Announcements:
Durand Avenue construction from Kearney Ave. to STH 32 (Sheridan Road) is going start Wednesday March 23rd, 2022.
The actual limits of construction are approximately 100 feet east of Kearney Ave., which allows this intersection to remain fully operational during construction to west of the railroad structure at the east end of the project. The first Stage of construction will detour eastbound traffic starting from Lathrop Ave. to Chicory Road to Sheridan Rd. (STH 32). Westbound traffic will remain on Durand Avenue through the construction zone. Side roads within the construction limits will be closed to vehicle traffic with the exception of Kearney and South Memorial Drive. South Memorial Drive will have at least one lane in each direction maintained throughout all stages of construction. Stage 1 construction will last to approximately June 30th. During this stage of construction, the south half of the roadway will be reconstructed as well as the west half of Memorial Drive.
During Stage 2 of construction, the detour will be removed and one lane of traffic in each direction will be allowed on the south half of Durand Ave. through the construction limits. Stage 2 of construction is expected to last until approximately October 15th, 2022. During this stage of construction the north half of Durand Ave. and the east half of Memorial Drive will be reconstructed.
Goold Street is going to be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic due to roadway construction starting Wednesday March 16th, 2022 and will remain closed until the end of August 2022.
The limits of the road construction are from N. Main Street to Douglas Ave. However, the Douglas Ave and Main Street intersections will remain open at all times, as they are not affected by the construction. Geneva Street intersection will remain open to limited traffic until the end of the school year to allow one lane of traffic in both directions crossing the project. Once the school year is over the intersection will be closed to traffic. All other intersections crossing the project will be closed to traffic for the duration of the project. Northbound and southbound traffic in the project area will need to utilize N. Main Street and Douglas Ave.
There will be some incremental openings of intersections as the project progresses.
A detour will be posted and the route will utilize Yout Street for both directions of traffic displaced by the construction. Yout St. is located one block to the south.
Wisconsin Avenue Two-Way Construction:
The Department of Public Works will begin the first phase of the Downtown Public Realm & Parking Plan developed by Toole Design in 2019 and approved by the Common Council in 2020.
The first phase of changes to the downtown will be the conversion of Wisconsin Avenue from one-way southbound to two-way bidirectional traffic from State Street and Sixteenth Street. This plan also includes bicycle accommodations where applicable. This phase will begin the second week of
March. The changes are carefully planned, to slowly, and in an obvious manner, to educate the traveling public of the change.
The first step will be construction crews adding equipment such as traffic signal heads to the three signalized intersections on the corridor located at 6th Street, 7th Street and 14thStreet. This is scheduled to begin the week of March 7th. The
impact on traffic at these locations while the work is being completed is minor with temporary lane closures and traffic moving in all of the current directions. After this step is completed, the next step of construction will lag behind a few weeks to accommodate material delivery and
warmer temperatures.
The second step of construction will close the eastern half of the roadway for the entire length of the project (State Street to 16th Street). All roads crossing Wisconsin Ave. will remain open at all times. During this second step, southbound traffic will only be allowed
on the west side of Wisconsin Ave., while the eastern half of the roadway is being converted to northbound traffic. This construction will include the addition of angle parking stalls between 5th and 6thStreets. Some parking meters will be replaced with signs directing you to
a parking application to pay for on-street parking (Passport Parking –
www.ppprk.com). The ramp from State Street down to Wisconsin Ave. will be closed during the second step of construction. The City of Racine anticipates this step to start in early May and last for approximately 1-2 weeks.
The third step of construction will close the west side of Wisconsin Ave. and switch the direction of traffic to northbound ONLY on the east side. This will be the permanent direction of travel for the east half of the roadway. Southbound Wisconsin Avenue traffic will be routed
to Main Street until the completion and opening of the roadway to two-way traffic, with the exception of 14th Street to 16th Street section will utilize a detour from 14th Street to Grand Avenue to 16thStreet back to Wisconsin Ave.
This third step will also involve a detour for one block around the construction for the Hotel Verdant. The detour will be: west on 6thStreet to north on College Ave., to east on 5th Street, to Wisconsin Ave. 2nd Street will always remain a one-way roadway westbound
that will continue to transition into the southbound direction of traffic for Wisconsin Avenue. Although, during the third step of construction, 2ndSt. traffic will be required to turn left onto 3rd Street and proceed towards Main Street. The City of Racine anticipates this third
step to start immediately after Step 2 is completed and traffic control and detour are in place. This step will also last for approximately 1-2 weeks.
Once the third step of construction has been completed, Wisconsin Avenue will be opened to two-way traffic. The City of Racine anticipates this work to be completed by late May. However, the northbound traffic on Wisconsin Avenue will continue to be detoured as noted until Spring 2023 when
the Verdant Hotel is completed.
Later this summer the City will begin the second phase of the Downtown Public Realm & Parking Plan, converting Lake Avenue from a one-way northbound to a two-way roadway from 10th Street to Gaslight Drive.
Kinzie Ave. - West Sixth Street Bridge Closure August 24th to September 7th
The West 6
th Street Bridge project has started and will continue until late 2022. The Detour has been posted to utilize Memorial Drive to 12
th Street to West Blvd. for the westbound direction and reverse that detour for the eastbound
direction. The pedestrian detour will go along Parkview Drive across the pedestrian bridge into Island Park and then south down Kinzie through the park to the west side of the project. There will also be a posted detour for the Root River. At times there will be driving pilings and demolishing
the bridge which will generate noise and vibrations to neighboring houses. This a long process please be patient.