Crews keep traffic moving while rebuilding Verona Road – The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids

 By: Dan Shaw, dan.shaw@dailyreporter.com  October 26, 2020 1:26 pm

Carrying 70,000 vehicles a day between Madison and businesses like Epic Systems in Verona, Verona Road is one of the busiest thoroughfares in all of Dane County. So rebuilding it and giving it an extra lane was always going to be a huge undertaking. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation wrapped up the second stage of that work — providing the road with a third lane in each direction from County Road PD to Raymond Road — in November 2019. All told, the nearly $86.7 million project required not only the overhaul of miles of pavement but also the installation of 15 overhead sign structures, 10 retaining walls, three new bridges, two noise walls and one box culvert. As is the case with most jobs of this sort, the hardest part was keeping sections of the road open to traffic while construction was proceeding, said Jim Grender, construction-engineering consultant with CGC Inc., a consulting firm brought in for the project.

“Basically, we built the last section by building the outside lanes while traffic was in the middle,” he said. “And then, to build the middle section, we put all the traffic on the outside. We had to have a lot of coordination with the business community and the traveling public.” Between December 2013 and July 2017, the design team attended more than 200 meetings to plan and discuss details of the work with the public. Businesses, residents and other interested parties were also kept abreast of the latest developments through the project’s website, a Facebook page with more than 4,300 and emails going out to nearly 3,200 subscribers.

“One of the things that stood out to me from the contracting side was the great relationship between the project staff and the owners and the community,” said Thor Wick, an area manager at Integrity Grading & Excavating, which worked on the project. “There was a lot of intricate staging to keep access to nearby businesses.” The Verona Road work also entailed its share of innovations. Simulation videos and renderings were used to show business owners how their properties would appear from the road once the project was completed.

Verona Road (US 18/151) Project
Location: Dane County, Wisconsin
Project size: N/A
Project cost: $86.7 Million
Start date: July 2016
Completion date: November 2019
Nominator: Wisconsin Department of Transportation
General Contractor: Integrity Grading and Excavating, Consultant: CGC
Owner: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Verona, WI – Join the Integrity Team, along with Governor Evers and many department heads from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The Verona Road Business Coalition (VRBC) ‘Open Roads Ahead’ – is celebrating the opening of the Verona Road (Hwy 151) with a ribbon cutting event. There will be a community event to follow from 5pm-8:30pm at the Wisconsin Bank & Trust grounds. Enjoy the food, fun & hospitatlity of many businesses in the area.