August 6, 2026
By Lane Kimble
Significant utility relocation issues could delay the massive I-94 East-West expansion in Milwaukee by two years and cost tens of millions more.
WisDOT hopes to avoid that by starting construction on other elements of the $1.8 billion freeway reconstruction sooner.
Secretary Kristina Boardman briefly detailed the issue in her latest report to the Transportation Projects Commission this week.
Instead of waiting on utilities to take care of their responsibilities, WisDOT could reconfigure let packages planned for later years–such as converting the Stadium Interchange into a diverging diamond–to earlier dates. Doing so would save the state about $22 million in delay costs but would also require lawmakers to commit more transportation funding in the next two state budgets.
That will only add pressure on the Transportation Fund as a new governor and legislature begin crafting the next state budget in 2027.
Recent state transportation budgets have largely avoided tough funding decisions by using General Fund surplus revenues to meet growing infrastructure needs.
Work began on expanding 3 ½ miles of the busy freeway running in front of American Family Field in 2025. The project website currently shows construction finishing in 2033, but the delays would extend that into 2035.
WTBA members including Zignego Group, Zenith Tech, Inc., and Edgerton Contractors are all working on the project.
Zignego Senior Project Manager Justin Thomas tells WTBA crews finished the delicate job of carefully pressing in sheet piling along the cemetery border in July. This week, they’re placing storm sewer piping to tie into the mainline system (seen above).
DESIGN-BUILD SHOULD SAVE MONEY ON I-39/90/94
Boardman’s report to the TPC also highlights the advantages of the WTBA-backed Design-Build legislation, which Gov. Tony Evers signed into law earlier this year.
WisDOT plans to use Design-Build to replace the Mirror Lake Bridges as part of the 67-mile reconstruction of I-39/90/94 between Madison and Wisconsin Dells.
Boardman says Design-Build will save time and money on the bridge project, reducing the overall estimated cost of the full reconstruction by about $300 million. Updated estimates place the overall cost at $4.6 billion, based on expected inflation by the early 2040s.
The Transportation Projects Commission meets each December. It recommends projects for funding in the state budget in even-numbered years and recommends future projects for study in odd-numbered years.
Studies to expand I-94 in Waukesha County and reconstruct US-53 in Eau Claire—both recommended by the TPC in December 2025–are getting under way, Boardman says.
