Road construction planned in Altoona

Sunday, February 21, 2016
Abigail Hantke, WEAU

ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU)- Temperatures are rising meaning road construction season is on its way, and those who drive through Altoona will have smoother rides come this spring.

The Department of Transportation will begin a $3.5 million road construction project along a two-mile stretch of Highway 12 in Altoona.

"The old joke that we have the two seasons in Wisconsin, winter and road construction, today it looks like we're getting closer to ending one which means we're a little closer to beginning the next one," Brent Pickard said, a DOT spokesperson.

The road construction project will run two miles on US-12, from Otter Creek to Industrial Avenue; an area where nearly 20,000 cars drive over a day.

"Well 10th Street at the intersection with Claremont has been bad for years, especially the left-hand turn coming to Altoona," Randy Wollmer said of Altoona. "Some major pot holes, and trying to make those left turns with oncoming traffic hasn't been a good situation at all, so glad to see they're finally getting to it."

The DOT says the main reason for this year's construction is the pavement condition.

"We'll go in and take about an inch and a half off the existing pavement and put about three inches of new pavement down, and that should give us a good riding surface for many years to come," Pickard said.

Pickard adds it'll probably be about 12-15 years before the new pavement will need to be updated again, and the two-mile stretch they will be working on hasn't been updated since the mid-1990's.

But with any road construction, comes traffic delays.

"No one ever loves that, but it's something you have to go through to have something better down the road," Kyle Anderson said of Altoona.

The DOT is hoping to begin the project by the end of April and wrap up by late June, and will even be working nights and weekends to get this project done.

"It'll be another busy summer of road construction around the Valley,"

The DOT says the Wisconsin 511 will be updated with all road construction projects, so you can find out where all the construction will be taking place before heading out on the road.

There's a link to that information on the right of the page.

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