Why is this "most emailed"?? A story from almost a year ago and no new comments except mine?

Kawisixer01.. yes you did make the claim they are automated.. this was from your own post at 8:53 pm on the 12th.. this was in response to a message from janesvillean."You honestly think the cost is justified to automate every on/off ramp in the state? I'd be willing to bet those gates approach $100k min per installation or more. Just because the technology exists to do something doesn't make it feasable to do it, unless of course you have the deep pockets of the tax payers to fund it." Right there you are claiming that they are automated. When I formed you that they were not. and here is a response you wrote to me when I informed you that they were operated manually."um the original design is that the crank is a manual override in the case that the motor dies or power is out that they could manually crank it back UP" so yes you are saying they are automated. I spend time on these interstates in the Big Red Fire Trucks and yes see many people who don't move over for emergency vehicle all the time. OR passing the amublances and fire trucks when they are going lights and sirens to calls just to have to stop for the call.. So I think I may know what I'm talking about.

These were put in place, just after an early February blizzard, a few years ago, which closed interstate 90 for a couple of days. There was massive criticism, from people claiming the state failed to plan for such an disaster, where cars were stranded and abandoned. That caused many to be towed, in order to reopen the highway. I'm not going to defend the cost, but the elected officials were pressured to the point of feeling compelled to react, probably for several reasons. If the 30 mile parking lot hadn't occurred, I don't believe they would be there today.

DeGryse, there's a permanent gate at the on ramps to I-43 in Clinton.

I am not sure how this qualifies as news? These gates have been near the Hwy26 ramps for several years now.

I guess it is a slow news day.

Actually I never made a claim that they are automated. If you go back to the beginning of the post I ASKED that question. The original intent of my first post was to ask the REPORTER. Pretty much asking the WRITER of the story to do a little more thorough job, or a follow up post with more detail. Lot's of people seem to want to make assumptions here without really knowing the details or the truth. My first post asked for more detail to get a better grasp on the budget amount being used for this. The whole theme of this being the question of whether it is a financially sound decision to make when we continue to be in a very tight budget situation in the state. So tight in fact that the state has seriously brought up toll roads, increasing gas tax, and charging wheel taxes. Now if you think it's great to go into debt and have to install tolls for dumb projects like this than you can pay for it. But it is not needed and not a fiscally sound decision. At one time people in govt treated their budget as if they worked in private industry, that has changed to a situation where it seems anything goes as long as Joe tax payer is paying for it. Most businesses would not justify a project such as this being worth the cost. I think it's a little more intelligent to guide these funds into repairing delapidated bridges and such than to gates that are rarely used, whose purpose could be filled by the much cheaper things already in place.

kawisixer01, what is your source that tells you these are automated, thus justifying your claims of exorbitant costs?

The ramp gates have been being deployed for several years now, mostly in SE WI. The ramp gates have drop-arms, similar to a railroad crossing arm. They are manually deployed and include a solar-powered flasher assembly to improve visibility. The movable (class 3) barriers are difficult to set-up in bad weather. The alternate is for police officers to use their squads to block the ramps, which is a bad use of manpower.

from the picture, it looks like a money maker for the DOT. Every time somebody slides into one of these things, their insurance company will be shelling out big bucks to replace/repair them.

2tl4u- um the original design is that the crank is a manual override in the case that the motor dies or power is out that they could manually crank it back UP. All RR gates have that, whether it's always attached, or stored inside and then can be attached. Apparently you are the one who's not paying attention. I'm not sure how exactly you think you know how much attention I pay as we've likely never met, but typically I'm one of the few cruising in the right lane and not just hanging out in the left lane for no reason and holding up faster traffic behind me. I'm typically one of the few that shifts a lane and slows down to avoid vehicles on the shoulder.

Next thing you know they will have a policeman at each ramp checking that your papers are in order.

2tl4u... EVERYBODY does what you say? I drive the Interstate everyday for 18 tears now and I do not see the disrespect to the magnitude you portray. Accidents and emergency vehicles are respected and slowed down for. Sure there is an occasional dope that is oblivious to the world in general but it certainly isn't everybody.
I do feel these gates are appropriate investments in safety and i will even say cost savings. I've seen several times where a squad car is dispatched to physically block a ramp. Now that is a wasteful use of resources.

kawisixer01:
I am with you on this. Just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should. What a colossal waste of $, in a time where we should be saving every penny. But hey, when have we ever let $$$ get in the way of someone's wants.

Kawisixer01..These gates seem to be put up for people like you who travel the interstate all the time and don't pay attention to the things around them. As you get off the next ramp that has a arm gate look at it.. There is a hand crank on the back to lower the gate so it has to be done manually. So your 100k is a little off the deep end. Also these would not be needed enless everyone that seen an accident on the interstate would slow down and move as far over as they can... but no they don't they run 70-80 in the lane right next to the police and fire trucks like those people are a nuisance and are slowing them up to the ever important starbucks they have to get to.

who cares?

Janesvillean=C'mon I think you are being a bit melodramatic. In the number of years that the hand deployed barriers have been there I have seen them put up ONCE, and that was for snow/ice. I travel the interstate highways multiple times a day. You honestly think the cost is justified to automate every on/off ramp in the state? I'd be willing to bet those gates approach $100k min per installation or more. Just because the technology exists to do something doesn't make it feasable to do it, unless of course you have the deep pockets of the tax payers to fund it. I work in industrial automation, and there are as many instances where I justify NOT using technology and automation because it isn't economically feasible or could easily and more cheaply be done without automation. Also how many dangerous railroad crossings exist in the state where people have been killed? Yet those have not recieved crossing gate installations. I can think of a number of crossings in the county alone where there have been multiple fatalities, yet there is still nothing there but a rr x sign. BTW you might be surprised to learn that those "cheap aluminum" mile marker signs cost $125-$150 per sign according to one source I found online. That is not counting the labor of installing them. That cost adds up very quickly when you consider two signs per .1 of a mile. When you consider you can stand at one and literally read the next one down the line, that is too much. What is the reason we need to now increase the amound of mile marker signs we've had by 10x? I do think going from $300/mi to $3,000/mi in sign cost alone is a bit extreme.

kawisixer01, I suppose it is a colossal waste of funds, unless you're the widow of a state patrol officer whose life could have been saved by controlling traffic while he responded to an accident, or the father of a woman who was killed in a secondary accident caused by rubberneckers. It's just a gate. It's a fraction of the cost of almost anything else installed on the Interstate. (So are those cheap aluminum mile marker signs. What, did you think they were made of gold?) Please think these things through.

I can always find an alternate route, so long as I'm not forced into using one of Milton's dreaded roundabouts.

"Motorists still could get on or off the Interstate..." I can see blocking the ON ramps when needed, but there is no barrier strong enough to stop me from getting OFF the interstate at my exit.

Special 'remote controls' will be given to senate democrats to facilitate their occasional escape from duty.

My guess would be that they are all manually operated and that any official street dept,county or state highway employee or city,county or state law enforcement employee would be authorized to deploy them.

Seems as much of a colossal waste of funds as the mile marker signs they've thrown up every .10 of a mile near the state line. Whats the cost of these barriers vs. the old hand deployed ones Ms. Idzerda? How are they actuated? Through a wired or wireless connection? Who has control over deploying them? Does it have to be done remotely or can an officer from any agency at the scene drop it?