Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday directed the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to evaluate the possible expansion of Interstate 41 between Appleton and De Pere.
A number of state and local officials have previously pushed for the expansion to ease congestion on the increasingly busy stretch of interstate.
The stretch of I-41 from Breezewood Lane in Neenah to the north junction of State 441 in Appleton has averaged nearly 470 crashes a year in the last five years, according to the DOT.
“After speaking with community leaders and elected officials regarding the importance of Interstate 41 to the continued growth of northeastern Wisconsin, I am calling on the Department of Transportation to evaluate expanding the Interstate 41 section between Appleton and De Pere,” Walker said in a released statement.
If the expansion would happen, it would come on the heels of a seven-year project that saw I-41 expanded from De Pere to just north of Green Bay. That $1 billion project, which stretched from 2010 to 2017, revamped 14 miles of the interstate.