APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Monday was the first day of a construction project in downtown Appleton, which will last into the fall.
Officials are saying the minor inconveniences experienced by motorists will be well worth the end result.
The end goal is to turn Appleton Street back into a two-way street, a move that city officials say will improve traffic flow.
But first, some work is required to get to that point.
“Nobody likes to see detours and road construction, it’s kind of a pain for everybody,” says Chad Doran, City of Appleton Communications Coordinator.
Rather the idea is that a little headache will be well worth the eventual end result.
“I think most people realize that to have nice quality streets and to have nice traffic flow things need to be done from time to time,” he explains.
Perhaps the most glaring closure for motorists is the bridge northbound into downtown from South Oneida Street.
“The bridge there that really kind of spans Jones Park is completely shut down as of Monday,” says Doran. “And will be shut down until mid-July or so.”
The bridge is being closed in order for crews to help realign it in accordance with the projects overall plan.
“And realigning that bridge will allow us to turn Appleton Street back into a two-way street again,” he says. “And that will help improve traffic flow throughout downtown for people coming from the north or the south.”
The project itself stems from a recent transportation study that was conducted.
“One of the recommendations of this study was to turn Appleton Street back to a two-way street and to do that we needed to realign the bridge,” explains Doran.
The project is expected to be finished by October 15.
More details on the project can be found here.
