U.S. 8 improvement project in Rhinelander begins April 20

The Rhinelander area will soon gain two new traffic roundabouts — and a substantial road detour during their construction.

Construction will start April 20 on a U.S. Highway 8 improvement project that is expected to be completed in early September, representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) and contractor Musson Brothers explained at an information meeting held Thursday, April 2, at Rhinelander City Hall.

This DOT image shows the detour route for the soon-to-start U.S. Highway 8 improvement project. (Contributed image)

In the $6.1 million project, footed entirely by DOT, a section of Hwy. 8 from State Highway 47 to State Highway 17 North, in the town of Pelican, will have its existing asphalt and concrete removed and replaced with a new asphalt pavement surface complete with centerline rumble strips. The intersection of Hwy. 8 with Hwy. 17 North/Germond Road will be milled and overlaid.

Single-lane roundabouts will be constructed at the intersections of Hwy. 8 with County G and with Hwy. 17 South/W.D. Boyce Drive.

With that section of Hwy. 8 completely closed for construction, traffic will be detoured onto Kemp Street, Arbutus Street, South Pelham Street, Courtney Street, and Lincoln Street, from Hwy. 47 to Hwy. 17.

“Once everybody gets the traffic figured out, I think this is going to go really smooth,” said Bill Erickson of Musson Brothers. “It’s all going to be good dirt, so I don’t foresee any issues at all. Once we get rolling, it’s going to be really good.”

To help roads hold up under the detour traffic to come, DOT will first provide these upgrades:

• A 2-inch mill and overlay of the driving lanes of Lincoln Street from Oneida Avenue to Evergreen Street, under single lane closures;

• Upgraded traffic signals at the intersection of Pelham and Courtney streets to provide a protected left turn for westbound traffic; 

• Traffic signal timings that will be calculated, monitored, and re-calculated as needed for efficient movement of highway traffic.

“The first stage of work is basically doing the resurfacing of Lincoln Street,” said WisDOT project development project manager Michelle Guoin. “And then they’ll be building out temporary lanes at the Hwy. 17 South intersection, because that’s going to be when the detour is put in place.”

“There’s a construction website that will be up and active throughout the project … it kind of tells what had been done in the previous week and what the look ahead is for the next 10 days,” she added. 

That website’s URL is https://projects.511wi.gov/us8rhinelander/.

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].