LAWRENCE, Wis. — Planning for a new bridge over the Fox River, which will provide a connection between I-41 and I-43, dates back almost 60 years.
The project got its ceremonial start Tuesday with a ground-breaking.
“We already knew that the amount of growth and development that’s happening in the business parks was creating more truck traffic,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “That’s why you started to hear more and more from the business community, stating the fact we needed to have this bridge come into development, because it was causing concerns about their own ability to move products in and out of the market.”
The $180 million South Bridge Connector project includes a new highway overpass and junction, as well as a four-lane road connecting county thoroughfares on both sides of the river. There will also be another bridge built over the Fox River in De Pere.
“The validation will be the growth, the economic development, the housing that will follow,” Streckenbach said. “That will be the validation that this project was well needed and very important for the overall community success.”
De Pere Common Council member Shana Ledvina said drivers have long asked for a bridge over the river, in addition to downtown De Pere and Wrightstown. She said making commutes easier is vital to growing communities.
“We really look forward to improved connectivity for our residents and businesses,” she said. “We are excited for the opportunities we will have for economic growth for the city as well as for the surrounding municipalities involved.”
Ledvina said De Pere’s city manager mentioned an old “master plan” for the city that identified the project as a high priority 15 years ago.
“I think we all know that this bridge has been a need and a want for much longer than that, probably longer than a lot of us have been alive,” Ledvina said.
Streckenbach said it’s taken a coalition of local, state and federal partners to get the project going.
“You don’t get these types of projects done in a community without everybody kind of being on the same page,” he said.
The entire project is expected to be done around 2030.
