Public information meeting held for Kemp Street bridge replacement

Approximately 35 people, including residents and officials with the city of Rhinelander, attended an hour-long public information Monday in the second floor city council meeting room at city hall. 

The meeting was held to give the public an opportunity to view plans for the proposed replacement of the 70 year-old Kemp Street bridge, scheduled to take place during the summer of 2028.

Ryan Schaitel, a transportation engineer with Ayres Transportation, went over the plans and took questions from the audience, several of them with regard to the period of time Kemp Street and the intersection of Kemp Street and Boyce Drive will be closed for the bridge’s construction, anticipated to be about four months.

There will be a signed detour using U.S. Highway 8 and County Highway G during the construction period and Schaitel said there will still be access to Boyce Drive, Sutliff Avenue and other local streets and roads.

As for the project itself, the new bridge will be a 3-span concrete girder bridge with a 30-foot clear width and a 12-foot-wide multi-use path on the north side of bridge.

There will be no sidewalk on the south side of bridge.

Two piers will be constructed in the river and guardrails will be replaced along with curb ramps on the east side. 

Schaitel said the project will begin approximately 50 feet on both east and west ends of the bridge and there will be minimal changes to horizontal and vertical alignment.

As for the project’s current schedule, after the public input deadline of March 2, the acquisition of any property for rights of way is scheduled for later this year in the fall, complete plans  are to be ready by Aug. 1, 2027 with construction taking place during the summer of 2028. 

Schaitel said before the actual construction begins, there would be activity in the way of moving utilities, details of that yet to be worked out. 

The cost for the project, expected to be nearly $3 million, will be funded through a grant from the Department of Transportation’s Local Bridge Program; 80 percent of the cost will paid for by the grant and the other 20 percent coming from the city of Rhinelander. 

“We started looking at this 2023,” city administrator Patrick Reagan said after the meeting. “This is necessary. This bridge isn’t getting any newer.”

With regard to concerns expressed during the meeting about the construction taking place in the middle of the area’s busy season, he acknowledged that “there’s going to be some bumps in the road.”

“It’s a good project,” Reagan said. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to effect all of us.”

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].