Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
A car passes the Gile Flowage on its right as it heads south on U.S. 51 on Thursday. A construction project on this segment of the highway is scheduled to start by the end of the month.
By ZACHARY MARANO
Hurley - In Wisconsin, the Iron County Highway Department is hoping to pave some roads in the gap between the winter seasons. Department head Mike Swartz said they have two levels of projects: they maintain county highways by themselves and collaborate with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on state highways.
On the state level, Swartz said they are repaving part of U.S. 51 with a mill and overlay from Iron Street in Hurley to County Road C in Oma. They will also be replacing culvert pipes at several points along the three-and-a-half-mile stretch where there are problems with drainage. He said they hope to start this project by the end of the month.
On the county level, Swartz said they have two projects this year.
The first project is a reconstruction of County Road G from Batte to Owl Lake roads in Mercer. He said they will add a gravel base, replace the culverts and pave with a three-and-a-half inches of hot mix of asphalt. He said this project covers 1.8 miles and that they have already started by cutting the trees on the right of way to improve visibility.
The second project at the county level is along County Road C from U.S. 51 east to the state of Michigan. Here, they will also add a gravel base, replace some of the culverts and pave with a hot mix of asphalt.
Swartz said they are still in the planning phase with their paving contractor but that they hope to start in early June.
