The Hound was looking to leave Lake County the other day for points south and determined with all the construction going on it's like a maze trying to move around here in one's vehicle.
Route 41, Grand Avenue and Washington Street are all ripped up in Gurnee; Green Bay Road work has begun in North Chicago; the Tri-State's still a construction zone. Route 45 work will start soon; O'Plaine Road has bridge work. Now comes word Interstate 94 in Wisconsin, from the Lake County line to Milwaukee will be under construction for the next seven years! Help!
Apparently, this I-94 work up north is a time to celebrate and roll out the barrels --- orange construction barrels. The seven-year, nearly $2 billion project will expand the gateway to vacationland to eight lanes and make other improvements. This rebuild will be the largest transportation project the state has ever undertaken. They must really want Flatlanders' tourism dollars.
This work doesn't appear to be a stimulus-driven project, although it is expected to create more than 2,300 jobs before it is scheduled to be done in 2016. It was about time the work got underway. That section of the interstate is about 50 years old and is the most widely used freeway in the state carrying 150,000 vehicles per. It will cost the state about $750 million on the project.
Since the Tri-State Tollway work in Lake County, I-94 in Wisconsin was looking a little shabby. But The Hound still needs help in getting the heck out of here. Any cut-through suggestions?
Skip the cut-through. You can telecommute, shop on the web, and if you get cabin fever, there's always the Travel Channel.
THE HOUND SEZ: Hey, Irene, there's also boredom!
Hey Hound,
For the flatlanders who head to the Dells area, take Hwy 12. Large areas of that have been expanded to 4 lanes recently, with bypasses around a bunch of the towns. You can merge on to 94 in Madison, or completely bypass it and take 12 through Baraboo to the Dells.
If you are going to the Milwaukee area take 45 North to 36 (Loomis Rd.) Definitely not as fast as the freeway, but it'll get you there.
THE HOUND SAYS: Thanx for the tips.
Finally......
role out the barrels
the flatlanders are on the way
hey-don't you think we should put up a toll gate at the border?
then we can charge the out of staters $5.00 to get in and $5.00 to leave our vacation paradise
love
The Fresh Prince of Packerland
THE HOUND SEZ: Prince, the prairie princes of the Kingdom of Flatland aren't that gullible. That's one reason Dairyland doesn't have tollways. The other is Packer fans have a hard time counting their change.