DOT to decide layout later this month

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation were on hand at Monday’s Rhinelander City Council meeting to discuss options on improvements planned for 2019 on the US 8 and WIS 47 intersection.

DOT project supervisor Michael Wendt and project manager Dan Erva updated council members after having received comments following last month’s public information meeting at City Hall where the options presented for improving the intersection included a signalized intersection or constructing a roundabout. They noted the number of comments received had been “more than what we expected.”

Wendt and Erva informed council members the DOT plans to make a decision at the end of this month as to its preferred option for improving the intersection. The DOT has estimated the cost of a single-lane roundabout would be about $1 million less – $2 million to $2.5 million, compared to $3 million to $3.6 million for the signalized intersection.

In addition to the deteriorating pavement at the intersection, the DOT has also noted safety is an issue with 39 crashes reported there between 2012 and 2016. Wendt and Erva pointed out having a roundabout at an intersection “forces people to slow down.”

The DOT indicated it is anticipating work to begin on the US 8 and WIS 47 intersection in Rhinelander in the spring of 2019 and take approximately eight months to complete.