KL Engineering designed the Central Segment of the I-39 Corridor WisDOT Mega Project. This segment extends 13 miles from CTH O south of the Janesville to the Rock / Dane County line. The project took 7 years to design and 6 years to construct at a cost of $302 million. The I-39 / WIS 26 Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) was the last project completed for this section of the I-39 corridor.
As KL’s Matt Regnier explains, “When the dust settled, KL would have designed 13 temporary traffic signal systems, 10 permanent traffic signal systems, an integrated adaptive signal system, fiber optic interconnect throughout, Bluetooth wireless communications, and a traffic diversion trigger system. Being able to finish this effort out with a unique traffic signal system at the DDI just felt right and was rewarding to complete.”
As the 3rd DDI to be installed in the state of Wisconsin, the WIS 26 interchange is now a multi-modal gateway feature for the City of Janesville. With the DDI configuration, traffic capacity through the interchange was doubled while simultaneously accommodating pedestrians and bicycle traffic, both on the road and on the 12-ft wide multi-use path. Additionally, the corridor was made safer for all users through a reduction in conflict points, as well as ample street lighting. While a DDI isn’t a magic bullet for civil engineers, as it requires traffic movements to naturally be heavy left turning, it was exactly what was needed for the traveling public.
This amazing project has been honored with four awards: a 2023 WisDOT Excellence in Highway Design Award, the ASCE Wisconsin Section 2023 Engineering Achievement Award, the ACEC Wisconsin 2024 Engineering Excellence “Best of State” Award, and a 2024 ACEC National Recognition Award.
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