air until they were connected with Lincoln Memorial
Dr. On the southern end, I-794 was originally proposed to run
parallel to I-94 and the Lake Michigan lakeshore southerly through
southeastern Milwaukee Co and toward Racine. I-794 was completed
as far as Carferry Dr, where it ends today, although a new extension
generally along the proposed route of I-794 was completed in
September 1998 as STH-794/Lake
Parkway. |
|
|
While the length of I-794 listed above is
pegged at 4.12 miles, Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby
notes in his excellent
website the Federal
Highway Administration considers I-794 to be 3.75
miles in length. It is unclear where the extra 0.36 miles comes
from, although the 4.12 figure does come from official WisDOT sources.
In addition, he notes that I-794 is "completely
elevated" throughout, a unique occurrence among Interstate
highways. |
|
|
This highway traverses the Hoan
Bridge,
named for the late Milwaukee mayor, Daniel Hoan. The Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel noted, "Voters liked the frugal, reflexively
honest approach of the 'sewer Socialists,' and in 1916 they made
Daniel Hoan, the scrappy Socialist city attorney, their mayor.
It was during Hoan's administration that Milwaukee developed its
penchant for long mayoral tenures. Dan Hoan served from 1916 to
1940 before he was finally unseated by youthful upstart Carl Zeidler." |
|
|
As
noted above, until the mid-1980s, ramps at the lake Interchange
from the East-West
Freeway to the cancelled
Lake Freeway (North) sat unfinished,
ending in midair. A scene from the 1980 film "The
Blues Brothers" starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd
was filmed at that location. For those who have seen the movie,
it was the scene where Jake & Elwood Blues are being chased
by the "Illinois Nazis" down a freeway which appears
to be under construction—the East-West
Freeway through downtown Milwaukee. Jake & Elwood head
for what would have been the ramp from the eastbound East-West to
the northbound Lake Freeway and
slam on the brakes at the last moment so that the front wheels
of their police cruiser come to rest just over the edge of the
unfinished ramp. The Nazis aren't so lucky and plummet off the
edge... ending up in Chicago, courtesy of some good old "movie
magic." Those unfinished ramps
were finally removed and connections were made between the East-West
Freeway and Lincoln Memorial Drive heading northerly from the
north end of the Lake Freeway in
c.1983. |
|
History: |
The
complete histories of the East-West
Freeway (of which I-794 occupies
the easternmost mile) and the Lake
Freeway (of which I-794 occupies
the entire completed length) can be found in the Milwaukee
Freeways section of this website. |
|
|
I-794 developed in stages over a course
of a decade. In 1968, the first substantive portion of I-794
was opened to traffic when the East-West
Freeway from the Marquette
Interchange to Plankinton Ave was completed. The freeway was opened
as far as Jackson St in 1969 and the Hoan
Bridge, part of the
Lake Freeway, was completed
in 1974. Traffic, however, would not be allowed on the bridge for
three years. According to the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel, "Opponents
on both sides of the bridge launched a barrage of lawsuits, petitions
and demonstrations that brought further construction to a halt.
The Hoan Bridge, in the
meantime, became Milwaukee's celebrated 'bridge to nowhere.' Some
critics suggested turning it into a skateboard park. The bridge's
entrance and exit ramps were finally connected to surface streets
in 1977." The Carferry
Dr interchange was completed and opened to traffic in 1977. I-794
was then officially considered "complete," as
any southern extensions of the Lake
Freeway had been given up on by that time.
