Trio of scheduled DOT projects will impact area travel from mid to late April through this summer
Three highway projects scheduled by the Wisconsin and Iowa Departments of Transportation (DOT) this year will have some travel impact for area motorists, beginning as early as the middle of this month of April and some continuing on through the summer months. Two projects by the Wisconsin DOT along the Mississippi River are slated to begin in April and impact travel to and from Wisconsin, while the Iowa DOT is scheduled to conduct a repaving project of State Highway 9 beginning in late April/early May and lasting throughout the summer.
All project timelines are dependent upon weather conditions. They are described in greater detail below:
WISCONSIN HWY. 35
(Genoa to Stoddard)
Wisconsin Highway 35 (WIS 35) is part of the Great River Road Scenic Byway. This project begins 0.1 miles south of the intersection of WIS 35/WIS 56 in the village of Genoa in Vernon County and extends north approximately 6.8 miles to the north village limits of Stoddard.
Work will consist of a pavement resurfacing in the rural portion of the project, including four bridge structure replacements, and a complete urban reconstruction within the village limits of Stoddard, where the water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer will be replaced. The entire roadway will be replaced with an asphaltic pavement.
The project is expected to start in mid-April and continue through November of this year. Construction is being completed in two phases, with detours for each phase:
Stage 1 (April 2020 to June 2020) will close WIS 35 in Stoddard from WIS 162 (south edge of Stoddard) to Proksch Coulee Road (north edge of Stoddard). Traffic will be detoured onto WIS 162 in Stoddard to the east, to US 14 then back to WIS 35 in La Crosse - adding about 16 miles and 20 minutes to any trip to/from La Crosse traveling WIS 35 south of La Crosse. Local access to businesses and residents will be maintained utilizing sideroad access.
Stage 2 (June 2020 to November 2020) will close WIS 35 from WIS 56 in Genoa to Proksch Coulee Road in Stoddard. Traffic will be detoured onto WIS 56 in Genoa, then onto US 14 in Viroqua and back over to WIS 35 in La Crosse - adding about 35 miles and 40 minutes to any trip to/from La Crosse traveling WIS 35 south of La Crosse.
Local access to businesses and residents will be maintained utilizing town road access and half at a time construction on WIS 35.
WISCONSIN HWY. 82
(Black Hawk Bridge to Wisconsin Highway 35)
The Wisconsin DOT is making improvements to the bridges on Wisconsin Highway 82 (more locally known as the dike road) beginning at the intersection of WIS 82/WIS 35 and extending west across the Mississippi River to the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing. The project length is 1.4 miles and will include repair work done on the three slough bridges that help connect that stretch of highway. The guardrail/terminals will be improved to modern standards for each bridge and paving of the bridge approaches may be needed.
Construction is expected to begin late April/early May of this year and last a total of 45 days. The road will remain open for a majority of this project during construction using flagging operations.
However, a 10-day closure is expected during the construction period, with those closure dates to be determined. During that closure, traffic that would normally travel the Black Hawk Bridge from/to Lansing via that WIS 82 route will be detoured to the nearest bridge crossing the Mississippi - either south to Marquette and across to Prairie du Chien, WI or to the north through La Crescent, MN.
Pre-warn signs will be deployed in advance of the closure. Motorists can visit 511wi.gov as well for additional information.
IOWA HIGHWAY 9
(Waukon to Lansing)
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is scheduled to begin a resurfacing project in late April/early May along State Highway 9 between Waukon and Lansing. The project will run from 10th Avenue NW (Northgate addition entrance where this past summer’s paving project concluded) in Waukon to South Road in Lansing, a distance of 14.8 miles.
The project will include patching and resurfacing of the roadway, replacing the current gravel shoulders with four-foot wide asphalt shoulders, replacing the old cable guard rail with new cable guard rail, and centerline and shoulder rumble strips. Traffic will be routed through the area where work is taking place by flaggers and a pilot car.
Work will only take place on shorter stretches of the highway and not on the entire stretch of highway at the same time, resulting in some travel delays but not completely shutting down the roadway to traffic.
