October 1, 2024

By Lane Kimble

MILWAUKEE — On paper, the idea sounds like a commuter’s worst nightmare: fully close one direction of interstate that carries about 128,000 vehicles a day around Milwaukee for an entire weekend to repave it.  Then… do it again to the other side the next weekend.

On pavement, though?  It worked like a charm.

Starting at 11 p.m. this past Friday, Payne+Dolan (Walbec Group) crews closed eastbound I-894 for a little more than three miles.

They milled 67,000 square yards of old pavement in less than 16 hours, then got to work rolling out 600 tons of asphalt an hour across all three lanes, supported by 86 trucks on-site at the peak.

The end result was a beautiful, smooth driving surface.

“This is kind of a big deal for everybody,” Senior Project Manager Joe Jones told WTBA during a project visit Saturday morning.

This marked the second of two full-directional closures on prime contractor Zignego Company’s I-894 project; a rarity for construction crews, especially for such a long period of time.

What would’ve taken weeks or months to finish took just a couple days.  In fact, TMJ4 reported crews (which included Mega Rentals doing striping and traffic control) finished hours early, well before Monday morning rush hour.

“It’s a lot of long days, it’s a lot of long nights, it’s a lot of resources allocated to this… In the end game, it’s well worth it,” Jones said.  “We like this route.”

This work isn’t just saving construction time, though.  Check back for our video feature next Friday when Jones explains why he considers this work a “triple threat.”