One Wisconsin highway “boondoggle” stopped!

Congrats to WISPIRG for leading the way in stopping one extraordinarily bad highway project in Wisconsin (see Streetsblog USA story here).

WisDOT has dropped plans to widen State Highway 38, a winding, mostly rural, two-lane road with no apparent need for major improvements.  Although WisDOT says the project was stopped due to local opposition, I believe the fact that WISPIRG highlighted the Route 38 project in its 2011 “Building Boondoggles” report (available here) was really the beginning of the end. 

Having provided research for WISPIRG on the “Boondoggles” report, I have to say this project is one of the least meritorious I have ever come across.  It’s a mystery why it progressed so far, and a good thing that it has ground to a halt.  Let’s hope this is the beginning of better choice making in Wisconsin, which has plenty of real transportation challenges to cope with.