Also,people that say truck drivers are worse than car drivers for recklessness should pay more attention when they're on the road...I see much more EXTREME recklessness by car and suv drivers than anything else.

I agree with those that say excessive speeders and reckless drivers should be stopped and fined.....it never ceases to amaze me how some are allowed to threaten, assault, and even kill with motor vehicles when had they done the same action with a different deadly object, they would be stopped.....Shocking.

In place of that third lane I'd rather see a vac-train between Beloit and Minneapolis capable of carrying vehicles.

Benefits:

1) Public works project would create several jobs during construction and long term maintenance and operations.
2) It would position Wisconsin as a leader in cutting-edge technologies which would be attracted to businesses.
3) People that are driving through the state would gladly pay to use it as they will save on gas and will save tons of TIME. (2 hour trip wouldn't be out of the question).
4) Runs on electricity- better on the environment then unleaded fuel
5) Lessens congestion on the Interstate system

People think they are allow'ed 5 to 7 over the speed post'ed. If the law did there job & pick'ed these people up & the court back'ed them up just think of the money they could bring in.Trucker's brake the law just like every one else point is there are bad driver's no matter what they are driving.In ID. truck's do 65 car's 70

jcommon- EXACTLY...Tolls wouldn't be a bad thing except for politicians like Doyle would steal the money like they have anyway.....collecting money does no good when you have the absolute worst embezzlers in charge of it.

This has to be number one project on the list. I wrote a letter to the Gov. about getting the project started. All he did was ignored me.

Boy, what bubble do some of you people live in? Tolls and tickets? Doyle has raided the Transportation fund for over 1.1 billion, yet you want to put up toll booths to give him more money. If you would like to give money to his fund, you are more then welcome to give. Why don't you donate your whole paycheck for that matter, but don't force other people to do it. We are taxed enough. Do you really think more money solves anything?
There would be plenty in the transportation fund if our great politicians would stop robbing it.

A toll would be great if it were done like Ohio, and Indiana. Get a ticket when you enter, Pay when you get off. Illinois has to much money siphoned off by corrupt toll takers, and toll officials. Also does ANYONE have any idea of how much money is taken in by the Iliinois tollway system? They try to say around $400 million a year, this is BS. that is only a little over a million a year. How many people in Chicago? 2-3 million or more? If a million of them use it once a day it costs them over a dollar, so they take in 365 million just from Chicago a DAY. How much from tourists traveling thru? Trucks? Workers commuting to Chicago from other towns? Is this just I-90 39? How much more from I-80 and I-88? But if you believe the powers to be the state of Illinois has no money! This is BS.

Be careful in Ohio. They seem to have a good system. Toll to Toll if it takes you too little time it spits out a ticket when you pass the booth!

donkeykong- I agree. If drivers have to do 55 on the interstate, maybe they should drive instead on the county highways where the limit is 55 or less..except of course in bad weather when it it perfectly legal to do less than the limit in any lane.

donkey - if there is no traffic around me I will tend to drive in the left lane since it's usually in better shape than the right lane and much less taxing on my car. However, if traffic starts approaching me I will move over to the right long before they would need to pass me in the right lane.

I'm on the interstate almost daily. 99% of the cars that pass me going at a ridiculously high rate of speed have out of state plates(IL, MN, MI). Yet whenever I see a car pulled over, 9 out of 10 times it has WI plates. Are we treating out of state drivers differently because they bring money into the state when they stop for gas and to eat? I'm pretty sure if we actually ticketed these drivers once in awhile, that would brings loads of money into the state!

You know what you need out there? An ice rink.

SuperDave - Funny stuff!! Camera's might seem like a good idea, but in reality they make it worse. Try driving the highways around Phoenix,AZ. if you ever get the chance. People speed like crazy up until they hit a camera zone then they jam on the brakes to get to the speed limit, then smash the accelerator down and speed to the next camera zone. It's like bumper cars out on the roads at high speed!!

donkeykong-the right lane traffic sometimes does not do the speed limit, and those of you who refuse to do the legal limit will pass me no matter what lane I am in. I always drive in the right and pass on the left, but when the slower than speed limit drivers use the right lane I am forced to pass them and drive in the left. Having 3 lanes of traffic will reduce the amount of people in the left lane. Speeders always use the left lane and don't use it just to pass slower drivers. I hope that with the new lanes will come better enforcement of the speed limits. Too bad WI can't use the cameras to issue tickets the way other states do. Imagine how much revenue would be generated, because camera or not, people don't slow down. Maybe if the speeders got enough tickets, they would lose their licenses and be forced to take public transport; not really a bad idea.

intrigued, great point. Look at the road we built specifically so GM would have better access. Did that create business or keep business here?

