the South Avenue/Mormon Coulee Road
corridor in the City of La Crosse and the Town of Shelby. In addition, the
study also looked at the timing of planned improvements along US 14/61 and
WIS 35 South in the Town of Shelby.
The South Avenue/Mormon Coulee Road corridor is beginning to experience
increased delay and congestion as traffic volumes increase. A few of the
intersections and some roadway segments are beginning to experience
congestion and intersection operation issues. If projected traffic volumes are
realized, many more intersections and segments are anticipated to experience
delay and congestion. Increased delay and congestion can result in increased
crashes at intersections that currently operate safely, as well as trip diversion
to other routes as motorists avoid the corridor.
In addition to the No-build Alternative, a range of mainline alternatives were
developed as part of the study process for the urban segment of the corridor
including:
Four-lane Variable Width Median Alternative This alternative
consisted of a four-lane divided urban facility with a median extending
along the entire length of the corridor. The median would vary in width
from four feet to 20 feet with the widest portion located near
intersections to accommodate left-turn lanes.
Five-lane Two-Way-Left-Turn-Lane (TWLTL) Alternative This
alternative is very similar to what currently exists along Mormon Coulee
Road south of East/Ward Avenue. It would extend the TWLTL facility
along South Avenue north of East/Ward Avenue, bring the existing
facility up to WisDOT standards, and provide short medians at
intersections to safely separate left-turn lanes from through traffic.
Access along the corridor would be accommodated via a 14 foot center
TWLTL.
Hybrid Alternative The Hybrid Alternative is a combination of both
the Four-lane Variable Width Median and the Five-lane TWLTL
Alternatives. North of East/Ward Avenue, South Avenue would be a
four-lane facility with a variable width median. South of East/Ward
Avenue, Mormon Coulee Road would be a TWLTL facility very similar
to the current conditions with short medians at the signalized
intersections to separate left-turn lanes.
All of the mainline alternatives included pedestrian and multi-modal
accommodations such as a wide 14 foot outside travel lane for shared use
with bike traffic. The alternatives also included a five foot terrace to separate
pedestrians from vehicular traffic on the corridor, and six foot sidewalks. In
addition, the mainline alternatives included an analysis and recommendation
of access management techniques to promote the safe and efficient operation
of the corridor. The mainline alternatives were developed to operate
efficiently under year 2030 traffic volumes.
The US 14/61/WIS 35 intersection was also included within the scope of the
study and included a systems approach to determine long-term option for this Study Report
A-WIDOT0405.00
Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Southwest Region
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portion of the corridor. The system approach included analyzing 33
rd
Street,
Old Town Hall Road, Riverview Drive, and Sunnyside Drive. A total of six
intersection alternatives were developed for the intersection.
The study included an analysis of the timing of improvements for the rural
segments of the corridor. A plan to reconstruct US 14/61 to a four-lane
facility was completed several years ago. Changes in WisDOT policy
regarding improvement projects, resulted in the need to reexamine the need
for implementation of the plan.
The WIS 35 South corridor is tentatively scheduled for reconstruction as a
four-lane facility in 2010, and is expected to exceed the WisDOT FDM
threshold for a two-lane facility some time near 2025. The US 14/61
corridor would likely exceed the WisDOT threshold sometime after 2030.