By some kind of fluke I noticed something strange - see bolded colored text
Someone's editor isn't working very hard or else this lady really pissed some people off.
Flood-related road closings called unprecedented
http://www.madison.com/toolbox/inde...toryURL=/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=291342
By JASON STEIN
608-252-6129
June 13, 2008
State highway officials are working to control the effects of unprecedented closings of major roads across south-central Wisconsin that are snarling traffic and making it difficult if not impossible to get to some parts of the region.
More than 60 state highways, including interstates, have some kind of closures, said Rory Rhinesmith, operations director for the statewide bureaus at the Department of Transportation. Major highways with closings have included Interstate 94 west and Interstate 39 north, along with widespread closings of county and local roads around the region.
"I've been with the department 26 years and we've never had this extent of Interstate closures," Rhinesmith said. The closures topped even what the state saw during the massive Midwest flooding of 1993, he said.
Chris Klein, the No. 3 official at the DOT, said that, with water levels in many rivers still rising from Thursday's rains, it was too soon to say when some closed roads could be reopened, what damage estimates would be and when repairs could be made.
According to Wisconsin Emergency Management, Interstate 90-94 eastbound at Highway 82 in Mauston in Juneau County is closed, as is Interstate 39 southbound at Highway 82 in Marquette County.
All westbound lanes of I-94 over the Crawfish River in Jefferson County have been closed at mile marker 267. Traffic is being detoured south on Highway 26 to B to V to Highway 89 at Lake Mills, back to I-94.
DOT and the Wisconsin State Patrol also have closed I-39-90-94 westbound at Highway 151 (Madison exit 135) due to rising water at I-90-94 westbound at the Baraboo River and Highway 33.
Rhinesmith said in addition to updates to state Web sites, the state is also working with highway officials and the media in Minnesota and Illinois to discourage or at least reroute motorists coming into Wisconsin from the Minneapolis and Chicago areas.
The disruptions to commerce and people's lives are already significant, highway experts said. Pam Moen, a spokeswoman for AAA Wisconsin, said it was very rare to see so many major highways closed at once in the state.
"This is pretty unprecedented weather for us here," Moen said. "I can't remember a time when in south-central Wisconsin it was so difficult and, in some cases, impossible to get where you needed to go."
Moen reminded drivers venturing out on longer trips to check for road closings before setting out, make sure their car is in good working condition, carry a cell phone and emergency supplies, adjust speed according to conditions and never drive into areas of standing water.
Kathleen Nichols, the DOT's overweight permit supervisor, said the state had just sent out a notice suspending permits for overweight trucking loads south of Highway 29, which runs through Eau Claire, Wausau and Green Bay. Relief vehicles carrying overweight or oversized loads will still be able to travel south however, she said.
"There aren't many times without hyperbole that one could remark that this is the worst ever," Nichols said. "It's not been like this in the last 18 years I've supervised this function."
Tractor-trailer combinations weighing more than 80,000 pounds are considered overweight, a designation that does not include regular semi-trailers, she said.
At the request of officials in Iowa, Wisconsin's highway officials also had to suspend all permits for heavy trucks headed into Iowa with overweight or oversize loads, Klein said. As in southern Wisconsin, that's because highways in the neighboring state can't handle the trucks, Nichols and Klein said.
"Think of all those trucks, where do they go?" Klein said.
Someone's editor isn't working very hard or else this lady really pissed some people off.
Flood-related road closings called unprecedented
http://www.madison.com/toolbox/inde...toryURL=/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=291342
By JASON STEIN
608-252-6129
June 13, 2008
State highway officials are working to control the effects of unprecedented closings of major roads across south-central Wisconsin that are snarling traffic and making it difficult if not impossible to get to some parts of the region.
More than 60 state highways, including interstates, have some kind of closures, said Rory Rhinesmith, operations director for the statewide bureaus at the Department of Transportation. Major highways with closings have included Interstate 94 west and Interstate 39 north, along with widespread closings of county and local roads around the region.
"I've been with the department 26 years and we've never had this extent of Interstate closures," Rhinesmith said. The closures topped even what the state saw during the massive Midwest flooding of 1993, he said.
Chris Klein, the No. 3 official at the DOT, said that, with water levels in many rivers still rising from Thursday's rains, it was too soon to say when some closed roads could be reopened, what damage estimates would be and when repairs could be made.
According to Wisconsin Emergency Management, Interstate 90-94 eastbound at Highway 82 in Mauston in Juneau County is closed, as is Interstate 39 southbound at Highway 82 in Marquette County.
All westbound lanes of I-94 over the Crawfish River in Jefferson County have been closed at mile marker 267. Traffic is being detoured south on Highway 26 to B to V to Highway 89 at Lake Mills, back to I-94.
DOT and the Wisconsin State Patrol also have closed I-39-90-94 westbound at Highway 151 (Madison exit 135) due to rising water at I-90-94 westbound at the Baraboo River and Highway 33.
Rhinesmith said in addition to updates to state Web sites, the state is also working with highway officials and the media in Minnesota and Illinois to discourage or at least reroute motorists coming into Wisconsin from the Minneapolis and Chicago areas.
The disruptions to commerce and people's lives are already significant, highway experts said. Pam Moen, a spokeswoman for AAA Wisconsin, said it was very rare to see so many major highways closed at once in the state.
"This is pretty unprecedented weather for us here," Moen said. "I can't remember a time when in south-central Wisconsin it was so difficult and, in some cases, impossible to get where you needed to go."
Moen reminded drivers venturing out on longer trips to check for road closings before setting out, make sure their car is in good working condition, carry a cell phone and emergency supplies, adjust speed according to conditions and never drive into areas of standing water.
Kathleen Nichols, the DOT's overweight permit supervisor, said the state had just sent out a notice suspending permits for overweight trucking loads south of Highway 29, which runs through Eau Claire, Wausau and Green Bay. Relief vehicles carrying overweight or oversized loads will still be able to travel south however, she said.
"There aren't many times without hyperbole that one could remark that this is the worst ever," Nichols said. "It's not been like this in the last 18 years I've supervised this function."
Tractor-trailer combinations weighing more than 80,000 pounds are considered overweight, a designation that does not include regular semi-trailers, she said.
At the request of officials in Iowa, Wisconsin's highway officials also had to suspend all permits for heavy trucks headed into Iowa with overweight or oversize loads, Klein said. As in southern Wisconsin, that's because highways in the neighboring state can't handle the trucks, Nichols and Klein said.
"Think of all those trucks, where do they go?" Klein said.
