DOT proposes 6 lane hwy, divergent diamond interchanges as part of I-41 expansion from Appleton to De Pere

DE PERE, Wis. (WBAY) - The Wisconsin Department of Transportation held a virtual public hearing Tuesday on the expansion of Interstate 41 from Appleton to De Pere.

It went from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and this will be the first in a series of three meetings on the topic, with the remaining two scheduled for in-person.

According to WisDOT, the 23-mile stretch of I-41 from WIS 96 (Wisconsin Avenue) in Appleton to County F (Scheuring Road) in De Pere experiences “crashes at a rate greater than similar freeways in Wisconsin, is congested, and has multiple roadway design deficiencies.”

Moreover, several pavements and bridges are reaching the end of their use and need replacing.

Data from WisDOT revealed 1,640 crashes from 2015 to 2019 along that I-41 route between Outagamie and Brown counties, which is close to one crash every day.

Approximately 11% of those crashes resulted in evident injuries, 11% in possible injuries, and six were fatal. That data excludes animal versus vehicle crashes.

A WisDOT map showed the I-41 stretch of College Ave to Lyndale Dr. in Appleton had a crash rate that was more than 50% above the statewide average.

You can find documents regarding crash data and the environmental assessment below.

There were be an in-person meeting on Wednesday from 5-8 p.m. at Hemlock Creek Elementary School, 1900 Williams Grant Drive in De Pere.

Another in-person hearing is scheduled for Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Fox Valley Technical College - D.J. Bordini Center, 5 N. Systems Drive in Appleton.

“I drive the highway everyday and it does need...definitely a three lane. You know, between Ballard [Road] and Meade [Street] it’s just a bottleneck everyday. It’s just a mess,” An Appleton resident.

The project’s total cost is expected at $1.25 billion with officials calling for a six lane highway along that stretch of road.

WisDOT is proposing roundabouts and divergent diamond interchanges.

Officials also discussed the South Bridge and the connector route that would be a bypass around the Green Bay area for vehicles traveling on both interstates.

A total of three people commented in Tuesday’s public hearing.

“There has been a complete failure to consider the absence of any practical public transport links between the Green Bay area and the Appleton area,” Frank Ingram of Green Bay said.

Adam Pochaska of Green Bay said, “Get people going mass transit instead of just widening the highways all the time.”

Construction for all this is expected to start in 2025 and end in 2029.

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