April 24, 2026
By Lane Kimble
WHITEWATER — There isn’t a lot of space to work underneath the Highway 12 bridge in Whitewater.
Matt Gregg looked at it, looked at his project plans, and knew there was an issue.
“When we’re swinging an excavator underneath here and loading a truck, with our height clearance and our width restrictions it just made it too treacherous to try to get traffic through here,” Gregg said.
Gregg is Payne+Dolan’s project manager on the Highway 59 repaving job, which begins near the city limits, runs underneath the bridge and continues for several miles south toward Janesville.
Traffic control plans called for allowing vehicles to pass through the work zone under the overpass while crews worked to replace curb and gutter, drain tile, and do slope paving.
Gregg talked with WisDOT Project Leader Matt Smith and started bouncing ideas off each other.
“It’s one of those things we work together on,” Smith said, explaining he’s known Gregg for more than a decade. “Both Matt and I are safety-oriented. I have concerns for the workers’ safety and, at the same time, for the traveling public’s safety.”
The two came up with a good solution: fully close Highway 59 at the bridge but only while crews are actually working underneath.
Instead of a weeks-long closure, Payne+Dolan has been able to get their work done safely while only closing the road three or four times for short stretches.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Gregg said, crediting his long relationship with Smith as a key reason for their positive coordination.
“The guys get to focus on each other, which they should be doing in a work zone. Not worrying if a car’s trying to sneak around them or if a car’s behind them… That partnership is what I appreciate about working with Matt and his staff.”
The Highway 59 project as a whole will take until late-June, but Thursday marked the final time crews will need to close the highway.
“It’s the best of both worlds here,” Smith said. “When a job gets done safely, on time, correctly and everything else, that’s a win for everybody.”
