Northwest Wisconsin Highway Construction Update - Aug. 28, 2026 | Recent News

NORTHWEST WISCONSIN -- This week’s updates from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) on road construction projects for Barron, Burnett, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, and Washburn counties.

Barron County

Highway: 15 ½ Avenue

Location: Lightning Creek Bridge northwest of Almena
Schedule: July 31 through early October
Cost: $657,652
Description of work: Replacing the bridge and completing roadway approach work.
Traffic impacts: The road is closed at the structure.

Highway: County D

Location: Lake Chetek Bridge in Chetek
Schedule: Aug. 3 through late November
Cost: $2.39 million
Description of work: Placing a 1.5-inch concrete overlay over the bridge deck; repairing the concrete sidewalk, bridge piers and parapet; making joint repairs; cleaning drainage grates; painting bridge girders; milling 2 inches of the existing asphalt pavement on either side of the structure and paving 2 inches of hot-mix asphalt over the roadway; replacing curb, gutter and sidewalk; and restoring the landscape around the construction site
Traffic impacts: County D remains open to a single lane of traffic at the bridge controlled by temporary traffic signals.
- Motorists should expect delays.

Highway: County O

Location: East Branch Upper Pine Creek Bridge north of the village of Dallas
Schedule: June 15 to late August
Cost: $501,425
Description of work: Replacing the bridge and reconstructing 149.5 feet of approaching roadway
Traffic impacts: County O is open, but motorists will encounter lane closures for guardrail installation anticipated to occur in the next week or two.

Highway: County O

Location: Wisconsin Avenue intersection in Rice Lake
Schedule: April 20 to late September
Cost: $1.1 million
Description of work: Realigning and extending the County O left-turn lanes, constructing right-turn lanes both north and south along Wisconsin Avenue, replacing traffic signals and adding sidewalk and a pedestrian crossing on County O
Traffic impacts: County O and Wisconsin Street remain open to traffic.

Highway: US 53 South

Location: Bridges between Cameron and New Auburn, structures over US 8, Knapp Street, County A, County AA and Carlson School Road, 2025; and structures over 20th Street, County I and the Chetek River, 2026
Schedule: Feb. 23 to October, 2026 construction; May 5, 2025, to October 2026, overall project
Cost: $10.91 million
Description of 2026 work: Replacing the decks on the bridges over the Chetek River and 20th Street; replacing the bridge over County I; milling pavement on both sides of each structure and placing new asphalt pavement on the approaches; milling and overlaying the pavement on the southbound US 53 on- and off-ramps at the County I interchange; and replacing guardrail, pavement markings and signage
Traffic impacts: Southbound US 53 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter:
- Single-lane closures on southbound US 53 and a reduced speed limit of 60 mph.
- Single-lane closures on County I through the duration of the project
  - Closure of the ramp from County I to southbound US 53
  - The ramp closure is anticipated to be in place through late September.
  - Traffic is being detoured on northbound US 53 to the US 8 interchange, where motorists will exit and then re-enter southbound US 53.

Highway: US 63

Location: Beaver Dam Lake in Cumberland
Schedule: April 24 to late September
Cost: $2.64 million
Description of work: Removing the existing box culvert carrying Beaver Dam Lake under US 63, building a bridge with a longer span to replace the box culvert, removing the Lake Street Bridge, dredging Beaver Dam Lake under US 63 and the Lake Street Bridge, building an ATV trail on the east side of US 63 from Arcade Avenue to Nedvidek Street, reconstructing US 63 on both sides of the new bridge, reconstructing portions of Lake Street, Nedvidek Street and Babcock Avenue to match the raised profile of US 63 and constructing curb, gutter and sidewalk
Traffic impacts: US 63 is closed to traffic on both sides of the structure.
- Traffic is being detoured via WIS 48, US 53 and WIS 70. In addition:
  - Lake Street is closed just past the boat landing.
    - Access to the boat landing is being maintained.
    - The Lake Street Bridge is open to emergency vehicles only.
      - The bridge is tentatively set to be removed in the middle of next week.
      - Once the Lake Street Bridge is closed, the new bridge will be open to emergency vehicles only.

Highway: US 63

Location: US 8 East in Turtle Lake to WIS 48 West in Cumberland
Schedule: July 20 to mid-November
Cost: $8.66 million
Description of work: Milling 2.25 inches of asphalt from the roadway surface and paving 3.25 inches of hot-mix asphalt; cleaning, lining or replacing culverts; replacing guardrail; replacing curb and gutter at various locations; installing new pavement markings; and completing the following improvements to increase safety: Installing shoulder rumble strips, placing a high-friction surface treatment on two curves and widening paved shoulders from 3 feet to 5 feet
Traffic impacts: US 63 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter single-lane closures controlled by flagging and temporary traffic signals.

