Major road work will return to Paddock Lake this year as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation reconstructs Highway 50 through the village.
Work could begin as soon as this week with installation of temporary traffic signals at the Brass Ball Corners intersection (Highways 50 and 83/75). The overall time frame is expected to run to November 2023, officials at a public involvement meeting Monday at the Kenosha County Center in Bristol said.
“”It’s a very aggressive schedule,” said Ryan Cournoyer, an engineer with GRAEF. “It’s a lot of work.”
The project will include a new road bed for the stretch, new paving and the creation of bike lanes. Some changes to left turn lanes and medians also will take place. Most significant among those are the closure of a current crossover on Highway 50 between Walgreens/McDonalds-BP to the south and Mobil-Burger King to the north as well as a crossover on Highway 83 at the south driveway from Walgreens. In both cases, longer left turn lanes with raised medians will not allow traffic to cross over the highways after construction is complete.
During construction, traffic will be shifted first to the north lanes only of Highway 50, with traffic using one lane each direction and then later to the south lanes while the north lanes are worked on. During stage 2, access to Highway 83 from Highway 50 may be closed for up to 21 days.
In the last stage, there will be some turn restrictions at the Highways 83/75 and 50 intersection.
The reconstruction of the road includes a new road bed. That bed under the road way will be almost to the depth used for I-94, Cournoyer said. That’s because the ground there — located between Paddock and Hooker lakes — is so wet.
Some audience members questioned the need for bike lanes on the road surface. Project officials said the lanes are required to be incorporated in urban settings whenever possible in order to receive federal funding. Since Highway 50 in that stretch runs right through the Paddock Lake business district it is considered urban.
While the road will not be actually wider, it may feel wider due to the new bike lanes, Cournoyer said.
Other audience members questioned the need for eliminating the full access to Highway 83 in both directions at Walgreens. Project officials said the designers of the project wanted to eliminate the conflict of left turns there and also be able to lengthen the left turn lane onto Highway 50, both to increase safety.
Alexandria Motl of GRAEF said the plan is to update local officials, various related websites and westofthei.com weekly with the status of the project.
