Detours Coming to Fish Creek after Fall Fest

Construction on Highway 42 in Fish Creek will begin in earnest next week. Prep work on the Fish Creek hill by Gibraltar School will begin Tuesday as crews shore up retaining walls. 

That work will be done under flagging operations during weekdays only before more intensive construction and detours begin after Fall Festival weekend. 

Beginning the week of Oct. 21, Highway 42 will be open to northbound traffic only beginning at Shore Road. Southbound traffic will be detoured just south of Gibraltar School. The official detour will route traffic down County F to County E, then back to Highway 42. Vehicles will also be able to cut back to Highway 42 via Peninsula Players Road.

The highway will reopen the weekend of Oct. 26-27 for the Fall 50 run; then southbound detours will be reinstated until the winter work shutdown in mid- to late November.

Jeremy Ashauer, project manager for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, said all resurfacing work between the Fish Creek YMCA and Sister Bay is expected to be completed this fall. Remaining work on Main Street in Fish Creek and in front of Gibraltar School will be completed next spring, with additional detours and closures. 

Gibraltar School Superintendent Tina Van Meer said fall construction will have little or no impact on busing. 

“Parents and student drivers should also anticipate that their commute might be a little longer than usual once the project begins,” Van Meer said. 

Delays will be more significant beginning next March, when hard closures will be in effect from County F to north of the YMCA. At that time, the only access to the school will be via Gibraltar Road.