State 57 is closing for two months in two places in Door County to replace culverts

TOWN OF SEVASTOPOL - Two locations on State 57 between Sturgeon Bay and Valmy will close for about two months starting Tuesday, Sept. 3, as work begins to replace two drainage culverts under the highway .

The work is taking place on the box culverts where where 57 crosses Lily Bay Creek, a little less than 2 miles east of the highway's intersection with State 42 on the north side of Sturgeon Bay (and just east of The Farm), and Geisel Creek, just west of Valmy. The culvert at Lily Bay Creek will be replaced with a new concrete box culvert and the one at Geisel Creek will be replaced with a box girder bridge.

It will be a total closure at each site, with no vehicles allowed to cross the creeks during construction, although local, business and emergency access will be maintained. The recommended detour follows State 42 between Sturgeon Bay and Carlsville and County I between Carlsville and its junction with 57 south of Jacksonport. Work is expected to finish by November.

Along with the culvert replacements, the projects also call for replacement of the asphalt pavement next to and above the new structures; beam guard removals, replacements or new installations; pavement marking on the new asphalt; and driveway culvert replacement at the Geisel Creek site.

These two projects are the first of four on State 57 between Sturgeon Bay and Jacksonport, all to replace culverts under the highway, scheduled for the next 14 months at a total cost of $3.2 million.

In 2025, existing culvert pipes where 57 crosses Logan Creek south of Jacksonport and Hibbard Creek north of Jacksonport will be replaced with new at-grade slab span bridges. Those projects are planned to take place from April to July and September to November, respectively, and also will result in total closures of the highway with recommended detours at those sites.

A press release from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said the work is needed because the existing culverts are deteriorated. The new drainage structures are intended to reduce the regular maintenance and intermittent traffic disruptions that have taken place at these locations, improve drainage under the highway, reduce saturation and improve longevity of the road core.

The projects also are intended to improve safety by flattening roadside slopes at the Lily Bay Creek crossing and upgrading guardrails to current standards at the other three crossings.

For more information, visit projects.511wi.gov/wis57sheb/full-project-overview . Weekly updates on the construction will be posted at projects.511wi.gov/weeklyupdates-ne .

C ontact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: State 57 is closing for two months in two places in Door County to replace culverts