OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There appears to be some bipartisan support to expand I-41 between De Pere and the Fox Valley.
Governor Tony Evers’ administration says transportation money this budget will primarily focus on maintaining current state highways. However, Evers’ pick to lead state transportation, Craig Thompson, tells FOX 11 there are a few highways ripe for expansion and I-41 appears to be one of them.
“There’s a lot of parts of the state that feel they’ve got very important projects as well, but I will tell you we have looked at that stretch of Highway 41 and we think it ranks up there very high and you may be hearing more from us soon on that.”
Last August, Governor Scott Walker ordered a feasibility study for expanding 41 from four lanes to six between De Pere and Appleton. The results are expected to be done in a few weeks.
“No matter what that study says, we will be bringing forth a proposal to start it,” said State. Rep David Murphy (R-Greenville). “There is no question about that.”
Murphy says he’ll attempt to start the expansion process as part of the budget and as its own legislation.
While it is possible the expansion could be approached as one piece if it is broken down into smaller stretches, Murphy tells FOX 11 he’ll push to start on the south end, coming in and out of Appleton.
“I have a feeling that doing it incrementally, breaking it down into more bite-sized pieces is going to be something that may have to be done.”
Thompson says environmental studies need to happen first. If that work starts this year, he says the earliest the expansion could be complete is likely 2026.
“It’s just where you get in the queue and the amount of resources we have. That is about a 23-mile stretch, so just the construction and adding the lane will take some time.”
The DOT’s most recent numbers show four people were killed on this stretch of 41 between 2013 and 2017.
According to the DOT, for that five-year stretch, on average there was a crash three out of every four days.
