Starting Monday, the ramp from I-94 East to I-41 North will be closed until spring 2017.
It's one of several closures yet to come for the Zoo Interchange project.
Ryan Luc with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says drivers will need to find an alternative.
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“An alternate route that we're recommending is to exit at Highway 100 and utilize Highway 100 North to Watertown Plank Road, so they could rejoin the interstate," Luck said.
Sure, that route works, but by the time you reach Highway 100 you'll have already gone through the zipper merge and have been waiting in traffic for quite some time during rush hour.
If you're coming from the west, another alternative is to exit at Moorland Road. Drivers should turn left and drive to Bluemound Road, turn right and drive to Highway 100, turn left again to Watertown Plank Road and then right to I-41 North.
Dedric Boyd is a local Uber driver who has a few other backup routes he uses during the construction
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“There's Greenfield, there's always National,” said Boyd. “There's always a way around.”
Brian Wilson, a BP gas station clerk, says he and other drivers are losing patience and can’t wait for the construction barrels to disappear. All the closures are turning him into a tour guide.
"Just in the last week we had accidents in both the entrance to the gas station,” said Wilson. "In the last couple weeks we've had numerous customers coming in, not knowing where they're going or where they should be going from here because they got turned around on the highway."
There will be more semi trucks on Moorland Rd. and Bluemound Rpad and also a bigger police presence. Cops will be looking for aggressive drivers during heavy traffic.
The entire Zoo interchange project is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2018.
