{"id":489,"date":"2023-01-26T20:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T21:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=489"},"modified":"2023-02-21T21:27:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T21:27:53","slug":"those-who-pay-for-pavement-set-the-width","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=489","title":{"rendered":"Those who pay for pavement set the width"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/those-who-pay-for-pavement-set-the-width\/<\/a><\/p>\n

To ensure road policy prioritizes roads\u2019 users, replace Wisconsin\u2019s fading gas tax<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n
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The other morning, drumming my fingers on the wheel while westbound traffic oozed along I-94 from downtown Milwaukee toward the stadium \u2014 the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says this now is usual \u2014 I pondered how much of the argument over I-94\u2019s rebuild isn\u2019t about making the freeway more useful for the people who paid for it.<\/p>\n

Instead, oddly, a bunch of critics seem determined to make the I-94 user experience worse on the grounds it\u2019ll make users give up.<\/p>\n

Not the DOT: It proposed that as the worn-out 1961 freeway is rebuilt, it be widened by one lane from downtown through Wood National Cemetery. If we don\u2019t, the DOT calculates, congestion in both directions in morning and evening peaks will get worse, going from severe today to extreme in 2050.<\/p>\n

In recommending another lane, the agency is paying attention to the evident need of people in Wisconsin to travel from one side of metro Milwaukee to another.<\/p>\n

By contrast, opponents who want the road kept narrow, a hodgepodge of anti-growth greens, anti-suburb activists and social justice attention-seekers, do not much argue with the DOT\u2019s numbers. Instead, they offer distractions:<\/p>\n