Hundreds of people attended the first public information meeting Thursday, Sept. 14, on the state Department of Transportation's Highway 10 Corridor Study.
The DOT plans to make Highway 10 a four-lane divided highway between Trestik Road to Highway K. Between Trestik Road and Interstate 39, the DOT has identified alternatives that could include rerouting traffic onto a new corridor that would require a new bridge over the Wisconsin River. Between Interstate 39 and Highway K, the DOT plans to evaluate preliminary alternatives that could send traffic to the south or north of the current Highway 10. Plans are for controlled access to Highway 10. It would be a freeway in rural areas and an expressway in urban areas.
Designers are looking at three criteria, said Randy Fuchs of Earth Tech. The highway will have a 70-mph design speed to allow for a 65-mph posted speed, interchanges will be a minimum of two miles apart and all crossings will be at least at a 75-degree angle to minimize bridge lengths.
For its conceptual study east of Interstate 39, the DOT has identified 600-foot wide corridors to study, Fuchs said. West of Interstate 39, which is further along in the Environmental Impact Statement process, the preliminary corridors have been narrowed down to 400 feet.
Constraints on the western portion of the study include the village of Junction City; the city of Stevens Point; natural areas such as the Mead Wildlife Area, Wisconsin River and wetlands; and the Wisconsin Central Limited railroad tracks that parallel much of Highway 10, Fuchs said. In the Highway HH bypass and crossing corridor, Ben Franklin Junior High School is a constraint, and Highway 10 would have to split around the school. Constraints for a bypass to the northeast of Stevens Point include the airport, Jordan Park, the Dewey Wildlife Area and wetlands.
The DOT will identify a preferred western route in another year or year-and-a-half.
"Over on the eastern segment, there is no schedule right now to move this project forward," Fuchs said.