Interstate 41 (I-41) is a north–south Interstate Highway connecting the interchange of I-94 and U.S. Route 41 (US 41), located south of the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

–

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

border at the end of the Tri-State Tollway in

metropolitan Chicago The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hint ...

, to an interchange with I-43 in metropolitan Green Bay, Wisconsin. The designation travels concurrently with US 41, I-894, US 45, I-43, and sections of I-94 in Wisconsin and

. The route was officially added to the Interstate Highway System on April 7, 2015, and connects

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and Green Bay with the

Fox Cities The Fox Cities of Northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. The Fox Cities communities, as defined by its Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Vis ...

Route description

I-41 begins at the I-94/US 41 interchange in

Russell, Illinois Russell is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The community is located on Russell Road, a few miles east of Interstate 94, and was named for industrialist and political figure Russell Sage, who was connected with ...

, located south of the Wisconsin–Illinois border at the end of the

Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows: *Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest; *Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Holl ...

. The highway continues north concurrently with I-94 as part of the North-South Freeway to the Mitchell Interchange in

, turns west to run concurrently with I-894 and I-43 as the Airport Freeway to the

Hale Interchange The Hale Interchange is the major interchange between Interstate 41 (I-41), I-43, I-894, US Highway 41 (US 41), and US 45 in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, southwest suburb of Greenfield, though it takes it name from the nearby comm ...

(forming a brief

wrong-way concurrency A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical roadway bearing two or more different route numbers. When two roadways share the same right-of-way, it is sometimes called a common section or commons. Other terminology for a concurr ...

with I-43), and turns north to run concurrently as the Zoo Freeway with I-894 and US 45 to the Zoo Interchange, with the US 45 concurrency continuing until the I-41/US 41/US 45 split near Richfield. The Interstate roughly parallels I-43, which runs north–south along Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to Green Bay. I-41 runs through the Fox Valley (including the cities of Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Appleton, along with the

). At Appleton, I-41 intersects US 10 and State Trunk Highway 441 (WIS 441), the latter of which is a freeway that runs into the city and back to I-41. Further north, I-41 intersects WIS 172 on the south side of Green Bay, before running along the city's west side to its end at the I-43 interchange. The Interstate is approximately long and located almost entirely within the state of Wisconsin and is completely concurrent with a slightly adjusted alignment of US 41 to its termination in Green Bay.

History

The freeway portion of US 41 and US 45 from Milwaukee through the Fox Valley to Green Bay was proposed and designated as an Interstate Highway as part of the 2005 highway funding bill ( Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users). In the initial language of the bill, the route was named Interstate 41, which correlates with the U.S. Highway it parallels and also complies with the Interstate naming guidelines through the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

(AASHTO). The final bill omitted the I-41 designation. In 2009, Green Bay officials began a campaign to have US 41 designated as a northern extension of

I-55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

from its current termination in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, with the alternative being designated as a spur of I-43. At the spring meeting of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbers of AASHTO on May 18, 2012, the I-55 designation was discussed by the committee. Coordination would have been required with the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA) and the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

(IDOT) on the I-55 designation. However, IDOT officials were not interested in signing an extension of I-55 from its Chicago terminus to the state line. Therefore, the

Wisconsin Department of Transportation The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the state ...

(WisDOT) decided to seek a different designation not requiring the cooperation of their Illinois counterparts. Four designations were proposed by WisDOT and put up for public review: two new primary designations (I-41 and I-47) and two auxiliary designations (I-594 and I-643). At the end of October 2012, WisDOT submitted I-41 to AASHTO for consideration at their fall Special Committee meeting, where it was conditionally approved on November 16, 2012, pending FHWA concurrence. Official approval of I-41 then hinged on weight limit exceptions being approved for the route, which initially passed the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

as H.R. 4745 and awaited a

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

vote as S. 2438, but there were later passed in a different bill (H.R. 83) on December 16, 2014. On April 9, 2015, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced that the FHWA had approved I-41 as part of the Interstate Highway System. According to WisDOT, the approval came two days earlier. WisDOT replaced or modified 3,500 signs before and near September 2015 after coordination with IDOT and the FHWA (signs erected in 2014 and into 2015 before approval of the designation had the I-41 shield obscured until approval). Over the next 5–10 years, shoulders are slated to be rebuilt as older parts of the highway are upgraded. The redesignation to Interstate status also makes the route subject to the Highway Beautification Act, meaning current advertising billboards along the Milwaukee-to-Green Bay portion of the road can no longer be upgraded or enlarged nor can new signs be added.

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links