Number
101565
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
090256, 011729
Sponsor
ALD. MURPHY, BAUMAN, KOVAC AND COGGS
Title
Resolution relating to the City of Milwaukee’s position on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Zoo Interchange Project.
Analysis
This resolution adopts all of the comments, concerns, recommendations and requests contained in the April 1, 2011, letter from the City Engineer and the Commissioner of Public Works to Bill Mohr of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Southeast Transportation Region, as the City’s official position on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Zoo Interchange Project and the Reduced Impact Alternative contained within it. The resolution also expresses the City’s opposition to any Zoo Interchange Project design elements that in any way impact the Milwaukee Montessori School and requests that WisDOT develop a design for the north leg of the interchange, south of Blue Mound Road, that can be constructed within the current freeway footprint or that shifts the alignment slightly to the west to avoid any encroachment on the Milwaukee Montessori School.
Body
Whereas, In May, 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (“WisDOT”) released its original Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Zoo Interchange Project (a/k/a Zoo Interchange Corridor Study); and
Whereas, Based on public input received during the public comment period for the original Draft Environmental Impact Statement, WisDOT developed additional alternatives that attempt to address the concerns expressed by area stakeholders; and
Whereas, WisDOT has prepared a Reduced Impact Alternative for the Zoo Interchange Project that is incorporated in a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Zoo Interchange Project dated February 4, 2011; and
Whereas, On April 23, 2002, the Common Council adopted File Number 011729, a resolution setting forth the City of Milwaukee’s position on the draft findings of a study entitled “A Regional Freeway Reconstruction System Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin” - a position that includes opposition to the widening of I-94 between the Marquette Interchange and the Zoo Interchange; and,
Whereas, The Reduced Impact Alternative reduces the size, impacts and costs of the more extensive modernization alternatives included in the original Draft Environmental Impact Statement while still providing safety improvements; and
Whereas, The Common Council finds that the Reduced Impact Alternative is more consistent with the City’s position on the widening of I-94 expressed in File Number 011729 than are the more extensive modernization alternatives in the original Draft Environmental Impact Statement; and
Whereas, On April 1, 2011, the City Engineer and Commissioner of Public Works sent a letter to Bill Mohr of WisDOT Southeast Region indicating that while the Reduced Impact Alternative set forth in the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement represents a vast improvement over the modernization alternatives included in the original Draft Environmental Impact Statement, they still have a number of comments and concerns relating to right-of-way impacts, capacity expansion, noise barriers, the Hank Aaron State Trail and local road design; and
Whereas, In their April 1, 2011, letter, the City Engineer and Commissioner of Public Works make the following recommendations and requests to WisDOT relating to the Reduced Impact Alternative and the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement:
1. Evaluate the potential for the E-1 alternative (“Texas T” confirguration) in the east leg of the interchange to be integrated into the Reduced Impact Alternative or, alternatively, redesign the Reduced Impact Alternative to avoid the acquisition of an 8-unit apartment building.
2. Eliminate future capacity expansion potential in the east leg, which is manifested in the provision of 18-foot shoulders in this portion of the interchange.
3. Incorporate construction of noise barriers, based on public input, into the Zoo Interchange Project for both the north and south sides of the east leg.
4. Develop and maintain an effective detour route for the Hank Aaron State Trail between 94th Place and the Oak Leaf Trail in Underwood Creek Parkway for the duration of the project. Restore the crushed-stone surface of the Hank Aaron State Trail, which WisDOT may be using as a contractor staging area, following completion of the project. Incorporate a direct connection between the Hank Aaron State Trail and the Milwaukee County Zoo in the Zoo Interchange Reconstruction Project.
5. Evaluate the potential to incorporate in the interchange design a future north-south transit corridor connecting the CP Rail corridor with major trip generators to the north (e.g., Regional Medical Center and Milwaukee County Research Park).
6. Consider restoring AMTRAK Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Watertown as part of a traffic mitigation plan to be employed throughout the duration of the project.
7. With respect to local road design:
a. Provide direct access to traffic coming from the Medical Center to 95th Street at Wisconsin Avenue, as opposed to access to Wisconsin Avenue at 94th Street.
b. Provide for westbound traffic on Blue Mound Road to be able to access westbound I-94 from the southbound on-ramp to US 45.
c. Provide an intersection analysis using future-year conditions to verify that a single northbound left-turn lane at the intersection of 84th and O’Connor streets is sufficient.
d. Evaluate the feasibility of providing a painted left-turn lane from Glenview Avenue to Blue Mound Road. If the installation of this lane is not feasible, provide an intersection analysis using future-year conditions to verify that the intersection will function properly without a separate left-turn lane.
; and
Whereas, On July 28, 2009, the Common Council adopted File Number 090256, a resolution expressing the City’s position on the proposed reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange; and
Whereas, File Number 090256 endorsed many of the same design and construction principles and features set forth in the April 1, 2011, letter from the Department of Public Works officials to WisDOT, including use of the E1 alternative with Texas U-turns, providing access to westbound I-94 from Blue Mound Road, minimizing the number of structures that must be acquired and demolished, extending the Hank Aaron State Trail along the former railroad right-of-way, providing for the possibility of mass transit extending northward from the interchange to the Milwaukee County Grounds, and, as a traffic mitigation measure, operating commuter rail service between Milwaukee and Watertown throughout the duration of the interchange reconstruction project; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City of Milwaukee adopts all of the comments, concerns, recommendations and requests contained in the April 1, 2011, letter from the City Engineer and the Commissioner of Public Works to Bill Mohr of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, a copy of which is attached to and made a part of this Common Council file, as the City’s official position on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Zoo Interchange Project and the Reduced Impact Alternative contained within it; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City of Milwaukee opposes any Zoo Interchange Project design elements that in any way impact the Milwaukee Montessori School and requests that WisDOT develop a design for the north leg of the interchange, south of Blue Mound Road, that can be constructed within the current freeway footprint or that shifts the alignment slightly to the west to avoid any encroachment on the Milwaukee Montessori School; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City Clerk shall send copies of this resolution to Mark Gottlieb, Wisconsin Secretary of Transportation, and Bill Mohr, WisDOT Southeast Transportation Region.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB127098-2
Jeffrey D. Osterman
04/11/2011