Reevaluation process to begin for Westby-Viroqua Bypass environmental document

July 26, 2006

A standard reevaluation process will begin this summer for the environmental document for the US 14/61 Westby to Viroqua Bypass project. The project involves constructing new roadways bypassing the communities of Westby and Viroqua and a new four-lane roadway between the two communities to address transportation safety and capacity issues.

The reevaluation will focus on the recommended corridor that was approved in the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and will include opportunities for public involvement. The effort will investigate when the Westby and Viroqua portions of the project should be constructed, and will evaluate intersections on the corridor for possible inclusion of grade separated structures (bridges) or interchanges.

“Early in 2006 we held a series of meetings in Vernon County where we discussed the schedule for the project. At that time we proposed constructing the four-lane section in 2010, the Westby bypass portion in 2011, and the Viroqua bypass portion in 2012,” explained John Von Ruden, project development supervisor from WisDOT’s Southwest Region in La Crosse. “Since then, we’ve reexamined the project and are considering moving the Westby and Viroqua work to later years.” He said construction of the four-lane section of US 14/61 between Westby and Viroqua would remain scheduled in 2010.

The reevaluation is a standard requirement for all federally funded projects when three or more years have passed from the time the final EIS was approved to the time any major action occurs on the project. (The final EIS for US 14/61 was approved on March 29, 2002.) The effort will determine if any significant changes have occurred since the final EIS was approved.

Von Ruden indicated that several events led WisDOT to offer additional opportunities for public input in the reevaluation process. These events include:

• A report was prepared by the Federal Highway Administration that reviewed newly opened bypasses in Wisconsin. The report identified areas that showed opportunity for safety improvements.
• Updated traffic volume forecasts showed flatter traffic growth than anticipated in the EIS.
• Recent changes in WisDOT’s design standards raised the traffic volume threshold for four-lane sections on urban streets.

A public information meeting will be scheduled later this year to outline the reevaluation process and to discuss the design of the four-lane section of US 14/61 between Westby and Viroqua.

The engineering consulting firm Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. has been hired to reevaluate the EIS on WisDOT’s behalf.

  More information on the US 14/61 Westby to Viroqua Bypass project...

For more information, contact: 
Anne Grayson, Communications Manager,
(608) 785-9029, anne.grayson@dot.state.wi.us