Could someone explain to me how more Interstate highway will will bring jobs and business? As I have traveled around the country I have discovered that Wisconsin has, what I would call, the "Mercedes Benz" of highway systems. And yet, we're bleeding jobs. Where's the connect here? Is it opportunity for employment in restaurants and gas stations we're hoping for?

I'm confused. "State Department of Transportation traffic counts in 2002 for the Beloit-to-Madison segment range from a high of 59,800 cars at the state line to a low of 43,400 between the Highway 51 intersection and County N. The average traffic count for the entire segment was 50,454".
So, even if I round up to 60000 cars in 2002, that's only about 164 cars per day. I had no idea the freeway was so lightly used, perhaps we should take it down to one lane?

bigfish1- DO you have an Ipass? That saves half of the tolls if you go into Il. You also don't have to stop.

For those that get their jollies from impeding traffic flow by hanging out in the left lane:
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Any vehicle traveling "at less than the normal speed of traffic" is required to be driven in the right lane (or as close as practicable) except when overtaking or passing another vehicle, according to Wisconsin law. A citation for violating this law costs $213.10 with four demerit points assessed on the driver's license.
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http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/news/law/pr...

Sure, this project is warranted, but a much more pressing need exists to enlarge a dangerous, very heavily traveled two-lane highway to four lanes--Highway 26 north between Milton and I-94. And I think that project would have a greater overall positive impact for the state.

The taxes that the feds put on gasoline to maintain highways was sufficient years ago when there wasn't as much traffic deteriorating the integrity of our highway system. Also the average cars got 8-10 mile/gallon. There was plenty of gas to go around and it was cheaper. The CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)program enacted by congress in, I believe, 1975, while being critically important for reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, also reduces gasoline consumption thereby reducing money available for highway maintenance. More cars with better gas mileage = less gas needed per vehicle which in turn means less money generated per vehicle for road maintenance. Catch 22.

To those of you who think that trucks should travel at 55 while everyone else travels at 65. By doing this all you are doing is asking for more accidents. It is a proven fact that it is much safer when all vehicles are traveling at the same speed. Hence Illinois and Ohio gettring rid of the split speed limits. Look up the statistics for car-truck accidents and you will find that the great majority of them a caused by people in cars and not truckdrivers.

BigRoadie- Those are laws already. But then again I believe there is a law that says to stop at red lights. Oh wait, let me think- I believe there is also a (little known) law that says you must stop at a stop sign too. Give me some time and I'll think of some others that people don't know about. Seems like there was one about the relationship between the big numbers on some signs and the numbers on that one bigger gauge in front of the steering wheel. Speed something...

I have been using the I to get to work for over 29 years. And I must say this is long overdue traffic has increased a lot. Used to be that you only had to worry about a lot of traffic on holidays now its everyday. As for tolls no way could I support tolls the toll money would just get used for something else and that makes it just another tax. And we already pay taxes on fuel that are supposed to fix roads. As for the people complaining about the "winter highway" its Wisconsin get used to it. And I think they do a good job of keeping I-90 clear considering the amount of traffic. If you live in Wisconsin you know how to drive in the winter. So really for as many days where its bad driving its not a huge number of days we have to put up with it.

Pastafarian - Now that's funny!

BigRoadie-contrary to popular belief, the right lane is the slow lane and there is no fast lane. The speed limit is 65-not 70+. People who speed in any lane put themselves and other drivers at risk of serious injury and/or death. And to the drivers who ride behind us who do the speed limit, riding my @$$ is not safe, and you are at fault if you hit me, not the other way around. Take the time and leave a little earlier so you are not speeding and endangering the safety of others.

I agree with the semi traffic being slowed down to 55 and to remain in the right lane- there aren't many things on the interstate more scary than being cut off by a semi weaving in and out of the lanes going 70+ mph...

As for this new movement to expand the interstate, it's a good idea and a long time coming. Let's just hope the planners get it right and fix the horrible interchange at HWY 26, in addition to all the other upgrades.

So the tolls in WI would be WIPass? Cool!

Most of the bottlenecks are gone in Il. with the use of the I pass. I think people who use the I system should pay for the I system with their toll money. People who do not travel a lot or use the I will not pay the tolls.

Ill. has pass though lane's no slowing down just need I pass.

Tolls are a horrible idea...the majority of the money would come from Wisconsinites who travel to and from work .I work in Madison and live in Milton and if they have 3 tolls at $2.00 a pop that's $60.00 a week....I moved from the great toll state of Illinois and I hope to never see them here, it just creates a bottleneck at each toll booth and slow's down traffic and they keep going up in price...yearly!

Tolls' are pay as you go or use That's life

Just Fix What WE Have !!!!! 6 lanes is Overkill In a World With No Money !!!!!!
TOLLS ... Apparently You DO Not Drive 90 All day Everyday , I drive Semi , do you know It costs Like $65 for us to go to Chicago and back ? You want that added into the price you pay for your shopping trip ?

