Highway 41 Near Green Bay Will Shut Down For Construction On Both Thursday, Friday Nights

Closure Is Due To Pipe That Needs To Be Laid Near Green Bay's Lombardi Ave.

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Highway 41. Photo: Ken Lund (CC-BY-SA).

Highway 41, one of northeastern Wisconsin’s most heavily traveled highways, will be shut down on both Thursday night and Friday night due to a major construction project.

Work on the highway project started a few years ago in Winnebago County. That section of construction has nearly been completed, and now crews are busy expanding the highway to three lanes through the Green Bay area.

A pipeline needs to be laid in the part of the road near Lombardi Avenue, which Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Kantola said means southbound lanes will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday until around 5 or 6 a.m. Friday. While the pipe is being laid, crews will also do pavement repair and fill in some potholes.

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“All the U.S. 41 work, the bulk of it, takes place at night because there’s much less traffic volume — almost a quarter of what it is at rush hour and during the day,” said Kantola.

Kantola said northbound lanes will be affected on Friday night, and that traffic will be re-routed via Green Bay’s Ashland Avenue. He said it is unusual to entirely cut off traffic.

“US 41 rarely closes the entire lane for construction,” said Kantola. “Unfortunately, when you are laying certain types of pipes like sewer pipes you need to get in there and get out as fast as we can.”

Some highly used exits to the north of Green Bay will also soon be closed for two months.

The Highway 41 project is scheduled to be done by the end of 2016. The final price tag will amount to more than $1.5 billion, including work in the Oshkosh area. Kantola said most of the project is federally funded. After construction ends, Highway 41 may be eligible to be designated an interstate highway.