By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent
HOBART – Ground has finally been broken on a major project decades in the making.
Construction started this week on the State Highway 29/County Highway VV interchange between Green Bay and Shawano.
It’s a two-year project touching Hobart, Howard and the Oneida Nation Reservation.
A new diamond-shaped interchange at County VV plays the starring role as the project’s crown jewel.
The scope of the endeavor includes realigning Milltown Road, making improvements on County V, linking County VV with North Overland Road, removing the U-turn intersection at County VV, and closing access to Highway 29 from County U.
The project also includes broadband aimed at supporting intelligent transportation systems, which can monitor road conditions, traffic signals, and vehicle safety conditions, and warn drivers of accidents.
The target date for completion is Oct. 14, 2022.
Village of Hobart Administrator Aaron Kramer called last week’s groundbreaking for the project, held in Hobart’s Centennial Centre, “a dream, even dare I say a fantasy.”
“We can now anticipate the rewards of safety, growth, development and opportunity,” Kramer said. “It is certainly a journey we are now able to look back upon with optimism and joy and a realization that the long wait has paid dividends.”
Brown County, Howard, and Hobart applied for, and were awarded, the federal highway administration’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant, which is paying for most of the project’s cost.
The total price tag, which includes design and real estate, is estimated to be $25.4 million.
Crews will work in phases, with the first phase running through fall, when work will go on hiatus for the winter.
But by then, it’s anticipated crews will be underway with first-phase projects, such as road work and a pond on Evergreen Avenue, a roundabout at Evergreen Avenue and Marley Street, and a pond and road linking up with North Overland Road.
The Village of Hobart will build a roundabout at North Overland Road.
During Phase I, Highway 29 will stay open, with lane closures limited to off-peak hours.
The restricted crossing U-turn at County VV will remain open, as will County VV (Triangle Drive) and County U.
Access from the north to Highway 29 will either be from Old Milltown Road or via a new temporary connection to Evergreen Avenue.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the improvements will make the roads safer and easier to navigate by removing at-grade access points and improving traffic flow.
In thanking those who helped in the decade-long journey to bring the road improvements to life, Kramer said, “With every life that is saved by this major improvement in vehicular safety, you will be rewarded in ways words can never fully express.”