After years of planning and discussion, Milton can see part one of two major highway projects on the horizon.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation plans to start moving almost 2 miles of Highway 59 south in April as part of its Highway 26 renovation project.
The second element, constructing a Highway 26 bypass around the city, is scheduled to start in 2012.
The DOT will hold a public information meeting about both projects Thursday at Northside Intermediate School, 159 Northside Drive. Officials will answer questions about the project, including the DOT’s process for buying land.
Rerouting Highway 26 around Milton is just one part of a $400 million upgrade to the highway between Janesville and Watertown. The DOT plans to turn the corridor into a four-lane highway with few intersections or other impediments, said Mark Vesperman, project manager.
Many of the roads that now connect to Highway 26 will become underpasses or overpasses, and the highway will be redirected around the cities of Milton, Jefferson and Watertown.
“The intent is to move it out of the community, where it should help reduce accidents by moving trucks and other vehicles out of the central business districts,” Vesperman said.
Work on the Milton bypass up to the Fort Atkinson interchange is expected to run from 2012 to 2014.
But first, the DOT will move a stretch of Highway 59 between St. Mary Street and Vickerman Road about a quarter-mile south. The move will create an eventual interchange between highways 59 and 26 southeast of the current intersection.
The DOT wants to move Highway 59 so it doesn’t intersect with Highway 26 too close to the railroad tracks, Vesperman said.
The new interchange will be in the middle of the city’s industrial park and will help draw new businesses, City Administrator Todd Schmidt said. Already, the city has seen excitement from businesses looking for easy highway access, he said.
“Access to higher-speed highways is an important factor for getting goods in and getting goods out,” he said. “Some business rely on visibility from the highway, too.”
But the improvements come at a price: The city will spend an estimated $330,000 on sidewalks, infrastructure and connecting streets along Highway 59, Vesperman said.
Several local farmers will be asked to sell land for both projects. The DOT is already in the process of buying a 100-foot-wide strip for the Highway 59 realignment and expects to finish the process in the next two months, Vesperman said.
The DOT has met with some “concern” from property owners but not steadfast resistance, he said.
“They’re just concerned about us trying to keep the right-of-way to a minimum,” he said.
The department plans to start buying land for the Highway 26 bypass next summer or fall, Vesperman said.
The state wants to negotiate with the landowners but will resort to eminent domain—the power of the state to acquire private property for public use—if necessary, he said.
“We are in a tight timeframe,” he said. “We’ll use (eminent domain) if needed, but we’ll certainly negotiate with the property owner until the end of that eminent domain process.”