Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association

The intersection of Highway 145 and County G in Washington County was about as quiet as a construction zone can be Thursday afternoon.

A mini excavator sat still while a few workers took a break and the only cars moving by were in and out of the garage of a nearby auto repair shop.

It’s the kind of work zone Bob Draths wishes he had all the time.

“We’re lucky here,” Draths told WTBA as he walked around the project.Lucky because signs and barricades fully close the well-traveled crossroads near Germantown while Draths and his prime contractor Musson Brothers, Inc. crews and subs build a roundabout.

Thursday was especially quiet because concrete was curing and Draths was waiting on final grading, paving, and electricians to come in, but the project has been a flurry of activity since construction started June 10.

“Sometimes it is a big inconvenience to the traveling public to shut a road down like this, but it allows us to get it done quicker, safer and for less cost,” Draths explained. “You can kind of put every dollar into the finished project right out of the gate.”

What could take six months or more to finish if the state required traffic flow, temporary roadway, and multiple stages instead can be finished in 2 ½, before the end of August.

That was welcome news to the three state lawmakers joining Draths and WTBA Director of Government Affairs Elise Nelson on the quick tour.

State Representative Dan Knodl, Representative Paul Melotik, and State Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin took advantage of the relatively peaceful site to bounce questions off Draths and Nelson about work zone safety, transportation funding, project design, and industry workforce.

“I’m so glad you invited us because this really is relationship building,” Habush Sinykin said. “This is so much better than sitting, talking in an office. It’s great to see this investment.”

The $1.8 million investment is far from the busiest or grandest project lawmakers can see during this summer’s WTBA legislative tours across Wisconsin, but it’s an important one nonetheless – vastly improving safety at a place that once had poor sight lines and numerous crashes.

For that, Draths is thankful and proud to explain loud and clear: these small projects add up to make a big difference.

“There’s obviously way more of these that go on than the big ones. People can stop and appreciate this, the people who drive through this drive through it all the time,” Draths said. “It’s really good to get these built for the local communities.”

Honored to be a part of this month's League magazine edition. Check out our article on important safety changes we've worked toward as an industry on pages 19-20!

Change is constant in local government—and with it comes new opportunities to lead, adapt, and strengthen our communities.

The August issue of The Municipality explores how Wisconsin cities and villages are navigating change, from leadership transitions and emerging technologies to evolving communication strategies and the policies shaping local government.

Read the latest issue and discover ideas, insights, and real-world perspectives from communities across Wisconsin.

https://online.flippingbook.com/view/922180605/

The ground under your feet quakes and the riverwater pulses, much like the scene in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex is about to emerge.

But it’s a different beast that’s helping transform the Port of Green Bay this summer.

“This isn’t the truly big ‘King Kong’, but it’s the ‘Baby King Kong,’ as we like to call it,” site superintendent Keith Keskimaki says, pointing to a huge yellow device hanging from a crane.

Don’t let the name fool you – this “baby” still weighs about 45,000 pounds, driving 80-foot-tall pile cans deep into the Fox River’s soil.

“They’re pretty good sized,” Keskimaki said of the cans. “Everything about this project is big.”

Keskimaki and his Zenith Tech, Inc. (Walbec Group) team are hard at work, turning the old Pulliam Power Plant site just north of the Leo Frigo Bridge into a modernized shipping port.

“Baby Kong’s” pile driving will help anchor a 2,000-foot dock wall, stretching 600 feet into the bay. The finished product will allow huge Great Lakes cargo ships to haul salt, coal, and other commodities into a place they never could before.

It’s the result of years of debate and negotiations between businesses, city, county, state and federal leaders on what to do with the century-old industrial area.

“It’s amazing just to see the progress. I remember this area just being a swamp, a polluted area that was a wasteland,” Senator Eric Wimberger told WTBA during a site tour Wednesday. WTBA Director of Government Affairs Elise Nelson coordinated with six state lawmakers to bring them into the work area and meet with crews.

Wimberger, who sits on the state’s budget-writing committee, pushed to include $20 million for the project in the 2023-25 state budget and helped ensure Brown County retained a $15 million grant, too.

“Someone will say, ‘Oh, we need this much money,’ and a lot of times people don’t have a concept of why,” Wimberger said. “Seeing this machinery, the massive size of the equipment and the materials puts in perspective why things cost, in this case, $50 million to achieve.”

Some of that massive machinery is out in the bay itself. ZTI crews are currently dredging 200,000 cubic yards of material to make the port deep enough for the large ships.

The combination of ZTI’s abilities and Northeast Asphalt’s grading and paving skills allowed the Walbec Group to win the project without any outside subcontractors, coming in millions below the next-lowest bidder.

Lawmakers were glad to meet Wisconsin-based companies with local employees doing the job.

“Green Bay has a history of being a blue-collar community,” State Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner said. “You come to Green Bay to work hard, and when you work hard you’re able to do cool things. The employers that are bringing these employees together to help build this community really is something special.”

This huge undertaking is still more than a year from completion. The dock wall and surrounding foundation needs to sit for at least six months once in-place before NEA can pave the area and ATC can move its electrical towers.

But by 2028, people living and working in the redeveloped port will be able to watch titanic ships float into the area thanks to WTBA-member work on a blockbuster project for Green Bay.

“Oh yeah,” Keskimaki said. “That’ll be something to see.”

cc: State Representative Benjamin Franklin, Representative Joy Goeben, Representative Shae Sortwell, and State Representative Ryan Spaude

The orange barrels blocking off one lane in each direction along Highway 54 already sit very close to traffic.