On the north end of the Hoan
Bridge,
the last of the "Evel Knievel
ramps" at
Lincoln Memorial Dr were modified to provide direct access to the
lakefront parkway, Lincoln Memorial Dr. |
|
|
In 1995, outspoken Milwaukee Mayor John
O. Norquist proposed the I-794 portion of the East-West
Freeway from the Marquette Interchange easterly to, and including, the
Lake Interchange be removed completely and replaced with a landscaped
surface boulevard. There was nearly universal opposition to the
proposal to remove the freeway from elected officials and civic
leaders outside of Milwaukee for a variety of reasons. In addition,
the STH-794/Lake
Parkway opened through Bay View, Cudahy and South
Milwaukee in 1999, causing traffic volumes on the East-West
Freeway through downtown continued to climb, to over 111,000 in 2004. |
|
|
On
the very cold, early morning of December 13, 2000 a 217-foot section
of the northbound span of the Hoan
Bridge began to buckle and crack as motorists
were driving over the structure. One of those motorists dialed
9-1-1 to report the failure and a Milwaukee County sheriff deputy
immediately responded to the Bridge and confirmed that, indeed,
two of the bridge's three support beams had failed and the deck
was sagging approximately four feet. The Hoan was immediately closed
in both directions with no injury or loss of life. Complete details
of the late-2000 partial failure of the Hoan Bridge can be found
on the Hoan Bridge:
2000 page. |
|
Freeway: |
Entire route. |
|
NHS: |
Entire route. |
|
Photographs: |
|
|
Weblinks: |
East-West Freeway and Lake Freeway - in-depth articles in the
Milwaukee Freeways section of this website. |
|
|
Hoan
Bridge: 2000 - in-depth article on the 2000 partial
failure of the Daniel Hoan Bridge. |
|
|
I-794
Wisconsin - from Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby's
excellent 3-digit
Interstate Highways website, part of his Kurumi.com empire. |
|
|
Interstate
794 Wisconsin - from AARoads.com's
excellent Interstate-Guide.com website. |
|
|
Marquette
Interchange Project - a comprehensive site from WisDOT detailing
the major reconstruction of Wisconsin's busiest interchange
in downtown Milwaukee. Includes an interesting "Map-It" tool
to help you plan your route through (or around) the interchange. |
|
|
Marquette
Interchange - project page from WisDOT. |
|
|
Exit
numbers on I-794 - a complete listing from WisDOT. |
|
|
Interstate
794 Wisconsin & Wisconsin 794 - a photo tour
from Eric Stuve of OKRoads.com. |
|
|
Southern Terminus: |
CTH-ZZ/College Ave (cnr S Pennsylvania Ave & E
College Ave) at the confluence of Cudahy, Oak Creek and South Milwaukee |
Northern Terminus: |
Connection with I-794 at Carferry Dr in
southeastern Milwaukee |
Length: |
4.76
miles |
Map: |
Route
Map of STH-794 |
Notes: |
Milwaukee County's first new freeway/expressway
to open since the STH-119/Airport
Spur Freeway was completed in
1978, the STH-794/Lake Parkway runs along an alignment originally
intended to be part of the much longer Lake
Freeway (South), running
south from the end of I-794 through southern Milwaukee Co, Racine
and Kenosha, to connect with proposed, but never-built freeways
in Illinois. While the design for the parkway has been a contentious
issue, many south shore residents wanted some sort of high-volume
arterial to take traffic off the clogged local streets. Within
weeks of the parkway's opening, it was clear this was exactly what
was happening; traffic volumes on local area streets dropped while
volumes on STH-794 and I-794 rose. Not only does the new highway
connect with southeastern Milwaukee, St Francis and Cudahy, it
provides access to the backside of the General Mitchell Int'l
Airport as well. |
|
|
To quote from his I-794
listing, Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby
notes in his excellent
website:
Wisconsin [has built] a parkway off the south end of I-794.
Michael G. Koerner writes: "This is the 'Lake Parkway' (formerly
the 'Lake South Alternate Highway/Freeway'). ... It runs southward
from the 'Hoan Bridge' along the Union Pacific Railroad's 'Air
Line' subdivison to Layton Av in Cudahy, ending with a (temporary)
direct feed into Pennsylvania Av just south of Layton (further
southward extensions, possibly as far as to WI 31 at the Racine/Kenosha
county line are proposed, but are being held up by money and NIMBYs).
—Thanks
to Scott and Michael for the excellent information!
|
|
|
The Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel noted in
a December 8, 1999 article that the Lake
Parkway has been named
after the late state Senator John Plewa, a Democrat from Milwaukee.
The paper stated, "Officially, the $130 million state highway
through Milwaukee's south side and southern suburbs is now called
the John R. Plewa Memorial Lake Parkway in recognition of the lawmaker's
efforts on behalf of the project, said John Sumi, an aide to Sen.
