WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: DOT Working Hard to Open Highway 41 Before Hunting Season

DOT Working Hard to Open Highway 41 Before Hunting Season

By Jeff Alexander

One week from Thursday, the drive from Green Bay to Marinette will change forever. That's when the trip to Marinette will be four lanes all the way.

The two-year, $120 million project to upgrade 24 miles of Highway 41 from Oconto to Peshtigo -- and to bypass those two cities -- is one week from completion.

The Department of Transportation says this project was long overdue. Wednesday there was congestion in the heart of Peshtigo, including many big trucks.

The DOT says 15,000 vehicles travel that section of Highway 41 every day and 20 percent of them are trucks.

But in one week, all those cars and trucks will be driving on the new Highway 41. Crews are putting the finishing touches on the roadway and bridges on the new section of highway.

The DOT says it's been quite the effort to open the highway on the target date of November 19, which is one day before thousands of hunters head north for deer season.

"We worked a lot of that job under the lights. They had to just keep going almost 24 hours a day," DOT supervisor Steve Noel said. "The weather was dicey last month, but we've been blessed with good weather this week and they're rushing and they're going to get it done."

The DOT says the impetus for the Highway 41 project was driver safety. It says statistics show crash rates are cut in half when highways are upgraded from two to four lanes.