Brown County awarded $1 million to widen Lineville Road

People driving through the Howard-Suamico area will get some much-needed relief coming to their commute. Brown County was awarded a $1 million grant to widen and improve a busy stretch of Lineville Road.

Gov. Tony Evers announced the state grant Wednesday during a news conference at the Howard-Suamico School District Administration Building.

The project will widen Lineville Road from two lanes to five between Interstate 41 and Belmont Rd. It will add sidewalks, bike lanes, and a controlled pedestrian crossing.

The project is slated for 2024-2025 and will be done in two phases.

“This project will make a real difference in a lot of people's lives every single day,” said WisDOT Secretary-designee Thompson. “Kids will be able to walk and bike safely to school, it will reduce rush hour congestion, and it will provide businesses along this corridor a welcome economic boost.”

for a full list of projects to receive grants.

In total, 152 road projects in 34 counties will receive $75 million in grants.

"It isn't a Republican or Democrat issue. It's a people of Wisconsin issue," says Evers.

"Happy" would be an understatement to describe the reactions we heard from neighbors and businesses. People are excited and looking forward to driving on Lineville Road without facing the congestion.

"We see the most traffic around 5 o'clock it gets backed up," Lisa Prunty, co-owner of Time for Decor, said, describing the evening rush hour.

"It's really backed up especially when the students leave the high school. There's long lines, we only really have two exits from the parking lot here," Howard-Suamico school board vice president Garry Sievert said.

For anyone who's had to use Lineville Road to travel from Point A to Point B, the struggle is real.

"The traffic is really bumper-to-bumper," Sievert said. "The students get very frustrated with the roundabouts and the backed up traffic coming into the school and when school is out, as well."

Gov. Evers says eventually this money will make that commute a lot smoother.

"This will not only alleviate rush hour traffic and congestion and keep drivers safe, but also help our kids and our parents and their parents get to school and home safely every single day," the governor said.

"It just really helps the community that's growing here. Our enrollment is increasing, people are moving out here, businesses are coming out here, so it's a rapid growing school district," said Sievert.

"I think the exposure of the project and the grant will bring a lot of exposure and that will be a domino effect on people wanting to come out and check out what's in our area," Prunty said.

Designs for the project will be worked out in 2021. Construction will begin in 2024 and be completed the following year.