“Your county has a lot of orange barrels and cones.”
Tony Kemnitz, of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, made that understatement of the year when he summarized the road construction projects underway in Shawano County this summer.
Kemnitz spoke at the July 21 meeting of the Shawano County Highway Safety Commission.
First he addressed the state Highway 29 project from County Road J to the area of Spruce Road.
“My understanding is they’ve extended (it) so that’s one long 19-mile project,” he said. “I think there’s about 26 miles of Wisconsin 29 under construction right now.”
All of the projects are similar.
“They remove and replace the failing concrete panels. They are all placing new asphalt shoulders,” Kemnitz said. “Then obviously when all that’s done, we’ll dress that up with pavement markings.”
Single-lane closures will continue.
He said the project should be wrapped up by mid-September.
Also, state Highway 29 from County Road M to Highline Road near Bonduel will feature 11 miles of pavement improvements.
This work includes ramp closures and making improvements to the park-and-ride lot on state Highway 117.
This work will also continue into the fall.
Five miles of pavement resurfacing on state Highway 156 in the towns of Lessor and Maple Grove is substantially complete. What remains is finishing work that will take a few more days.
Of course, the County Road BE repaving was completed in early June, and work on County Road D is nearly complete.
“It’s a county project, but DOT has involvement with it as far as oversight and funding,” he said. “That removed a bridge and replaced it, installed a new 28-foot wide bridge.”
It is substantially complete with the exceptions of adjustments to the guardrail.
Kemnitz also provided updates on several safety and operation reviews of select roads.
A DOT study determined there is a need for stoplights at County Road BE and state Highway 22 near ThedaCare in Shawano.
“I understand the city has agreed to take control of the intersection; however, instead of a signal, they would prefer a roundabout,” he said. “But then the funding is going to be up to the city to figure out.”
Kemnitz said funding is available at a 90/10 split for the lights (10% being the city’s cost), but no funding is there for a roundabout.
At County Road F and state Highway 29, crash data shows 12 accidents from 2020-24; none were fatal crashes.
“Enough of a crash history that it would support us applying for federal safety money to get that intersection rebuilt in some manner,” Kemnitz said.
He said a design team would have to evaluate several alternatives, including an R-cut intersection similar to the new one at County Road MMM.
“I like the County U one a little better than the MMM,” noted Shawano County Highway Commissioner Grant Bystol. “It has that turn-lane separation.”
The project could be funded by the federal government at a 90/10 cost share. Kemnitz will submit a request for money in September.
Kemnitz also noted the hot spot for crashes, including fatalities, between Broadway Road and County Road F on state Highway 29. This includes the area in front of Doc’s Harley-Davidson.
One alternative is creating a frontage road and an improved interchange at County Road F, also fundable through federal dollars. This would result in no direct access between Doc’s and the highway.
“That will be submitted as well in September,” Kemnitz said. “I’m excited about that one, making it safer on 29.”
He will also submit a request for funds to improve the state Highway 47 and Landstad Road intersection, also the site of a fatal crash.
A single-lane roundabout at state Highway 117 and County Road E is expected. Federal safety money has been applied for to complete the project.
Bystol said the county will reinstall rumble strips on westbound County Road E approaching state Highway 117.
“They are on eastbound approaching 117,” he said. “I think they used to be on the westbound, but since it got resurfaced, they were never reinstalled.”
Paving on County Road M from Range Line Road to Pond Lane east of Caroline will be completed by the end of July, and the road will open Aug. 7.
Coming up the second week in September will be an asphalt resurfacing of County Road H from Stark Road to County Road HH, north of Shawano Lake. Bystol said the work will be done while the road remains open to traffic.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
The intersection where County Road K and state Highway 29 on and off ramps meet was recently resurfaced. It is one of many projects affecting traffic flow on the state highway. (Kevin Passon | NEW Media)
