State Highway 47-55 in Keshena remained closed Thursday as crews from the Menominee Indian tribe and Menominee County worked to remove floodwater from the roadway.
Brent Matthews, state highway maintenance supervisor, reported Thursday afternoon that water levels had receded but still remained on the shoulders of the road.
He was unsure when the highway would reopen.
“It is really a waiting game, and only time will tell how the pumps will work,” Matthews said. “We need to see how it proceeds overnight.”
Crews began scraping ice and pumping water out of the affected area about 11 a.m. Thursday. They replaced sandbags with concrete barriers to protect the road from the water.
“The Menominee tribe and county are working in conjunction with other state, federal and tribal agencies to begin a project operation to reduce the floodwaters,” according to a statement issued by the agencies Thursday.
Reports of flooding in the area began Thanksgiving week and have continued despite efforts by several agencies to address the problem, which has been blamed on ice jams created by frazil ice.
Frazil ice has the consistency of a snow cone and has prevented the Wolf River from flowing properly,
The state Department of Transportation closed the main road through Keshena on Tuesday, a day after the Menominee Indian tribe and Menominee County issued an emergency disaster declaration due to flooding from the Wolf River.
Traffic is being detoured via Go-Around Road, BIA Route 321, County Road VV, BIA Route 19 and Rabbit Ridge Road.
A flood warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect through 10 p.m. Friday.
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