Vilas County road projects for this year were identified and explained to the Vilas County highway committee recently including delaying bonding for a large stretch of Highway B between Land O' Lakes and Presque Isle.
Patrol Superintendent Troy Schalinske indicated crack sealing will be done on portions of Highway 17-45 four lane section around Eagle River and on Highway 51 between Highways H and W. Both projects will cost $123,000.
Highway Commissioner Nick Scholtes indicated is a written report that bonding for 19 miles of Highway B will be delayed until December “due to the volatility of oil prices.” The project, if bonding is approved by the county board, will be done in 2020 saying “if bonding was done now, our costs would be significantly higher.”
The design for thse Highway K bridge over the Wisconsin River in Conover will be completed after a design firm is selected. Nine firms were reviewed with five ranked by staff. These five will be submitted to Wis. Dept. of Transportation for accecptance and then negotiations will start. The design is expected to be approved in 2020 with construction in 2021.
Finally, the state will change the traffic flow on Highway 45-70 on the south side of Eagle River known as Pine Street. The present four lanes will be downsized to one land in each direction and a center turn lane. The work is expected to start June 25 and be completed by the end of August.