DOOR COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – It’s been said Wisconsin has two seasons — winter and road construction. And with winter behind us, orange barrels are back on the roads.
“People keep coming in spite of the weather not being perfect. People still want to come and drink wine,” said Steve Johnson, owner of Door 44 winery in Sturgeon Bay.
Johnson says his main delay has nothing to do with road work.
“We are trying to get the vineyard pruned and we’re going to have warm temperatures this weekend, so the sooner we can get it done the better,” said Johnson.
However, he knows, like everyone else, things will change once summer ramps up.
“I saw the orange cones go up and I said, ‘this is gonna be tough because there’s already so much traffic up here.'”
There are more than a dozen projects happening across northeast Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).
“We have nearly $150 million going on with our state highways and interstates. In addition with another $20 million in local program work that we work with our local governments going on,” said Tim Rank, a project development manager with WisDOT.
The department says it tries to do its best to keep things moving.
“Especially holiday traffic like that. We do try to go off-peak, but certain projects where we have capacity expansion, like 15 and 23 in Fond du Lac, those projects are full season-long projects,” said Rank.
It’s also offering a reminder to be safe while on the roads.
“Keep your eyes open, phones down kind of thing. We want to make sure that those folks that are working in those work zones get home safely,” added Rank.
You can find out the latest road construction projects by Wisconsin DOT online here.