PC: Fox 11 Online
OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – While January may be in the thick of winter, the start of road construction season is just weeks away.
Work on the multi-year project to expand a 23-mile stretch of Interstate 41 between Appleton and De Pere is about to ramp up again.
Construction barrels are already out along I-41 in Outagamie County as the DOT prepares to kickoff year two of the I-41 expansion project.
“Couple of weeks we’ll be starting here at WI-15 on February 3rd, we’re starting to close down the southern ramp, the bridge across it and then starting demolition on that,” said Bryan Learst, I-41 Construction Project Manager.
The HWY 15 overpass, along with the one at 41 and Ballard are both being replaced this summer. The work, which includes demolition of both overpasses and complete closure of the interchanges, at times, are expected to cause disruptions.
“It would be nice if they found some way of being able to keep the road open. There’s going to be no way for a series of months to be able to get from the west side of the freeway to the east side of the freeway,” said David Lindenstruth.
The disruptions, which are expected to last about 8 months, just for these specific projects, are a concern for Lindenstruth, owner of Van Zeeland Nursery & Landscape.
He said, “One of the reasons we moved over to this side because we used to be on the eastside of the town is because of the traffic. We used to have 5,000 cars a day, now we’re at 30,000 cars a day. We’ve had a great benefit of that the last couple of years but we’re going to see all that gone and even some.”
But it’s not just businesses. Drivers will also be impacted too.
The Appleton Area School District putting a communication out to families about the Ballard closure.
A main thoroughfare leading to Appleton North High School — along with other schools, the district wants people to start thinking about alternate routes now.
It’s that kind of information, along with other I-41 updates, the DOT plans to convey during three public meetings, scheduled to start this week, on the I-41 project.
According to Learst, “Just trying to give broader picture of impacts that are coming up, get people used to changes to traffic, etc., just getting that information out now.”
It’s information those impacted appreciate the DOT sharing as they keep their eye on the prize.
“Right now this is a very difficult exit to get on and off the highway, it’s going to make it so much easier from that perspective and so much easier,” added Lindenstruth.
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