Wisconsin Hwy. 82 now to be closed through July 2; Black Hawk Bridge now open to access boat landing

The closure of Wisconsin Highway 82 (WIS 82) across the Mississippi River between Wisconsin Highway 35 (WIS 35) and the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing has now been extended to July 2, according to Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) officials. The closure, originally scheduled for June 6-14, has been extended to accommodate additional construction activities along 1.4 miles of WIS 82 between the intersection of WIS 82/WIS 35 and the Black Hawk Bridge over the Mississippi River.

Project Manager Travis Buros of the Wisconsin DOT explained that when crews opened one of the smaller slough bridges they were working on as part of the planned improvement project they discovered some necessary repair work that they had not anticipated. He said that the worst case scenario is that the highway will now be closed through July 2. However, he said if weather cooperates and work is relatively straightforward, the closure could end as early as June 24.

In the meantime, Iowa DOT project spokesperson Ron Loecher says that the Black Hawk Bridge should now be open to traffic only to the extent of being able to access the Big Slough Boat Landing at the east end of the Black Hawk Bridge. Otherwise, traffic will not be allowed any further on WIS 82. The Black Hawk Bridge closure from June 5-15 took place in order for crews to replace two bridge deck panels and paint center lines, both of which have now been completed.

Traffic must continue to use alternate routes during the extended WIS 82 closure, having to travel north through La Crescent, MN or south to Marquette in order to cross the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. The highway is expected to reopen to traffic July 2 with no construction work scheduled during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Construction will resume after the holiday using traffic flagging operations to allow single-lane traffic for the remainder of the overall WIS 82 improvement project, which is still expected to be completed by the end of July.

Those who would like more information on the project may go to www.511wi.gov or can use the following link to go directly to the project website: https://projects.511wi.gov/wis82-crawfordcounty/.