The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has announced a new Wisconsin Highway 23 public project website designed to provide information about proposed improvements to the road between Highway 32 at Sheboygan Falls and Taylor Drive in Sheboygan. Described as a “perpetual-level project”, the proposed operation is meant to preserve, extend, and maintain the existing roadway as opposed to one that would expand capacity or add entirely new corridors, and would remain entirely within the pre-existing right-of-way.
Safety is a top concern of the DOT which said that between 2020 and 2024, there were 19 crashes at the Highways 23/32 interchange, and that queues on the off-ramps are frequently backed up. The agency also cited guardrails nearing their end-of-service life, broken or clogged storm sewer inlets at the Taylor Drive interchange, and pavement now showing signs of distress and deterioration as the surface reaches its expected end-of-service lifetime. The original pavement dates back to 1977 and was overlaid in 2011 with asphalt pavement.
Proposed improvements include milling and replacing the 3.5 inches of asphalt with an equal overlay, replacing guardrails, cleaning and replacing inlets, constructing a new right turn lane at the eastbound Highway 23 off-ramp to Highway 32 and adding traffic signals to that interchange, and replacing and extending a culvert at the eastbound 23 off-ramp to 32.
Environmental documents and a design study report are due this fall with final design completed in 2028. Construction is currently scheduled for 2029, and traffic would be maintained throughout the schedule.
The project website can be accessed here.
Comments