Tony Straseske picked one up and moved it even closer.

“That’s where it needs to be when we’re patching here,” Straseske explained, placing the barrel about a foot over the centerline into the open lane.

As cars and semis headed east out of Wisconsin Rapids at 55 MPH–just inches from where we were standing–the Michels Corporation Road & Stone Senior Project Manager said signs, barricades, and barrels can only do so much to protect his crews.

“You get real busy and you can lose track of exactly where you are in the work zone,” Straseske said. “You might get a little too close to traffic, so there’s probably a factor of luck involved (beyond plans and preparation).”

Michels’ concrete patching and shoulder repair job on the state highway linking Rapids to Plover served as a good place to show media and WTBA the risks crews face on a daily basis.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation's North Central Region held a walk-and-talk tour Thursday for its turn at season-long work zone safety awareness events this summer.

It’s a different atmosphere than the incredibly loud and busy freeway jobs, but one that can be even riskier, lacking the space for barrier walls and other protections for workers.

“You might see people right up against the drums,” NC Region Supervisor Adam Osypowski said. “There’s usually one person working along that centerline spread down with his butt (facing) backward that’s going to be right between those drums. That’s all the room we have to work.”

Thankfully, there haven’t been any crashes due to construction since work began here in April.

Still, the risk is apparent. Seven people died and more than 600 were injured in more than 2,000 work zone crashes in Wisconsin last year.

“Those crashes, they’re life-changing and life-altering for the workers that are involved, for you as the motorist,” Wisconsin State Patrol Lt. Bryan Wrycha said. “The ramifications are far beyond the day of the crash and the lives you affect. As a motorist, you owe the workers out here that responsibility to pay attention.”

Straseske says he appreciates the concerted effort between WisDOT, WTBA and their partners to expand safety messaging beyond the national kickoff week in April, but he doesn’t feel like driver behavior has improved much in the past four years.

He’d like to see stricter laws that go beyond increased fines for work zone crashes, possibly even requiring jail or prison time for hitting a worker.

Straseske thinks that form of punishment would hit especially close to home.

“If you’re the person that gets run over, what would your family say about it?” Straseske said.

Before digging into the dirt and dust of the ATV trails around central Wisconsin for some team building and camaraderie, the WTBA of Tomorrow dug into what’s become a messy primary campaign for governor.

The council’s annual Summer Meeting and Retreat yesterday kicked off with a fascinating Q&A session with WTBA's government experts Eric Petersen and Elise Nelson.

There was a lot to unpack, given the whirlwind of changes to the Democrat primary including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez suspending her campaign, David Crowley rejoining the race, and Gov. Tony Evers endorsing Crowley as Francesca Hong gains momentum.

Council members tapped into where various candidates stand on transportation funding and what a race between Trump-endorsed Congressman Tom Tiffany and several of those candidates could look like.

Then, it was time for some fun.

We geared up for a 42-mile ride on the roads and trails winding around the scenic Castle Rock Lake in Juneau County.

Special thanks to Adrenaline Rush Sports for the ATV rentals and fantastic guide service! (Plus, the welcome ice-cold water and wash station afterwards)

The WTBA of Tomorrow is made up of 17 rising stars in transportation construction who learn about the inner workings of state, local, and federal government and their roles in advocating for our industry.

Members include contractors, associates, and consultants. They'll next meet in November to review and select our new WTBA Scholarship winners.

Canada’s wildfires and a North American heat dome may have interrupted another group’s day, but Mother Nature couldn’t stop WTBA members from crafting their own memories out of the summer’s biggest event.

There were some unforgettable drives, chips, and putts as 216 golfers hit Trappers Turn on Thursday afternoon for the annual WTBA Golf Outing.

Congrats to the Michels Corporation Road & Stone / Fabick Cat team of Ryan Ramthun, Zach Dittberner, Tyler Sternat, and Todd Stanley who smoked the competition with a -17 to win the overall best score.

Great to see so many awesome members at our fastest-selling event of the year!

Wisconsin’s adoption of Work Zone Safe education for teen drivers reached thousands of new people in the nation’s capital last week.

Wisconsin FCCLA state advisor Julie Anderson joined program founder Tom Robins, Oklahoma Turnpike crew members, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) representatives Isabel George, Jonas Howard, and Summer Herrington at an interactive booth during FCCLA’s National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

The booth helped teens understand Work Zone Safe’s overall message: there is a face and family behind every flag, cone, and flashing light.

In 2024, Wisconsin (thanks to WTBA’s legwork, leadership and nearly a dozen partners) became the second state in the nation to adopt Work Zone Safe education.

The online program provides a free, modernized look at what teens and young drivers can expect to encounter in work zones, teaching them through real-life stories of people impacted by crashes.

FCCLA has become a strong advocate for Work Zone Safe Wisconsin. The program encourages its thousands of members to take the course. Several FCCLA Wisconsin students have recently won $500 scholarships for successfully completing the program.

Learn more at WorkZoneSafe.com!

As we prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th, we're also celebrating another "birthday" of sorts today.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into law on June 29, 1956. With a stroke of a pen, Ike helped launch a massive nationwide effort to build a robust interstate freeway system that continues to connect the country and drive our economy forward to this day.

Many WTBA members were instrumental in building out Wisconsin's interstates and many more are actively repairing, rebuilding, and revitalizing that system in 2026.

Whether you're traveling on I-39, 43, 90, or 94 today, picking up groceries, receiving a package from out of state, or planning a summer road trip, take a moment to remember the visionary actions taken 70 years ago that shaped our lives for the better.

[Photo courtesy Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]