Sturgeon Bay City Engineer Chad Shefchik hopes you can find other ways around a gas line and roadway replacement project currently underway on Michigan Street. The project started earlier this week with soft closures limiting the traffic between 14th Avenue and 18th Avenue. Shefchik said in a statement that he has asked the contractor to not do a closure between 14th Avenue and 12th Avenue, preserving a loop around the high school and middle school.  Soft closures may be needed for the safety of the work crews and the general public in hopes that the reduced traffic will help the project get done quickly. You can read Shefchik’s comments below:

While we hope people start to avoid using Michigan Street until the gas line replacements and roadway replacement are completed we understand that full closure of the roadway is not possible.  However, in the interest of safety for both the work crews and general public “soft” closures throughout the Michigan Street corridor will occur periodically.  I have asked the contractor not to do any closures on N 14th Ave & N 12th Ave along with the portion of Michigan Street in between these 2 roadways.  This way the loop around the high school & middle school is fully maintained open to traffic.  However, at times they may do “soft” closures of Michigan Street between N 14th Ave and N 18th Ave, or N 12th Ave and N 9th Ave, (along with their associated side streets) when they are actively working in these areas.  A “soft” closure means that there may be a barricade or 2 across a portion of the roadway.  However, at least 1 lane will open so that busses, emergency services vehicles, and residents that live within the closed zone will still be able to get through the area as needed.

I apologize for the inconvenience but reduced traffic will help this project get done as quickly as possible.