Governor approves bridge replacement in Sawyer County

May 30, 2008

As part of his ongoing Grow Wisconsin initiative to invest in Wisconsin’s infrastructure and stimulate our state’s economy, Governor Jim Doyle signed a contract totaling approximately $2 million to replace a bridge in Sawyer County.

Construction workers will be replacing the bridge over the Chippewa River, located approximately one mile west of the County G intersection in the Town of Ojibwa.

Preliminary work is scheduled to begin Monday, June 2, with the entire project lasting through mid-October 2008.

WIS 27/70 will be closed to through-traffic beginning Monday, June 9. Truck traffic will be detoured on WIS 27, US 8 and WIS 40. Automobile and emergency vehicle traffic will be detoured on WIS 27, Old Hwy 70 and Ogden Avenue. A segment of the Tuscobia Trail will also be closed to recreational traffic during construction. They will be detoured on to River Road and County G, which is an existing recreational trail.

A three-span bridge will be built over the Chippewa River. The new structure will replace the existing four-span bridge and remove one existing in-stream pier from the riverway. An additional traffic lane will be constructed to accommodate recreational vehicle traffic from the nearby Tuscobia State Trail.

Federal transportation funds will pay 80 percent of the project costs with state transportation funds paying the remaining 20 percent.

For more information, contact:
Chris Ouellette, Regional Communications Manager
(715) 833-9814, chris.ouellette@dot.state.wi.us