Two-year construction project on Hoan Bridge begins

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- More delays and detours are in the cards for drivers. The Wisconsin DOT said they are inevitable come Monday morning when work begins on the 2-year-long 794 and Hoan Bridge Project.

The I-794 east bound exit ramp to Lincoln Memorial Drive and the on-ramp to the southbound Hoan Bridge from Lincoln Memorial Drive will be shut down starting 5 am Monday morning. Those ramps will be closed for two years.

The project manager, Carolynn Gellings, said one of the big reasons for the inconvenience is the need for repairs to the Hoan Bridge, and the reason for the length of the project is the detail of those repairs.

“Once we remove the concrete deck we are going to go in and repair some of the steel members as well and we are also going to repaint the structure,” explained Gellings.

Even though right now the bridge is structurally sound, Gellings said the work is necessary to ensure that the bridge stays safe and stays usable throughout its life. She said the project would also extend the life of the bridge 50 plus years.

But Gellings explained that it won’t just be drivers who take the ramps who are affected. Downtown traffic will also be affected, since all the traffic will now need to be re-routed. The DOT is working with the City of Milwaukee to get the side roads ready for that increased traffic by spending Friday improving the signal timing, and even making minor repairs to some of those soon to be well-traveled streets.

Gellings says the project is on a fairly aggressive schedule. Crews are working year-round and will be working double shifts to get the project done by December 2015.