Baileys Harbor Details Highway Work Plan

Work on Highway 57 through Baileys Harbor shouldn’t interfere with Memorial Day or July 4th weekends, planners said at an informational hearing April 22 attended by just seven people.

“If I’m working anywhere near July 2 then something’s gone really wrong,” said Jerry Reeseman of Northeast Asphalt, the company charged with resurfacing the highway. The work has an end date of July 2, but Reeseman said he expects to complete work at least a week and a half early. Poor weather is the only thing he anticipates causing delays.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will resurface the highway in conjunction with storm sewer work.

“The storm sewer will probably be the biggest inconvenience for the people in the town,” Reeseman said.

Baileys Harbor Town Board chairman Jim Parent said the town board was originally under the impression the work would begin in March or April, and he expressed frustration that it ended up put off until May. Now business will be inconvenienced at least through the middle of June.

“You could have fired a shotgun down main street and not hit anyone this week,” Parent said.

Reeseman said the work couldn’t start earlier because other storm sewer work by the town at Anclam Park needed to be completed first. Work on the storm sewer will come first, beginning on the north end of town and moving south, and the highway will be patched for Memorial Day Weekend. Sewer work should be finished in the first week of June. Road milling will follow the week of June 9 for two to three days, and paving done the following week, also expected to take two to three days.

Crews will work Monday through Friday between 7 am and 7 pm, but after Memorial Day they will work no later than noon on Fridays.

Reeseman said he’s aware of the concerns of the tourism-dependent businesses, and will do all he can to minimize parking and access issues.

The work is being paid for primarily by the state, though the Town of Baileys Harbor must pay for the portion of the pavement used for parking spots. The project does not include sidewalks and curbs.

The town plans to repair those in mid-July, using a process called mud-jacking to level the sidewalks.

Weekly informational meetings to update residents on the progress of the work will be held Wednesdays at 10 am in the town meeting room.