Posted: Feb. 9, 2010 |(0) Comments

Traffic signals strung across the Brown Deer and Good Hope road bridges over Interstate 43 are a sure sign that construction is on the way. The upcoming months won't be pretty for east/west travel as the bridges connecting the east and west sides of the North Shore and the ramps serving the interstate for north/south travel will be undergoing major construction.

Drivers throughout the North Shore area will face challenging conditions beginning as soon as next week on the Brown Deer Road bridge, with Good Hope road following soon thereafter. Construction on the Port Washington Road northbound I-43 off ramp and repaving of the Green Tree Road bridge will complicate matters later this spring.

It won't be a project with the scope of the Marquette interchange, but Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials say travel will be difficult. Bayside Police Chief Bruce Resnick said his department has received mitigation funds from the state to allow it to pay for police overtime.

"They have told us that during some periods traffic could be backed up (on Brown Deer Road ) to Lake Drive," Resnick said.

Steve Hoff, the project manager for the three bridges, said work on the Brown Deer and Good Hope bridges will last until December.

Those bridges, which are actually two spans, will have one lane of traffic open in each direction for the duration of the projects.

"I-43 will be closed at night when we take the bridges down," Hoff said. "Traffic will be rerouted to the ramps and around the construction."

The Brown Deer bridge was scheduled for reconstruction last year but had to be put into this year's construction program, Hoff said.

Hoff expects work to start Monday on the Brown Deer bridge but Good Hope will start a little later. AT&T is removing cable and asbestos conduit that is located on the bridge, boring under the freeway and relocating the cable.

"I don't think it will hold up the project much," Hoff said. "AT&T has several crews working on it and they are coming right along."

The newly-installed traffic signals will allow traffic exiting the interstate to make both left and right turns onto Brown Deer and Good Hope roads.

Hoff said the double metal guard rails in a portion of the median on I-43 will also be replaced as part of the project.

The Green Tree Road bridge will be completely closed for approximately two weeks for resurfacing. Hoff said that will be done after school is closed in June, since the bridge is a major outlet for Nicolet High School traffic.

Bruce Barnes is the DOT project manager for the Port Washington Road off ramp. The ramp is about 2/3 of a mile north of the Brown Deer bridge and off-ramps.

"This is a safety improvement project," Barnes said. "The intersection with Port Washington Road has the highest collision rate with bicyclists in the state of Wisconsin. It is the primary route for bikers on the east side of the freeway in both Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties."

The project includes "smoothing out a curve" on southbound Port Washington Road between Laramie and Ravine lanes, Barnes said.

"We are going to realign the end of the off ramp and signalize that intersection," he said.

Barnes and Hoff are working together to try and minimize the impact, particularly on those living in the north end of Bayside.

Barnes expects his project to start after Memorial Day and end around Labor Day. The Port Washington Road ramp will be closed for a month beginning July 6, he said.

North Shore Fire Department Deputy Chief Andrew Harris said the department will evaluate its operations weekly. The department has three stations east of the interstate and two on the west side.

"We have told them we cover every community so the work will affect all of our operations," Harris said. "We want to be kept up on the closings and changes in traffic patterns.