You will not see any drastic changes on a section of Highway 42/57 in Door County or Highway 54 in Kewaunee County, but you will at the very least experience a smoother ride. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced its 2023 Northeast Region Highway Project Advisory for 2023. The advisory includes 16 different projects including one in Door County and one in Kewaunee County. In Kewaunee County, approximately 13.2 miles of resurfacing will take place from Rock Ledge Road in the Town of Luxemburg to Sunset Avenue in the City of Algoma. In addition to the milling and repaving of the road along with other road improvements, there will be a three-week closure for culvert replacements. The road will otherwise remain open during the project with the assistance of lane closures and flagging operations.
In Door County, just over a mile of Highway 42/57 between Egg Harbor Road and the roads’ split will also be resurfaced. Because of the high amount of traffic volume the road receives, DOT Project Manager Paul Brauer says most of the work will take place at night.
The work on Highway 42/57 will not include any drastic changes to the Gordon Road intersection, which saw more than its fair share of accidents last year and has been a major sticking point at Door County Highway Committee meetings. Brauer says they should learn if their funding request for the highway improvement project is approved within the next month or two. If it is approved the changes would be done in the next few years.
Both projects will begin in April, but Kewaunee County work will not be completed until October while motorists in Door County just have to last until mid-June.
FROM THE WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
DOOR COUNTY
WIS 42/57 Resurfacing
Location/limits: WIS 42/57 from Egg Harbor Road to the mid-junction of WIS 42 and WIS 57 in the town of Sevastopol
Length: 1.2 miles
Schedule: Work is anticipated to begin by early April. The contract has a completion date of June 8, 2023 and is expected to require approximately two months to finish.
Description of work: Construction includes replacing existing concrete base/pavement at various locations, milling and resurfacing of existing asphaltic lanes and shoulders, widening paved shoulders from 3’ to 5’, replacing concrete curb and gutter at various locations, upgrading guardrail and associated excavation, replacing storm sewer inlets at various locations, adding gravel to existing shoulders, and pavement marking.
Traffic impacts: The majority of the work will occur at night between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. to avoid impacts to motorists as much as possible. WIS 42/57 full closures and lane closures will occur during construction. Some daytime guardrail work will occur on the northbound bypass lane at County BB between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. for a maximum of one week. Both directions of the WIS 42/57 through lanes will remain open during the day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Detour: WIS 42/57 detours will use a combination of Egg Harbor Road, Old Highway Road, County BB, and County HH, depending on which segment of WIS 42/57 is being worked on. A WIS 57 detour will also use County P for approximately one week.
Please see project websites for detour maps and closure dates from the contractor.
Project construction website: https://projects.511wi.gov/wis42shore/
In-construction weekly updates: https://projects.511wi.gov/weeklyupdates-ne/
KEWAUNEE COUNTY
WIS 54 Resurfacing
Location/Limits: WIS 54 from approximately 0.2 miles northeast of Rock Ledge Road to Sunset Avenue in the towns of Luxemburg, Casco, and Ahnapee, the village of Casco, and the city of Algoma.
Length: 13.2 miles
Schedule: The contract time is 50 working days, which equates to approximately 3.5 months of work. Work could occur anytime between mid-April and late October of this year.
Description of work: Milling and resurfacing of existing asphaltic lanes and shoulders, widening paved shoulders from 3’ to 5’, replacing various concrete curb and gutter, sidewalk and curb ramps, installing centerline and shoulder rumble strips, upgrading guardrail and associated excavation, repairing frost heaves, adding gravel to existing shoulders, replacing various culvert pipes; and pavement marking.
Traffic impacts: There will be a three-week closure of WIS 54 for culvert replacements. WIS 54 will remain open to traffic during all other work utilizing lane closures and flagging operations.
Detour: Two detours will be used depending on the location culvert work. One WIS 54 detour will use County C and County K. Another WIS 54 detour will use County K and WIS 42.
Project construction website: A project website will be available at https://projects.511wi.gov/region/northeast/.
In-construction weekly updates: https://projects.511wi.gov/weeklyupdates-ne/
