People traveling the streets of Oconto Falls will see more orange over the next six months than originally planned.
The contractor in charge of the state Highway 22 road construction project has taken extra steps to notify drivers of road closures along the route. Message boards have been moved and additional barricades put in place to alert drivers to the new traffic patterns.
Reconstruction of Highway 22 from West Highland Drive to East Highland Drive will be completed in two stages; the project is scheduled to end Oct. 31.
Although message boards have been posted on Highland Drive and Chestnut Road for several weeks, Thursday’s closure of the intersection of Highland Drive and Highway 22 (by United True Value) still came as a surprise to many drivers.
“It happens virtually every time, every job, when you get started,” said Duke Peters, project manager for Peters Concrete Company, the primary contractor for the 1.6-mile project.
The Highland Drive intersection is blocked off until May 20, and traffic flow on Chestnut Road will be restricted until work ends Aug. 1, if the project remains on schedule.
“We brought in some extra signs and moved the message board to try and get the message out a little earlier — you can’t get up Highland — try to keep them on 22, on the detour route,” Peters said. “I think that will actually help a lot.”
At a public information meeting Friday, Peters described the construction as “not without difficulties already, but nothing we can’t work around as we go forward.”
One of the difficulties was the number of motorists cutting through the True Value parking lot, instead of taking the detour route or an alternate route around the blocked-off intersection.
On the initial days the intersection was closed, even semi-trucks were using the parking lot as a shortcut, much to the chagrin on United True Value co-owner Nancy Weiss.
“Our parking lot can’t handle that many semis,” she said. “They were going so fast, besides!”
According to Weiss, things have calmed down this week. Barricades at the True Value parking lot entrances discourage motorists from cutting through the parking lot, and message boards placed at the start of the detour have kept the semis on the proper route.
“The construction workers were very cooperative and helpful,” said Weiss, who is anxious for the intersection to reopen.
“It’s a couple of weeks, and it will be over with,” she added.
Peters said it’s a balance between keeping access restricted, yet open for local businesses and residences.
Oconto Falls Street Superintendent Terry Magnin said people just need to allow an extra five or six minutes to get around the city while construction is underway.
Even if things seem negative now, come Christmas time, everything will seem positive, he said. The city’s main thoroughfare will be improved with fresh paving, curb and gutter, street lights and sidewalks.
Over the next two weeks, pavement will be ripped up on Chestnut Road, from the Highland Drive intersection to the area of the hardball field at Memorial Field.
Barricades have been placed at the Chestnut Road cross streets to keep motorists out of the construction zone. If people want access to a business or residence on Chestnut Road, they should pick the nearest cross street that’s open.
Peters said Chestnut Road won’t reopen right away, but it will look more like a street within two weeks, once curb and gutter are installed. In the meantime, drivers can expect Chestnut Road intersections to be closed for up to a half day at a time while the intersections are under construction.
“It’s tough through those intersections, there’s a lot of obstacles,” Peters said, mentioning manholes and water valves.
He said it is not safe to keep the intersections open as work is taking place, but access will be allowed in the case of true emergencies.
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