Study shows changes likely for western 172 Highway intersections in Ashwaubenon will be discussed around Jan. 1 By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle The study of State 54 and 172 from Seymour to Green Bay reached its halfway point with a public meeting Wednesday. Area residents and officials were told two segments in the corridor would probably need major changes by 2030, while others could deal with future traffic with only minor tweaks. The study being done on the corridor is for planning purposes only; no construction is being planned at this time. Some construction may be in the works, however, for the segment of 54 through Oneida and 172 from Oneida to the casino-airport area. Congestion by 2030 could get high, and the Oneida area is a bottleneck because of the small urban area and bridge over Duck Creek. It's likely 172 will have to be expanded to four lanes from 54 to the airport, with the 54-172 intersection also being redesigned. Project manager Chris Culotta said traffic studies showed the general flow of traffic was along 54 and 172, with east-west traffic, rather than completely along 54 to West Mason Street. Also a future problem, in a different way, was the segment of 172 in the Babcock Road and Packerland Drive areas, where the four-lane highway becomes, briefly, a four-lane urban street and pedestrians and bicycles get thrown into the mix. 'It's a really complex area," said consultant Darren Fortney. He said context-sensitive design might be needed to ease the transition. However, the study has not progressed far enough to recommend what might be done with the two intersections along that stretch of 172. That will likely be a key topic in the next scheduled meeting in late December or January; no final date has been set. A final report is expected in April. "We may not have a decision (on intersections) at the next meeting, but we will have some things for you to comment on," Fortney said. Also expected to be heavily congested by 2030 is the stretch of 54 on West Mason Street just west of U.S. 41, a high commercial and industrial area. It's unsure whether adding lanes would help, WisDOT officials said, but they could see tweaks such as additional turning lanes and the changing of the frontage roads to avoid intersecting so close to the main road. As for the more rural parts of 54, Fortney said, they should be able to handle the likely increases in traffic with such changes as turn lanes and restrictions on access; having a housing development's main entrance road come off a side road rather than the highway, for example. He also said developers should plan new buildings with enough setback from the road to accommodate expansion. Questioners expressed concern the study wasn't wide enough, citing the proposed bridge from 41 across the Fox River south of De Pere and a west-side connector that would take Interstate 43 traffic from the south to State 29. Culotta said the state was looking at the larger picture and the 54-172 study was part of that. Estimates show traffic counts are likely to almost double on both highways over the next 26 years, especially on 172 because of that highway's connections to jobs and shopping in Ashwaubenon and its connection further east to I-43. They show that traffic counts ranging from 7,200 to 39,000 in 2000 could reach 9,600 to 61,000 in 2030.