A Roadway Brief

A Roadway Brief

How does Wisconsin’s interstate length, traffic and roughness fare against the other states (and the District of Columbia)? Not too shabby. Wisconsin – and most of its interstates – fall solidly in the lower middle of states. Wisconsin ranked 31 in annual vehicle miles traveled in urban areas and 36 in mean annual average daily traffic in urban areas. Wisconsinites traveled a total of 10,408,000,000 miles in 2011 over 742 miles of interstate – putting the state at 29th. The highest maximum daily traffic was on 94 in urban areas with 158,030 vehicles. That same section of interstate averaged 82,068…

How does Wisconsin’s interstate length, traffic and roughness fare against the other states (and the District of Columbia)? Not too shabby. Wisconsin – and most of its interstates – fall solidly in the lower middle of states.

Wisconsin ranked 31 in annual vehicle miles traveled in urban areas and 36 in mean annual average daily traffic in urban areas. Wisconsinites traveled a total of 10,408,000,000 miles in 2011 over 742 miles of interstate – putting the state at 29th.

The highest maximum daily traffic was on 94 in urban areas with 158,030 vehicles. That same section of interstate averaged 82,068 vehicles throughout the year.

The average pavement roughness was 99, which the department deems acceptable but not good. Interstate 535 (all one mile of it) had the worst roughness score with 152 rough inches in that mile. In comparison, 94 has 98 inches per mile and 494 has 110 inches per mile over its four miles of length.

Route Number

Length

Annual Vehicle Miles Traveled (in millions)

Mean Annual Average Daily Traffic

Maximum Annual Average Daily Traffic

Mean Pavement Roughness (in/mi)

(miles)

Rural

Urban

Rural

Urban

Rural

Urban

Rural

Urban

Rural

Urban

39

122

60

1,234

896

27,724

39,561

52,832

90,067

84

102

43

97

95

771

1,794

22,437

57,761

39,783

147,223

91

99

90

88

21

916

174

28,955

24,868

36,421

40,739

113

96

94

171

79

2,280

2,071

42,512

82,068

111,506

158,030

83

98

535

 

1

 

12

 

29,642

 

29,642

 

152

794

 

4

 

57

 

45,026

 

55,000

 

110

894

 

5

 

202

 

112,344

 

156,651

 

101

Total

478

265

5,202

5,206

31,918

60,854

111,506

158,030

90

99

Abby Callard was an assistant editor at Milwaukee Magazine from 2012-2014. Her journalistic pursuits have seen her covering the Hispanic community in mid-Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., art and culture for Smithsonian magazine, the social enterprise space in India and health care in Chicago. Abby has a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.