Bus. 51 detour in Plover begins on Saturday

By Brandi Makuski

Motorists who rely on Bus. 51 in Plover will need to find an alternate route beginning on Saturday.

The Bus. 51/Post Rd. corridor will be closed between Springville Dr. and Rainbow Dr. beginning on Aug. 14. According to Angel Gebeau, a project engineer with AECOM, the engineering firm hired by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the project, the closure will last about 21 days.

The full closure is necessary to complete the box culvert replacement that’s been underway for several weeks at Springville Pond, she said.

Pedestrian access will be closed between Rainbow Dr. and Springville Dr. for the first 10 days of the closure, Gebeau said. The east intersection of Springville Dr. and Springville Dr. will also be closed to the east of Post Rd.

WisDOT will post signs directing traffic east on County Hwy. HH, then south on I-39, and east on County Hwy. B.

Steve Kunst, community development manager for the Village of Plover, said the posted detour is just one option for motorists.

“Local will know there are easier ways—Okray [Avenue] or over to Hoover [Avenue],” Kunst said. “The detour is mostly for truck traffic to keep them out of those [residential] areas.”

The WisDOT project, which rebuilds and widens the arterial road before handing over ownership to the villages of Plover and Whiting, has been constructed in phases. The project began in 2016.

Improvements include new sidewalks, traffic signals, streetlights, and signing. Underground utilities including storm sewer, sanitary sewer, and water will be replaced. The Springville Pond causeway will be widened, and the related drainage structures will be upgraded.

Construction is currently scheduled for completion in November 2022, depending on the weather.

More details can be found at https://projects.511wi.gov/business51.