An almost 8-mile strip of state Highway 22 will be repaved by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2030 or 2031.
The portion of the highway will stretch from the junction with state Highway 32 just inside the city of Gillett and proceed east to around the city limits for Oconto Falls, according to Julia McAdams Busch, a roadway engineer with HDR Inc. in Madison. The last time that the segment had been maintained was in 2011, she said.
“It is now starting to show deteriorated pavement along the stretch of the roadway,” McAdams Busch said during a virtual meeting July 19. “The purpose of the project is to continue to provide safe, reliable roadway for the traveling public between Gillett and Oconto Falls. The need for this project is to extend the service life of this roadway in order to keep this minor, two-lane highway in service and provide access to residents, businesses and through-traffic that require the use of 22.”
The project will involve 3 inches of milling and 3 inches of overlay of asphalt pavement, according to McAdams Busch, and will last for several months. Besides the road itself, DOT will replace culverts and guard rails, along with curb ramps at Highland Drive in Oconto Falls, repair frost heaves and resurface the public parking area.
“The culverts can no longer handle water like they were intended,” McAdams Busch said. “During a recent inspection, four culverts on the roadway had been identified for replacement. Two of the four culverts will be upgraded to meet the drainage demand.”
The highway will remain open for the project work, with single-lane flag operations guiding traffic through, according to McAdams Busch. However, the repaving work will also include the roundabout separating highways 22 and 32; when that happens, traffic will be detoured for 6 miles and will extend travel for an extra seven minutes from County Road CC to Highway 32 to County Road E to County Road C in Shawano County before returning to Highway 22.
“This will provide repair that will enable motorists to have a smoother riding surface that will result in less wear and tear on vehicles and will result in less maintenance costs for drivers,” McAdams Busch said. “This will save taxpayer dollars in the future.”
The project is scheduled to begin in spring 2031, but McAdams Busch said the project could be moved up to 2030 if funding is available.
DOT will be taking the comments from the meeting, along with other comments coming in, to develop a formal plan in 2026.
For information about the project, contact Kurt Vogel, DOT project manager, at 920-492-7706 or kurt.vogel@dot.wi.gov.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
