Five years after the Department of Transportation told SeehaferNews.com that the need for repair on Manitowoc’s Washington Street was “on their radar”, the roadway is still in need of repairs.
Governor Tony Evers and, at the time, Department of Transportation Secretary Designee Craig Thompson were in Manitowoc in April of 2021 to celebrate the departure of the very first “Big Blue Crane” constructed at the former Broadwind Heavy Industries.
Just moments after Gov. Evers told those in attendance that we need to “fix the darn roads,” we asked Secretary Thompson about Washington Street, which is also a part of State Highway 42, and thus it is the State’s responsibility to fix it.
Thompson told us the DOT is “aware of it” and that they were “trying to look at where we can fit that into our next five-year plan.”
Now, over five years later, no work has been done, and no announcements have been made.
We were able to get some new information from the DOT, which has confirmed that, as of June 6th, a pavement replacement project is currently in the works for 2029.
This project will run from South 30th Street all the way downtown to South 8th Street at a cost of between $14 and $15 million.
Also of note, 16 miles of Highway 42 between South 30th Street and Howards Grove is also on the books for pavement replacement in 2030.
That project is expected to cost between $25 and $28 million.
