Northwest Wisconsin Highway Construction Update - Oct. 4, 2024

This week’s updates from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) on road construction projects for Barron, Burnett, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, and Washburn counties.

Barron County

Highway: WIS 48

• Location: County P (1st Avenue) in Cumberland east to WIS 25 west of Rice Lake
• Schedule: June 10 to mid-October
• Cost: $5.97 million
• Description: Removing a portion of the existing pavement and placing new asphalt; replacing deteriorated sections of curb and gutter; completing maintenance work on culverts, including repairing separated joints, replacing detached or corroded apron end walls, lining pipes, placing riprap, performing ditching and grubbing near culvert ends, adding culvert markers and replacing all four wing walls of the Hickey Creek box culvert; replacing guardrail; and adding centerline and shoulder rumble strips where appropriate and widening the existing three-foot paved shoulders to five feet to address run-off-the-road crashes.
• Traffic impacts: Motorists will encounter lane closures controlled by flagging at times during work hours.

Highway: US 53

• Location: 26th Avenue north of Rice Lake to Pine Grove Road south of Sarona
• Schedule: Sept. 5, 2023, to November 2024
• Cost: $21.89 million
• Description: Removing the existing and base course, placing a new base aggregate layer for drainage, replacing the pavement, rebuilding intersection approaches and installing cable barrier in the median between 26th and 27th avenues and a high-friction surface treatment on the pavement in the same area to reduce crossover and run-off-the-road crashes.
• Traffic impacts: Traffic on US 53 is limited to a single lane in each direction, with north- and southbound traffic operating in the northbound lanes.
  • Traffic is expected to remain in this configuration until late October.
  • The speed limit is reduced to 55 mph in the work zone.

Burnett County

• No current projects

Polk County

• No current projects

Rusk County

• No current projects

Sawyer County

Highway: County C

• Location: Couderay River Bridge west of the village of Couderay
• Schedule: Aug. 12 to November
• Cost: $874,296
• Description: Removing and replacing the bridge deck.
• Traffic impacts: County C is closed at the bridge.

Highway: WIS 70

• Location: Log Creek northwest of the unincorporated community of Oxbo
• Schedule: May 28 to late September
• Cost: $898,575
• Description: Removing the existing two steel culverts, constructing a bridge to replace them, replacing the asphalt pavement on both ends of the bridges and installing guardrail and signage.
• Traffic impacts: None; project complete.

Washburn County

Highway: US 53

• Location: Wildcat Road southeast of Spooner to County A
• Schedule: July 31, 2023, to November 2024
• Cost: $22.74 million
• Description: Removing the existing pavement and a portion of the existing base course; placing a new base aggregate layer for drainage and new concrete pavement; replacing pavement on the interchange ramps at US 63 and WIS 70; replacing the pavement on WIS 70 between the ramp terminals; rebuilding existing intersection approaches; and rehabilitating the bridges on US 53 over the Yellow River and US 63 and WIS 70 bridge over US 53.
• Traffic impacts: Traffic on US 53 is limited to a single lane in each direction, with north- and southbound traffic operating in the northbound lanes.
  • Traffic on the WIS 70 bridge over US 53 east of Spooner has been shifted to the south side of the structure, with one lane operating in each direction and an 11-foot lane width restriction.
    • The following traffic switches are anticipated to be made Friday, Sept. 11:
      • Southbound US 53 traffic will be switched back to the southbound lanes. Once that happens, north- and southbound US 53 traffic will be operating on the outside lanes.
      • Westbound WIS 70 traffic will be switched back to the north side of the bridge.
• County A is closed at US 53, and traffic is detoured via County H.

Highway: US 53

• Location: 26th Avenue north of Rice Lake to Pine Grove Road south of Sarona
• Schedule: Sept. 5, 2023, to November 2024
• Cost: $21.89 million
• Description: Removing the existing and base course, placing a new base aggregate layer for drainage, replacing the pavement, rebuilding intersection approaches and installing cable barrier in the median between 26th and 27th avenues and a high-friction surface treatment on the pavement in the same area to reduce crossover and run-off-the-road crashes.
• Traffic impacts: Traffic on US 53 is limited to a single lane in each direction, with north- and southbound traffic operating in the northbound lanes.
  • Traffic is expected to remain in this configuration until late October.
  • The speed limit is reduced to 55 mph in the work zone.