Burnett County

Highway: WIS 35

Location: Lanquist Street in Siren to WIS 70 East
Schedule: May 4 to mid-October
Cost: $8.55 million
Description of work: Replacing pavement with new concrete from Lanquist Street to Southshore Drive, replacing storm sewer and expanding its capacity from Lanquist to Works Progress Street, resurfacing the roadway from Southshore Drive to WIS 70 East, reviewing and revising access points, improving turning movements in all quadrants at the WIS 35 and WIS 70/County B intersection in the city of Siren, replacing traffic signals, replacing curb ramps and removing extra lanes from Park Street to Northshore Drive to reduce flooding potential
Traffic impacts: WIS 35 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter:
- Shoulder closures on northbound WIS 35 from Lanquist Street to Bradley Street; southbound WIS 35 from the WIS 35/70 intersection to Bacon Street; and east- and westbound WIS 70 from 1st Avenue to the WIS 35/70 intersection
- Various shoulder closures on north- and southbound WIS 35 from Southshore Drive to WIS 35/70 roundabout
- Closure of WIS 35 to northbound traffic from Lanquist Street to Southshore Drive
  - WIS 35 is open to southbound traffic only in that segment.
    - Northbound car detour: County B, 4th Avenue North and Elizabeth Street
      - The local detour is expected to be removed early the week of Aug. 31.
    - Truck detour: WIS 70/MN 70, I-35 (MN), MN 48/WIS 77 and WIS 35
      - The truck detour is expected to remain in place for at least another week.

Polk County

Highway: WIS 46

Location: US 8 to WIS 35 in MIlltown
Schedule: April 15 to early October
Cost: $8.49 million
Description of work: Recycling 4 inches of pavement in place on the rural portion of the project; placing 2.75 inches of new asphalt and installing centerline rumble strips; milling 3.25 inches of pavement in the village of Balsam Lake and placing 3.35 inches of new asphalt; cleaning, extending, lining or replacing culverts; replacing or adjusting existing guardrail; and replacing curb ramps in the village of Balsam Lake
Traffic impacts: Motorists will encounter moving single-lane closures controlled by flagging operations.

Highway: WIS 87

Location: US 8 to 240 feet north of Minnesota Street in St. Croix Falls
Schedule: April 24 to early November
Cost: $1.7 million
Description of work: Removing 3.25 inches of existing pavement and paving 3.25 inches of hot-mix asphalt, replacing curb ramps, removing roadway pavers, adjusting manhole covers, inlet covers and water valves, installing storm sewer and placing new pavement markings
Traffic impacts: WIS 87 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter single-lane closures controlled by flagging operations.

Highway: US 8

Location: WIS 35 North to WIS 46 South
Schedule: May 11 to late August
Cost: $7.52 million
Description of work: Milling 2.25 inches of existing asphaltic surface and placing 3.25 inches new asphalt; reconstructing two locations of roadway where sloughing is occurring; widening the paved shoulders from 3 to 5 feet; installing centerline and shoulder rumble strips; cleaning, extending, lining or replacing existing culverts and replacing deteriorating end walls on some structures; replacing or adjusting guardrail; and completing roadside maintenance, including clearing and ditching
Traffic impacts: None; construction is temporarily suspended until the contractor can schedule work added to the project.

Rusk County

Highway: US 8

Location: Little Soft Maple Creek northwest of Weyerhaeuser
Schedule: June 23 to late September
Cost: $1.92 million
Description of work: Constructing a temporary bypass on the north side of US 8 to carry traffic during construction, removing the existing box culvert, constructing a single-span bridge half at a time to replace it, replacing roadway approach pavement on both sides of the structure and installing guardrail
Traffic impacts: US 8 remains open to a single lane of traffic controlled by temporary traffic signals.

Sawyer County

Highway: WIS 27

Location: West Boylan Road northeast of Stone Lake to 700 feet north of West Carol Drive southwest of Hayward
Schedule: July 27 through late September
Cost: $5.21 million
Description of work: Milling off a portion of the existing roadway and placing new pavement, placing new base aggregate on shoulders, replacing or repairing and cleaning culverts, making spot repairs to curb and gutter and completing inlet maintenance
Traffic impacts: WIS 27 is open to traffic, but motorists will encounter single-lane closures controlled by flagging.

Highway: WIS 70

Location: County GG in the unincorporated community of Loretta in Sawyer County to Pixley Wilderness West Road in the Price County town of Lake west of Fifield
Schedule: June 15 to late August
Cost: $5.5 million
Description of work: Removing a portion of the existing asphalt, repaving the roadway with new asphalt pavement, installing centerline rumble strips, replacing or repairing guardrail as needed, placing gravel along the shoulders and replacing pavement markings
Traffic impacts: WIS 70 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter lane closures controlled by flagging as needed as finishing work is completed.

Highway: WIS 13 and WIS 77

Location: WIS 13, Price County line to Morse Road between Mellen and Glidden, and WIS 77, Teal River Bridge northeast of Hayward
Schedule: WIS 13, April 27 to late October; WIS 77, July 27 to late September
Cost: $5.19 million
Description of work: WIS 13: Replacing, resetting, extending or abandoning more than 50 existing culvert pipes and constructing a new box culvert at Becky Creek; making concrete surface repairs at the bridge over Dryden Creek northwest of Glidden; patching the deck on the bridge over the Chippewa River southeast of Glidden; overlaying the deck with concrete on the bridge over Butternut Creek south of Butternut; and replacing guardrail at the structures and one other location in the project limits; WIS 77: Milling and overlaying the existing bridge deck, overlaying concrete pavement approach slabs, milling and overlaying roadway approaches, making concrete surface repairs on parapets, grouting voids under abutments, supplementing riprap at abutments, adjusting guardrail and installing new pavement markings
Traffic impacts: WIS 13 remains open to traffic, but motorists will encounter:
- Single-lane closures controlled by temporary traffic signals at Becky Creek and active culvert pipe installations
  - Signals at Becky Creek are in place continuously.
  - Those at culvert pipe locations are in place during work hours only.
- Single-lane closures controlled by flagging during paving at culvert sites – typically on Fridays
- WIS 77 at the Teal River is reduced to a single lane of traffic controlled by temporary traffic signals.