A public information meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 in city hall will address the reconstruction of County Trunk D from Northridge Drive to U.S. Highway 45 in the City of New London.
Waupaca County plans to reconstruct County D, which includes a portion of Shawano Street from Northridge Drive to Spur Road beginning in early July.
Construction will begin after July 4.
During the project, traffic to New London’s north side shopping center will be detoured.
Waupaca County Highway Commissioner Dean Steingraber updated the New London Board of Public Works at its February meeting. He said if everything goes as planned, the project should take three to four weeks.
“My biggest concern is making sure citizens have access to the businesses in the affected area,” said Steingraber.
Traffic will be detoured onto Northridge Drive, which will allow access to Wal-Mart, Piggly Wiggly and other north side businesses from Cedar Street, Pheasant Drive, Taubel Boulevard, and Partridge Drive.
Residents in the affected area will have access to their homes throughout the project.
“We realize we will have localized traffic and that those businesses need to have continued access for their deliveries and customers,” said Steingraber.
“The quicker we can get it done, the better,” he said.
The project will involve pulverizing the old 29-foot concrete Highway 45. Crews will convert the concrete into gravel and use it in the base for the new road.
Board members asked Steingraber if the project could be done in phases.
Steingraber said they looked into different ways to do the project, however phasing it would be more costly and take longer.
“Paving a new road under traffic is difficult, and mobilization of equipment is most cost effective when done only once,” he said.
“We want to do it the in most efficient way to get this done.”
Crews completed some of the preliminary work last year, which included installing new culverts underneath the roadway at Spur Road.
Steingraber said they would go over the details of the project with business owners and residents at the public meeting March 17.