This fall, the last non-four-lane portion of U.S. 41 between Milwaukee and the Wisconsin–Michigan state line will open. The new four-lane stretch of 41, from the south side of Oconto to the existing four-lane just east of Peshtigo, includes bypasses through Oconto’s west side and to the south and east of Peshtigo.
Exits from 41 to Oconto will be at the existing 41, Wisconsin 22 and Oconto County S. Exits from 41 to Peshtigo will be at Marinette County Y and Schacht Road.
"The residents are looking forward to it because of the large amount of truck traffic that goes through," says Peshtigo Mayor Tom Strouf. "Peshtigo is really an industrial city; we’re not a tourist city."
Shawano and 29
The Wisconsin 29 four-lane from Green Bay to Wausau opened in 2000. The expressway replaced a two-lane road that went through Bonduel, Shawano, Wittenberg and other communities, and had one of the highest crash rates of any state highway at the time.
Nancy Smith, executive director of the Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce, was involved with the Wisconsin 57 Plymouth bypass in a previous job. She came to Shawano after the bypass opened.
"Overall, it’s been positive," she says. "For downtown, it’s been positive in that they got truck traffic out of downtown and onto the bypass, which allows more customer traffic to occur downtown. I know other communities consider it positive because of the ease of travel."
Steve Sengstock, executive director of Shawano County Economic Progress, Inc., points to growth statistics to demonstrate the impact of the improved 29. Between 2000 and 2007, Shawano County grew 4.3 percent in population, to 42,413, and between 1999 and 2007, its labor force grew almost 13 percent.
"Since the expansion project was completed, we’ve seen businesses start up in our second industrial park, which is one-half mile from the 29 interchange," says Sengstock. "We also have a new business park, and there are three businesses that have started up there. We’ve also seen nice growth along the industrial park and Airport Drive and along [Shawano] County B, which are all one-half mile from 29."
A 2004 Wisconsin Department of Transportation study, Economic and Land Use Impacts of Wisconsin State Trunk Highway 29, said the bypass "created areas for new things to start up, and expansions to happen because of the ease of access to the highway," says Sengstock.
One mixed blessing of the bypass is that the percentage of Shawano residents who work outside Shawano has increased from 32 percent of the workforce in 1990 to 41 percent in 2000 and 45 percent today. While á
business people prefer people to work and live in the same city, the increase in outbound commuting has also improved the city’s median and per capita income, Sengstock says.
"People are choosing to live in smaller communities and work in larger communities," says Smith.
When the bypass was proposed, says Sengstock, "the two main issues were you’re going to see traffic diverted from downtown, and you’d see residential areas kind of disrupted with business growth in new areas."
Those concerns led to the creation of a comprehensive land-use plan that was adopted earlier this year, to assign future business growth to appropriate areas. Shawano also entered the state Main Street program in 2002, resulting in the creation of a Business Improvement District and a facelift of downtown, with cobblestones and antique lighting to create "an attractive, inviting downtown shopping experience," says Sengstock.
The removal of traffic that doesn’t belong in downtown areas has been a "positive impact," says Sengstock, to "somewhat transfer an eyesore, as well as [benefiting] residential foot traffic. It was just easier for tourists to get here and down to the downtown area.
"First, you have to realize that not all of that traffic is good traffic. That stuff’s gone now; how do I take advantage of that? How do I promote the city and the community?"
Smith says the four-lane 29 has been a boon to tourism as well because it’s improved access to the area. A new chamber and visitor center was constructed one-half mile north of 29, with an eastbound billboard constructed before the visitor center exit.
"People want to have a lot of tourism experiences in a specific area, and that’s what we have here," she says. "People are utilizing the highway to get to each community easily, but they can get off the highways for their specific tourism opportunity. The thing we advertised in Plymouth and we do here is we’re easy to get to, and that’s very helpful too."
