WisDOT To West Allis - - You're Nothing But An I-94 Bypass

West Allis and West Milwaukee are learning the hard way an essential truth about the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and I-94:

You can be by-passed - - WisDOT is considering closing exits to the communities - - because 'improving' I-94 means speeding Waukesha commuters to and from Milwaukee's commercial district, and from the new $800 million Marquette Interchange through the proposed $1.7 billion Zoo Interchange.

And for interstate trucks between Chicago and points west.

West Allis and West Milwaukee don't meet WisDOT's definition of small cities, or suburbs to be served.

Too urban, too Democratic, too unlike Brookfield or Oconomowoc or even the struggling Pabst Farms subdivisions, with a new full-diamond exit and fancy roundabouts built during the recession by a cash-poor state to connect with farm fields and the big, upscale mall never built.

 As these 2011 photos show, there was some nice corn growing out in Pabst Farms where new I-94 off ramps from all directions, and connecting roads were serving fewer people than, say, in West Allis.