LEARNING FROM HIGHWAY 29 MISTAKES
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 -- 12:30 PM
Learning from the difficulties DOT officials have had with State Highway 29, planners of the U.S. Highway 10 expansion from St. Point to Marshfield are working to designate it as an "expressway" before the upgrade is complete.STH 29 wasn't designated before the 4-lane expansion. Now officials are working to retrofit the highway to limit cross-traffic and access points.
On June 3, WisDOT will hold a public information meeting and hearing on designating that stretch US 10 as a 65 mile per hour expressway
"On (STH) 29, the designation wasn't done ahead of time," explains Jeff Stewart, design project manager, "There are some operational problems that are occurring. By doing this designation early, we're trying to avoid some of those problems."
The expressway designation will mean more overpasses and fewer entry points.
"We want to provide was crossings we do at locations that can operate safely," Stewart says, "We've learned a number of things from the 29 project?that we're incorporating into the design."
The new four-lane highway will bypass the communities of Auburndale, Blenker, Milladore and Junction City. The project will also remove US 10 from downtown Stevens Point west of I-39/US 51. Construction began in 2006 and is scheduled for completion by 2012.
The public information meeting and the public hearing are both scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 3, from 4 to 8 p.m., in the cafeteria of Auburndale Elementary School.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.