APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Wisconsin DOT is gearing up for massive traffic along the Fox Valley I-41 corridor and the rest of Wisconsin before and after Thanksgiving and on Black Friday.
In preparation, it’s stopping construction work Wednesday at noon.
“This is primarily done for safety reasons,” said WisDOT Communications Manager Mark Kantola. “There’s a lot of construction workers in the construction work zone, and you don’t want to put all of that holiday traffic, plus commuter traffic on a Wednesday, plus construction, on the highways. That’s just a recipe for crashes.”
The DOT said ramps, roadways and lanes closed prior to the holiday pause will remain closed, with two lanes open in each direction along I-41 between Green Bay and Appleton.
With work paused, some may be concerned about a delay on projects years in the making.
Kantola says the DOT didn’t forget about holidays during planning.
“Holidays are pretty standard to be written into all contracts. It’s almost just a clause for holidays,” Kantola explained.
Even drivers who won’t be using I-41 to get to their Thanksgiving destinations say that a pause of work along stretches of I-41 like this will bring major relief to those feeling that holiday travel stress.
“Very busy. It will help a lot,” said Callie Mohnen. “People can get where they’re going safely. It won’t be, hopefully, bumper to bumper, and weather cooperates and everyone has a great Thanksgiving.”
Matt Lemke will be driving towards Wausau. “It’s just going to be weather dependent every year, like this year. I mean, it’s going to be nice that all that is going to be open, but yeah, it’s still going to be snow and all that type of stuff,” he said.
The DOT said it’s important to check your route before heading to your celebration. Work on road projects will resume Dec. 1.
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