Over the summer, the intersections of 17 south and County Road G with Highway 8 in Rhinelander will go from traffic lights to roundabouts.
WIS 17 south will detour towards the Highway 47 and 8 intersection. Traffic will still be able to stay on County Road G but will not be able to make a turn onto 8 in either direction.
“It seems like the roundabouts kind of get all the attention on this project, because that is kind of the main scope of what the project is, but we are also replacing the pavement between the two roundabouts and heading towards the WIS 17 North intersection,” said Michelle Guoin, project manager with Wisconsin DOT. “I know we've gotten a lot of complaints about pavement condition in that area. Rest assured that that is being addressed with this project as well.”
Right now, traffic is also being detoured to the Highway 47/8 intersection from Highway 51. Guoin says WisDOT does not anticipate any significant delays because of both detours. Highway 51 at Highway 8 will reopen mid-May.
While roundabouts tend to draw out a lot of strong opinions, there is a lot of research on their benefits.
There are fewer and less severe accidents with roundabouts versus traffic signals.
They tend to improve traffic flow, and they help reduced emissions and fuel consumption at the intersection.
“I know a lot of people don't like using them because they are something a little different,” said Guoin. “But these are single lane roundabouts, so they're a little easier to drive than some of the multi-lane ones that people might have encountered.”
Before construction on the Highway 8 pavement and roundabouts starts, Lincoln Street will be resurfaced as it will be one of the main roads in the detour.
Crews also need to build a temporary lane for traffic to get between Highway 17 south and Highway 8 during construction.
Goin says as long as there aren’t too many weather delays, construction should wrap up in early September.
