Upgrades in store for Highway 14
I ventured home from Madison recently on Highway 14 and encountered something Evansville commuters are dealing with every day: construction around Oregon.
Since you’ll be dealing with it through September, I got a few details about the project from project manager Mike Rampetsreiter, of the state Department of Transportation.
The state is converting a 1.7 mile stretch of Highway 14 from two lanes into four lane from the Highway 138 interchange to just north of County MM. One lane in each direction will remain open throughout, though traffic will switch at one point onto the newly constructed highway while the current highway is repaved.
The good news is the construction should have a “minimal impact” on commuters, Rampetsreiter said. Aside from traffic slowing for the standard 45 mph in a work zone, the only delay Rampetsreiter said is “rubbernecking.”
Everyone wants to see what’s going on, so they slow down. He joked that they should put a big screen up so drivers don’t try to watch.
The highway was flagged for expansion because it met criteria, including traffic counts, he said. Nearly 19,000 vehicles travel that section of highway daily.
This summer is only one of several projects planned for Highway 14 over the next decade (see DOT graphic above). Projects include:
--In 2011: Reconstructing the Highway 14/138 interchange, which would include roundabouts at the end of the ramps.
Computer traffic modeling shows the roundabouts will enable traffic to flow better during peak hours, Rampetsreiter said.
--In 2012 (though it could be moved to 2011): Resurfacing of Highway 14 between the Beltline (Highways 12/18) and County MM.
--In 2015 (though it could be moved to 2014): A new two-lane Highway 14 will be built from the Highway 138 interchange to West Rutland Road (about a mile north of Highway 92), and the current Highway 14 likely will become a town road. The new highway will be built on a 300-foot wide swath of land that the DOT bought in 1976.
The new highway would be built west of the existing highway, about a mile away at the furthest point. The new highway would provide a safer, straighter roadway, and room for future expansion to four lanes if/when needed.
For more information on all these projects, check out the project’s page here on the DOT site.
--One other project that will affect commuters: Next year in Madison, the south side of the Park Street/Beltline interchange will be reconstructed.
Happy commuting!
May 22, 2009 at 6:59 a.m.
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Metro, got to disagree with you about the cause of the high water near HWY 14. The level remains high because of the connection to the water table. Surface water drainage is one thing and it usually results in something like standing water on top of a field. It only persists for so long. This is a regional rise in the water table, after water infiltrates through the ground. This is the same type of effect that is happening in the Spring Green area where houses had to be condemned and the cause of the problems around Clear Lake. The Clear Lake case is probably most similar. There were no changes in rerouting surface water drainage there.
May 21, 2009 at 10:08 p.m.
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The west side of Evill's water problem will not go away no matter what engineering study or "corrective action" ie retention ponds are made. The orginal landowner, developer, realtor and builders all know this.
What's alarming is that S.O.L.E. has not raised the alarm yet about "saving" this area. They had better get going on this.
I find it very funny to see "dry basement" posted on the house "For Sale" signs on 6th street. Why didn't the "developer" take a clue from the F.D. when they built thier new swamp palace?? NO BASEMENT!!!!...just add fill to the swamp and build on top!!!
Top bring this back on topic....
The extra 2 lanes around Oregon will be great!.........Maybe people will learn how to MERGE.
Of course ending a 4-lane road while going up hill, before a bridge and a blind curve will do wonders to keep the Oregon F.D. and E.M.S. busy with lots of wrecks!!!
Sguy....When 92 was regraded in 2003, the DOT made ALL of the water from Brookyln drain to the east along 92, both into and PAST King Lake. If the water had stopped at King Lake (like it used to) the "lake" at 14 would be shallow enough you could walk across it.
As it is right now.....if someone were to crash into the "lake" on 14 with a vehicle, you would not see it from the roadway. The ditch has 15'++++ drop off now, not a 5' like it had before the Hwy 92 regrading.
IF the Hwy 14 relocation south of Oregon becomes a reality......the really dumb question is how many 2 lane roads DO you need to go to Brooklyn???
May 20, 2009 at 9:20 p.m.
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Glad they're getting to this -- it's needed more capacity for years. (Of course I would prefer intercity rail, but that isn't in any immediate timetable.)
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There probably isn't any DNR authority to prevent the DOT from building through a man-made lake, metromilton. It does happen that construction has unanticipated side-effects, and fixing it would probably be something they would look at during the construction of the second carriageway.
May 20, 2009 at 8:49 a.m.
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The pond beside Hwy 14 in Brooklyn is from an increasing water table, but it’s been rising for much more than 6 years and has nothing to do with rebuilding Hwy 92. It’s a continual rise in the regional water table. You see it in northern Dane County at Fish and Crystal Lake and at Clear Lake in Milton. It’s more like a 50 year trend in climate. The real problem is that a ton of development has taken place in dry periods on lands that were not suitable for the long-term. This is a reason that you don’t build housing developments on hydric soils or those that were tile drained. Both a pretty good indications that those areas were once wetlands (like the Hwy 14 pond – sometimes dry, sometimes wet). Can you say “lower west side of Evansville”?
May 20, 2009 at 7:45 a.m.
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So true, do not give them any ideas.
May 19, 2009 at 9:27 p.m.
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The "lake" is not a stormwater retention pond. It was "converted" into one in 2003. Many, many moons ago it was dry land that was farmed.
Last year, Bigelow road was raised and rebuilt at a higher elevation to keep the water contained in that area.
The water table has been rising in that local area for the last 6 years (it started when Hwy 92 was rebuilt in 2003).
C.C.....If S.O.L.E. had got ahold of this, the "lake" would have been drained, dredged down 30 feet, re-filled and everyone in Rutland Township would have been stuck paying for a "dinosaur" for the next 30 years. You'd have to bring you own paddle boat too!!!!
May 19, 2009 at 10:58 a.m.
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Isn't the "lake" actually a stormwater retention pond? If it is, it is supposed to hold water that eventually seeps into the ground, not use drainage tile.
May 19, 2009 at 4:45 a.m.
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Its funny the 'lake' along hwy 14 is prettier and did not cost Evansville residents a dime.
May 18, 2009 at 8:45 p.m.
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The funny thing is I remember not that long ago that"lake" as you put was just a dried up bed of weeds.
May 18, 2009 at 5:20 a.m.
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Thanks for the heads up, Gina!
May 18, 2009 at 4:52 a.m.
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Every time we drive by, it seems like its gotten bigger. I keep expecting it to go down at some point and it doesn't the area just grows. This area never used to be this bad, something has definitely changed.
May 14, 2009 at 6:51 p.m.
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Has anyone else noticed that the "lake" near the Hwy 14-Hwy 92 area keeps getting bigger?? Its actually undermining the "new" Hwy 14 that was built last year.
The cause of this lake is the DOT's failure to admit they are wrong in that water can (according to them) run up hill and to the wildlife preserve area to drain away from the affected area.
The fix to this would require that the drainage tiles that were destroyed in the "improvement" of both Hwy 14 and more recently Hwy 92 be replaced.
Why do the local landowners have to incur hundreds of thousands of $$$$$$ of lost farm income and declining property values because of the inept actions/ denial of the DOT that a problem exists???
The 4 lanes by Oregon will be nice when they are done. However the water issue needs to be made a priority fix.
If/when 14 is expanded to 4 lanes from Oregon to Evill the new "freeway" goes right thru the "lake" that is on the east side of 14. How will the DOT get the ok to fill this in from the DNR????
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