KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Boaters will have more places to go starting Saturday.
Most of the locks on the Lower Fox River will be open, and officials expect a completed construction project will clear the way for five more locks this summer.
Steady traffic flows across the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Kaukauna. The span is also designed to lift the roadway, and let Fox River boat traffic pass below.
“It’s a unique bridge. It’s not a draw bridge. It’s a lift bridge. There’s very few in the United States like that. The contractors are kind of hard to find sometimes,” said Mayor Tony Penterman, Kaukauna.
Penterman tells FOX 11 the bridge’s lift mechanism hasn’t operated in decades, keeping most boats from passing. At the same time a push was on to restore the 17 locks which span 39 Fox River miles from Lake Winnebago to the waters of Green Bay.
“They’ve been kind of waiting in the wings to be operable,” said Jeremy Cords, Fox River Navigational System Authority CEO.
The Fox River Navigational System Authority, or FRNSA, manages the locks. Cords says once the bridge is fixed, the five restored Kaukauna locks will open, and boating from The Menasha Lock to the Rapide Croche Dam just north of Wrightstown will be possible.
“That’s a lot of riverway. We’re going to have 30 miles all together of navigable riverway that you can get through by accessing these locks.”
Cords tells FOX 11 boat traffic last year was up about 55%.
“Because of COVID, most people have found there’s other things that we can do, or they can do as a recreational outlet.”
Meanwhile the street leading to Veterans Memorial Bridge will be closed next week, so crews can test the new mechanical lift. City leaders hope the work will be complete in July.
“I think it will be great once we get it open to the public, and it will be a great feature for people to stop in downtown Kaukauna,” said Penterman.
Boaters are not able to make it all the way from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay.
The Menasha Lock, and Rapide Croche Dam remain closed until further notice to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.
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