They widened the bridges for this 6 lane expansion years ago and they have been sitting unused and aging ever since. What genius thought of this? By the time they get the extra lanes built, the bridges will need to be replaced again

Take some of the $800 million that is available for the high-speed train from Milwaukee to Madison and use it where 50,000+ people per day will travel, rather than the couple hundred (perhaps) estimated to use the train.

This would be the best time to change to a toll road system on that portion of the Interstate. Even tho the travellers from the south leave some of their tourist dollars in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Dells visitors do not buy much gasoline in this state for their round trip thus putting NO money into the transportation fund. That fund will never be able to keep up with road repairs when more and more vehicles will be hybrids or electric. Let the people who use the roads pay for the roads. I would not mind paying a toll to get to the Northwoods.

Tolls wouldn't be used as road repair money. Just ask Illinois, their money was used for other projects and then they raised taxes to pay for road repair.

There already are two way's to get to Milton from the I road hy 26 & hy 59. as for toll road truck's can go all the way across the state & not refuel so make them pay

All state and federal highways are already, in essence "toll roads" as we pay state and federal tax on fuel. That means that every time you buy fuel, even for your snowblower, you are paying a "highway toll".
The problem is that the state and feds raid the fuel taxes for spending on other pet projects instead of using the money only for roads. Just ask Jimmy Doyle where the fuel tax money went.

Southbound between N in Dane County and 51 in Edgerton is almost undriveable now because of deteriorating concrete. What's it going to be like 5 years from now?

mczam; I-39 is a north-south route.

Everyone who supports the expansion of the Interstate should sign up to be part of the Coalition at www.CongestionCorridor.com. Let's get it done!

Without question the NOW coalition should include Milton and Edgerton community leaders advocating for ramps at County M.
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That area would be a valuable economic hub with east/west I-90 access, a northern access into Janesville, linking Edgerton to Milton and their bypass, and I beleive there is a rail line nearby too.
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Every study I see over here in SE WI says we are a culture of commuters - look at Kenosha County. Not a lot of jobs here, but the ease of commuting into Milw or Chicagoland means they bring there paychecks back home, and look at the housing and retail developement that has occured.
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A bypass at County M would be both visionary and a marquee interchange to further promote tourism, reduce shipping costs of ag products, and keeping WI residents here, paying taxes, rather than moving to larger metro areas for jobs, taking their spending with them.

Traffic from Illinois brings a huge amount of tourist dollars and tax revenue into the state. Northern Wisconsin relies greatly on those tourist dollars. We should make the highway as easy as possible for our tourist friends from the south to travel. It's long overdue.

So, would 6 lanes lead to sound walls? I am cool with that.

gee, it snows heavily a few times a year. Even with 10 heavy snowfalls a year, that leaves 355 snow-free days with traffic on the interstate. Sure dkush21, lets forget about easing heavy traffic all year because of a few snowy days. PS, it's much harder for them to keep the roads completely clear when the wind is blowing like it was this morning. We live in Wisconsin, it's part of life.

dkush21- So are you saying that they shouldn't improve the interstate design from over 50 years ago to accommodate the growing traffic problem because then someone will have to plow it when it snows? Hmmm... I guess we should all think about that before we jump into something that could have negative repercussions.

Guess what?! That means more lanes on the interstate that they cannot keep plowed in a timely manner in the winter.

I don't think there's enough traffic volume going into Milton to warrant a ramp going directly to town (would likely be placed on Highway M). The Highway 26 exit is only a few miles from the east side of town with the Newville exit only 5.5 miles from the west side of town. Anyone in Milton can get home from the interstate within 7-10 depending on which exit they use. The benefits of putting a ramp at M would be minimal at best considering almost no traffic would be going westbound on M and there are already 2 exit ramps with state highways leading into town.

It is need'ed & will be out date'd by the time it is done & it should be a toll road all I road's should be toll road's

The sooner they start the sooner it will be done. Besides, if they keep waiting year after year, the cost will continue to go up. It will never get any cheaper to build.

milton better not be asleep at the wheel on this. its about time they had an exit on the interstate to the west, Edgerton gets two. its only about a mile to I90 and would bring business right into town

Good thing they widened the bridges a decade before they plan to widen the rest of the I. Bridges will be needing repair before theyre ever even put to use.

Mr. Cunningham, I-90 is in fact an east/west route entering our state. I would love to see this happen!

jvldss, Interstates built with tax dollars cannot be converted to toll roads without the consent of Congress.
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cynicaleye, any reconstruction would be 90% federal funded through the regular transportation budget (most recently SAFE-TEA). Wisconsin is entitled to about $500 million annually.

Stick a toll in Beloit and another in Madison so we can take some money from the Illinois travelers coming to play in the Dells and up north. That will help fund this thing. Nice to see all that work they have done putting in the wire guard rails was money well spent.

Well, I see yet another tax increase coming to pay for this.