I-94 closes as Rawson Ave. bridge is put into place

OAK CREEK (WITI) -- Motorists will be detoured Friday night, June 14th into Saturday morning, June 15th, as I-94 closes in both directions while the Rawson Ave. bridge is lifted into place.

While the closure is an inconvenience for many, for some it will be beneficial, and others are even calling it exciting.

Val Secor of The Dish restaurant and O and H Bakery is looking forward to another interstate closure. Secor says he saw a boom in business the last time I-94 closed down, and he's hoping for the same this time around.

"We're excited. Any time we can move onto the highway and get that influx of people that don't even know that we're here because we're tucked away in the corner here, it's nice," says Secor.

The bridge over I-94 will be put into place with a technology never before used in Wisconsin.

"The transporter itself has 180 wheels. Each deck segment weighs roughly three million pounds. We're going to be moving them from where you can see them on the side of the road and literally driving them right down the lanes of traffic to where the new bridge is going and putting them in place," explains Mike Pyritz of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The new technology could take the entire project down to only a month long process instead of the four to six months it would normally take. Pyritz says he's excited for the process.

"Just given the sort of wow factor of 'yeah that's three million pounds they're driving down the roadway. That`s a real impressive sight," says Pyritz.

The closure is only expected to last about 12 hours, from 10 p.m. Thursday night until 10 a.m. Friday morning. Pyritz says Rawson Ave. could open back up in the next two weeks.