Richard Grobschmidt (D-South Milwaukee)." Sumi noted, "the
name shows how much respect legislators have for Plewa, who died
in 1995. The budget amendment to rename the parkway was adopted
by a unanimous vote of the Legislature's bipartisan Joint Finance
Committee." Plewa's name is featured on two small signs
placed at either end of the parkway. |
|
|
While the highest-profile portion of STH-794
is the Lake Parkway segment from Carferry
Dr to south of Layton Ave, the highway actually extends southerly
from the parkway for an additional 1-1/2 miles. At the end of the
parkway at Pennsylvania Ave & Edgerton Ave, the route of STH-794
turns southerly along Pennsylvania Ave, ending
at CTH-ZZ/College Ave. Contrary to some commercial maps of Milwaukee,
STH-794 ends at College Ave and does not turn east to
meet with STH-32. |
|
|
The Lake
Parkway was originally designed
to continue southerly from Layton Ave, paralleling the railroad
tracks for another 4,000 feet before turning easterly to an intersection
with Pennsylvania Ave at Edgerton Ave. However, the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel reported in 2001 that a "land acquisition issue" in the
1990s prevented WisDOT from "finishing" the parkway as
originally planned. Thus, the department terminated it at Layton
Ave, but built the "stub ends" to continue it southerly
when funding became available again. Originally scheduled for completion
in 2009, WisDOT pushed up construction of the connector, which
was constructed in 2004-05 for approximately $4 million. Any further
southerly extension of the Lake
Parkway along the original line
for the Lake Freeway is, at present, unplanned and rather unlikely. |
|
History: |
The
complete history of the the Lake
Freeway, atop of which most of the current route of
STH-794 runs, can be found in the Milwaukee
Freeways section
of this website. |
|
|
The
$130 million, 3.2-mile long STH-794/Lake
Parkway officially opened
to traffic at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 1, 1999. The initial work
for the new road began with utility relocations in 1991, with physical
construction beginning in 1992. By early 2000, Pennsylvania Ave
from CTH-Y/Layton Ave southerly to CTH-ZZ/College Ave was fully
signed as part of STH-794, with a one block jog on Layton itself
to connect with the southern end of the completed Lake
Parkway.
Then in 2005, as noted above, the planned extension of the Lake
Parkway from the CTH-Y/Layton Ave interchange southerly and easterly
to an intersection with Pennsylvania Ave was completed and opened
to traffic, thus removing the STH-794 designation along Pennsylvania
Ave north of Edgerton Ave and the one-block portion of Layton between
the parkway interchange and Pennsylvania. |
|
Freeway/Expwy: |
Entire route. |
|
NHS: |
Entire route. |
|
Photographs: |
|
|
Weblinks: |
Lake
Freeway - in-depth article, including map, in
the Milwaukee
Freeways section of this website. |
|
|
Lake
Parkway Ribbon-Cutting Speech by Gov. Tommy Thompson -
text of his speech delivered on September 29, 1999. |
|
|
Lake Parkway
paying off in improved traffic flow, economic development - a December 24, 1999 from the The
Business Journal of Milwaukee. |
|
|
Lake
Parkway Extension (WIS-794) - a set of three photos from Mark
W. Hintz taken in December 2005 of the Lake Parkway southerly extension
from Layton Ave to Pennsylvania Ave.
|
|
|
Interstate
794 Wisconsin & Wisconsin
794 - a photo tour from Eric Stuve of OKRoads.com. |
|
|
Western Terminus: |
STH-794/Lake
Parkway at the Howard Ave interchange in Saint Francis |
Eastern Terminus: |
Jct STH-32 at the cnr of Kinnickinnic Ave
& Howard Ave in Saint Francis |
Length: |
0.53
mile |
Map: |
Route
Map of SPUR STH-794 |
Notes: |
SPUR
STH-794, one of a handful of unsigned state trunk highways around
Wisconsin, is also one of the state's shortest highways: the fourth
shortest route, with only three others with less length, two of
which are other unsigned "Spur" routes. |
|
SPUR STH-794, along with the portion of
STH-32 along Howard Ave east of Kinnickinnic Ave, had long been proposed
as an addition to the state trunkline system, but work on the route
waited until construction on the STH-794/Lake
Parkway in the 1990s.
Until that time, Howard Ave did not exist between Iowa Ave on the
west to Thompson Ave on the east, but was constructed in the early-1990s
as bulldozers began moving on the intersecting Lake Parkway project.
For many years, the portion of Howard Ave from the parkway easterly
to Lake Dr (which was signed as STH-32 both south and north
of Howard) had been earmarked to receive the STH-199 route designation.
When the project was completed and opened to traffic, however, the
portion of Howard between Lake Dr and Kinnickinnic Ave became part
of a rerouted STH-32 alignment through Saint Francis, leaving just
the 1/2-mile portion between STH-794 and Kinnickinnic without a trunkline
designation. Instead of posting it with the previously proposed STH-199
number, WisDOT chose to leave it as an unsigned highway with a
designation of SPUR STH-794. |
|
|
While
signs were never erected and it was noted in a very few documents,
some commercial mapmakers have identified SPUR STH-794 along Howard
Ave as STH-199, its originally-proposed route designation. Any
such mentions of STH-199 on maps is, unfortunately, an error. Internally,
SPUR STH-794 is referred to by WisDOT as"X794," similar
to the manner in which SPUR
STH-42 ("X42") and SPUR
US-51 ("X51")
are recorded. |
|
History: |
The so-called "Howard
Ave Extension" opened to traffic June 12, 1997 with the portion
from the yet-uncomplete STH-794/Lake
Parkway easterly for one-half
mile to Kinnickinnic Ave in Saint Francis designated as SPUR STH-794.
