Next phase of Interstate 94 construction will start in February

The next segment of the billion-dollar Interstate 94 East-West expansion will begin in February.

Gov. Tony Evers announced he approved $61 million for the Early East Leg segment of the I-94 East-West project in Milwaukee County. It is part of a $1.74 billion project to expand a 3.5-mile stretch of highway from three lanes in each direction to four to create an eight-lane highway.

Zenith Tech Inc. was named prime contractor for the Early East Leg, with work scheduled to begin Feb. 2, Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials said. Work will take place between 25th and 30th streets and the 27th Street and St. Paul Avenue corridors.

Early East Leg work will include reconstruction of the 27th Street bridge over I-94, reconstruction of St. Paul Avenue from 29th Street to 27th Street, reconstruction of 28th Street as a cul-de-sac at St. Paul Avenue and temporarily widening I-94 eastbound under 27th Street, officials said.

Construction on the Early East Leg is expected to be completed in 2028 and is dependent on weather, officials added.

Drivers will start to see the project’s effects on traffic on Feb. 2. Impacts will include a long-term closure of 27th Street, a long-term closure of the I-94 eastbound exit to 26th Street and St. Paul Avenue and detours on the 35th Street and 13th Street exits. Local roads will see intermittent impacts as well.

Utility work is ongoing in the area and will cause some lane closures and traffic shifts on local roads, officials said. Utility work needs to take place on the 28th Street entrance ramp to westbound I-94 before Early East Leg construction begins. This will require a two-month closure of the entrance ramp beginning in late January, officials added.

In September, WisDOT awarded a combined $181 million to contractors to start work on the West Leg of I-94 East West between 70th Street and Zablocki Drive, marking the start of the massive I-94 East-West project. The project aims to modernize the corridor between 70th Street and 16th Street in Milwaukee County, which was originally built in the 1960s and sees between 158,000 and 178,000 vehicles each day.

Last fall, the state transportation agency awarded Zenith Tech a contract to work on the Early East Leg between 25th and 30th streets, according to the Wisconsin Project Center.