Off the Publisher’s Desk 4-23-25

We had a great Easter weekend!

We had a family gathering on Saturday to celebrate Easter by driving to Portage where the family got together at the home of Alex and Kris DeWitt, not only for Easter but to celebrate the third birthday of my great granddaughter, Paula.

When I arrived, I had a birthday card which she thanked me for and then a few minutes later she brought me a piece of candy that she retrieved from the pail of Easter candy she had found in the egg hunt. It was a very touching moment for me.

After church on Sunday, I enjoyed dinner at Don and Missy’s, rural Downing home and then accompanied Joel and Melissa to Red Wing for the comic show of Ron White. That was not an Easter show.

I was not going to make this a personal item for this column but I wanted to work toward all the road construction that is planned or ongoing in this state.

For a completed list of projects underway or in the planning stages, go to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation webpage, this list is very long and it surprised me.

 While traveling to Portage on Saturday, there is a eight mile portion of I-94 just east of Eau Claire under construction and then bridge construction at Black River Falls and bridge work on the replacement of the two bridges that span the Wisconsin River at Portage.

Several local projects caught my eye that includes work on State Highway 128 scheduled for next year from Highway 170 in Glenwood City to Highway 12 in Springfield Township. Included in this project is the resurfacing of the small bridge over Tiffany Creek in downtown Glenwood City.

Redoing Highway 128 north of Glenwood City from Highway 170 to Highway 64 is currently scheduled for 2032, but could be advanced to 2028 if funding becomes available. In both projects, Highway 128 will be closed for culvert replacement, but a detour will be provided.

Lets hope that funding will be found to get 128 north of Glenwood City to be resurfaced.

Work is scheduled for repair on the I-94 bridge at Hudson for this year, with completion in 2026.

Scheduled for this year is bridgework on Highway 63 just north of Highway 64 in Cylon and Forest Townships.

There are a number of Highway Projects in Dunn County including the replacement of the Wilson Creek Bridge east of Knapp. The bridge was built in 1934 and the project is schedule for 2028.

A couple of more projects in Menomonie include U.S.-12 south of the I-94 overpass to state highway 25 and work scheduled for this year on the Red Cedar Bridge on state highway 29.

I would suggest that if you are planning to take a road trip, you look at the Transportation web site to make sure that there are no detours in your way.

Thanks for reading!     ~Carlton