Abandoned I-94 project kicks costs down the road

10/6/17, Wisconsin Radio Network

What’s next, now that the state has pulled the plug on the I-94 project in Milwaukee County?

The state Department of Transportation this week asked the Federal Highway Administration to withdraw authorization for the project. That action comes after Governor Scott Walker signed a state budget that did not include funding for work that was expected to cost one billion dollars or more.

But it’s not as if the stretch between the Zoo and Marquette interchanges won’t eventually need to be done. “If there is a decision to eventually move forward on this, which I think there’s going to have to be at some, it’s going to cost more money and take more time,” said Wisconsin Transportation Association executive director Craig Thompson.

Thompson said the entire Interstate system in southeastern Wisconsin is about 60 years old. “We’ve done segments of it, but businesses need some plan as to when the other segments are going to get done.”