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Zoo Interchange

Location | Overview | Status/phase

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Project location

Zoo Interchange is the connection between I-94, I-894 and US 45 near the Milwaukee County Zoo, in western Milwaukee County. Study boundaries are:

• North - US 45 at Burleigh
• South - I-894/US 45 at Lincoln Avenue
• East - I-94 at 70th Street
• West - I-94 at 124th Street

View SE, Zoo Interchange Study in a larger map

Project overview

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is currently undertaking an environmental and engineering analysis of the Zoo Interchange.

This study touches the cities of Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and West Allis and will cover about nine miles of freeway corridor leading to and through the actual interchange.

Zoo Interchange fully opened to traffic in 1963. It is one of Wisconsin's oldest interstate interchanges and is currently the busiest interchange in the state. It plays a key role in moving commuters, retail customers, health care patients, freight and other movements to major commercial and institutional sites.

WisDOT has maintained and rehabilitated the ramps, bridges, pavements and other structures, but the interchange is nearing the end of its useful life. Now is the time to take the next steps to determine how the interchange should be rebuilt to ensure that it serves the economy of southeastern Wisconsin for decades to come.

Traffic from around the region, state and nation passes through the interchange and there are many major institutions and tourist attractions that are in close proximity to the Zoo Interchange and generate traffic that use it. This is just a partial list of major institutions in the study area:

The northern extension of the Zoo Interchange, US 45, is also part of the larger US 41/45 corridor that will be re-designated as an interstate highway, a change recently passed by the federal government. The Zoo Interchange study efforts will account for any changes necessary to complete the interstate re-designation.

Status/phase

Corridor study phase is complete.

Design, real estate acquisition and relocation of utilities is scheduled to start fall, 2011, after the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issues its Record of Decision (ROD) on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

Improvements to adjacent major roadways are scheduled to start 2013-2014 with the reconstruction of the interchange scheduled to start 2015-2018.

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Questions about the content of this page, contact:
Emlynn Grisar, dotdtsdsezoo@dot.wi.gov
Last modified: February 2, 2012