It's "parent route," STH-794, would not open for over two more
years. |
|
Freeway/Expwy: |
None. |
|
Photographs: |
|
|
Weblinks: |
Completion
of Lake Parkway is nearing - June 12, 1997 article from the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel. |
|
|
Western Terminus: |
Jct I-94 & US-45 at the Zoo Interchange at the confluence of the cities of Milwaukee,
West Allis and Wauwatosa |
Eastern Terminus: |
Jct I-94/US-41 & I-43 at the Mitchell Interchange in southern Milwaukee |
Length: |
9.92
miles - according to WisDOT data*
4.70 miles - according to Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highways,
FHWA, Oct. 31, 2002* |
|
Map: |
Route
Map of I-894 |
|
Notes: |
I-894 is the original southern and western
Interstate bypass of the Milwaukee area, although as with most
other large American cities, suburban development has long since
leap-frogged the original bypass route. Still, I-894 allows through
traffic on I-94 heading for Madison on the west or Racine, Kenosha
or Chicago on the south to bypass the often congested downtown
area. This is particularly helpful during the 2004-2008 complete
reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange downtown as well. |
|
|
Interestingly, I-894 is concurrently designated
with other routes for its entire length! From its western terminus
southerly to the Hale Interchange in Greenfield along the Zoo
Freeway,
I-894 is co-signed with US-45 (which continues northerly along
the Zoo Freeway), while from the Hale Interchange easterly to its
terminus at the Mitchell Interchange in southern Milwaukee, I-894
is concurrently-designated with I-43 along the Airport
Freeway. |
|
|
Another
interesting point is the official recorded length of I-894. WisDOT,
the state agency charged with the construction and maintenance
of the freeway, records its length at 9.92 miles, although previously
it had been measured at 10.09 miles. (The change is likely due
to increased accuracy in measuring.) However, the Federal
Highway Administration has been a bit less consistent with their length
figures. First, prior to 2002, they pegged the length of I-894
at 10.02 miles, rather close to WisDOT's 10.07 and 9.92 mile figures.
However, with their 2002 revision of the "Route Log and Finder
List," the feds dropped the
length of I-894 to 4.70 miles—the portion of the route along
the Zoo Freeway between
the Zoo and Hale Interchanges! This can be considered an error, as
I-894 still officially exists and is signed along the Airport
Freeway with I-43. WisDOT has no plans to remove the I-894 designation from the Airport
Freeway, nor has there been
any similar indication of this by the feds. It can be assumed the FHWA made this change to reflect the I-43 overlap,
but why it was made 15 years after the fact is rather puzzling! |
|
|
I-894 is officially considered to be an
east-west highway, even though it is nearly evenly split between
north-south and east-west segments. However, the north-south portion
along the Zoo Freeway clocks in at 4.7 miles, while
the east-west portion along the Airport
Freeway is a little more
than 5.0 miles in length. |
|
History: |
The
complete histories of the Airport
Freeway (of which I-894 occupies the entire length)
and the Zoo Freeway (of
which I-894 occupies the southern portion) can be found
in the Milwaukee Freeways section
of this website. |
|
|
The
first 3.3 miles of I-894 were completed from I-94/East-West
Frwy at the Zoo Interchange in western Milwaukee Co southerly to Beloit Rd in 1963. The remaining 6.8 miles
of I-894 were completed in the fall of 1966, from Beloit Rd southerly
to the Hale Interchange and easterly to I-94/North-South
Frwy in southern Milwaukee at the Mitchell Interchange. On November
24, 1987, I-43 was officially
concurrently designated along the Airport
Freeway portion of I-894 with signage reflecting the change was erected during 1988. |
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Freeway: |
Entire route. |
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NHS: |
Entire route. |
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Photographs: |
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Weblinks: |
Airport
Freeway and Zoo
Freeway - in-depth articles in the Milwaukee
Freeways section of this website. |
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I-894
Wisconsin - from Scott "Kurumi" Oglesby's
excellent 3-digit
Interstate Highways website, part of his Kurumi.com empire. |
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Interstate
894 Wisconsin - from AARoads.com's
excellent Interstate-Guide.com website. |
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Exit
numbers on I-894 - a complete listing from WisDOT. |
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STH-441 | I-535 | I-794 | STH-794 |
SPUR STH-794 | I-894 | Up
to Top |
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