2025 Hwy. 29 project to cause ramp closures, detours

By Neal Hogden

The Abbotsford City Council was informed at its meeting on Monday, March 4 that ramp closures may take place next summer while both directions of Hwy. 29 from the Clark and Marathon county border west are reconstructed.

The project will require crews to detour traffic away from the on and off ramps that lead to and from Hwy. 13 to Hwy. 29.

According to the DOT project website, Hwy. 29 pavement in the westbound lanes from the Hwy. 13 Bridge to County E South is showing signs of deterioration. The existing concrete pavement has longitudinal cracking and joint deterioration. The westbound off ramp at Silver Maple Lane is also in poor condition. The existing asphalt shoulders are nearly 30 years old and are in poor condition. Further, the guardrail along this stretch is in need of replacement to update to current standards. On top of the road work, pedestrian curb ramps at WIS 13 will be brought up to standards.

Korey Boehm from the Wisconsin DOT and project manager for the Hwy. 29 reconstruction project was in attendance to ask the board if ramp closures and detours during the project would be acceptable. He said there will be points throughout the project where the DOT would need to run a detour on Spruce Street in Abbotsford.

Public Works Director Craig Stuttgen said the DOT needed city council approval to get the project done because the city removed the truck route designation from West Spruce Street during the Safe Routes To School process a few years ago.

Stuttgen said he wanted the council to hear the plan for detours due to the safety concerns with running traffic two blocks away from the Abbotsford schools.

“There are some safety concerns and things we want to talk about,” Stuttgen said. “If you do approve it, we might want to look into possibly a crossing guard [at the intersection of West Spruce Street and 4th Avenue]. I’m not that concerned about the condition of the street because it was a state highway at one time and has a good base underneath it.”

Boehm said the detours would run approximately five to seven days at a time and would include traffic from ramps and not all Hwy. 29 traffic. He asked if there would be a period of time that would work better for the city to have traffic re-routed through town and said he could either schedule ramp work for earlier in the project or later int he project. Council members noted that school runs until May and begins again in late August/early September. They said it would be nice to have the detours running extra traffic on Spruce when school is not in session.

Council members also said if possible, Boehm should try to avoid enforcing detours the first weekend in June (Abby Festival) and the second weekend in August (First City Days).

Boehm said the construction would take place most of construction season with crews getting out in spring of 2025 and working into fall of 2025. He said he would talk to his contractors and give the city some detour dates it could choose from.

The council decided to get a list of dates available for detours before deciding anything and will hear an update at a future meeting.